How to solder a gold chain at home?

The gold chain is a very elegant and versatile decoration that is appropriate at many events and fits any style of clothing. Jewelry can favorably emphasize any outfit and image. The owners of the chains are both women and men. However, quite often owners of gold chains are faced with the problem of product breakdown. If you have such a nuisance, then contact the workshop, where specialists can use the latest technology and repair the product. If you do not have such an opportunity, then it is worth considering the question of how to solder a gold chain at home. Today we will try to help you fix the jewelry and tell you how to fix and solder the chain at home to extend its life. We hasten to reassure you: the procedure is simple, it does not require special skills and special technical devices, but accuracy and knowledge of metal smelting are still necessary.

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Causes of Chain Breaks

How to repair or shorten the chain? First of all, we consider the reasons that affected the breakdown of the product. There may be several:

• Marriage. In order to confirm or refute the version of low-quality work, it is necessary to conduct an examination. In the case of confirmation of a manufacturing defect, the manufacturer is obliged to pay the cost of repair and examination or return the money spent to the buyer.
• Light weight product. One of the common reasons a product breaks is its light weight. Very often, jewelry is made from tubes. Such products weigh much less, their price is much lower. Having paid a lower cost for the product, owners often spend a lot of money on repairs.
• Trying to unravel a not entirely new product. Very often, the chain breaks during an attempt to unravel it. If the product is not completely new, then the links may become loose from prolonged use. To determine whether repair and replacement of links with new ones is necessary, carefully inspect the product through a magnifying glass. The frayed links are best replaced immediately and do not wait until the chain breaks completely.
• Heavy pendants on the product. It is always necessary to take into account the ratio of the weight of the pendant and the thickness of the chain on which you plan to hang the pendant.
• The product is hollow. Such a chain very often breaks from the slightest mechanical impact. It is forbidden to hang heavy crosses and pendants on it, since this leads to quick wear of the product.

Important! To understand whether the decoration is hollow or not, hold it in your hand. The size and weight of the product must match

As you can see, there are so few reasons for the breakdown of the product, so you should always remember that jewelry is a fragile thing that can break if handled carelessly.

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The chain broke - how to fix it?

To solder a gold chain at home, you will need the following tools:

• Gas burner for soldering.
• Solder for soldering gold.
• Special flux.
• Pliers.
• Refractory metal sheet.
• A set of files (it is better if there is a drill at hand).
• Awl.
• Tweezers.
• Vise.

Important! All tools should be very small.If you can’t get them at the “flea market”, then contact a jewelry workshop or a watch repair specialist for a tool.

If you don’t have a special solder and there is no possibility to get it in the workshop, then you will have to purchase additional materials and tools:

• Crucible.
• Gold.
• Silver.
• Brass.
• Copper.
• Tank for casting solder.

In order for you to understand the soldering process, we will describe it in stages.

Soldering

Jewelry also requires precision jewelry, therefore:

• To make solder in a crucible, place gold, silver and copper in the following proportion: 585: 115: 186.
• In addition, this composition will require 135 parts of brass, or 112 parts of cadmium.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. Gold, silver and copper are melted using a gas burner.
2. Introduce brass (cadmium) into the molten compound.
3. Wait for the ingredients to mix completely.
4. Pour the composition into a container.
5. Lightly cool the metal on the anvil to form the shape of a plate or thin wire.
6. Allow material to cool.
7. Roll the solder into a storage position.

Soldering Procedure

Repairing jewelry made of precious metals requires preliminary preparation, so proceed as follows to carefully solder the gold chain at home:

1. Put the whole chain parts on the open link.
2. Insert a metal cylinder of the appropriate diameter inside the damaged link.
3. Squeeze the link with pliers (tweezers). This way you connect the links with the damaged part and bring the chain back to normal.
4. Strip the solder area and treat with flux. During processing, a protective film is formed, which will resist the appearance of oxides and allow solder to spread evenly over the surface of gold.

So, the chain is connected, the place of soldering is processed, now prepare a piece of solder of a suitable size and place it in close proximity to yourself. Getting to the final stage.

Burner Part Heating

Step-by-step instruction:

1. Adjust the gas burner until a very fine plasma flow is obtained.
2. Preheat the solder. Under the influence of temperature, gold will change color. This will indicate that solder can be applied to the site of damage.
3. Heat the junction and solder. After a short period of time, the solder spreads over the part.
4. Continue to monitor the color of the metal and do not let the solder become too overheated. It should not drip from the product and there should be no differences in color with the main tone of the decoration.
5. After the cadmium burns out and the solder is equal to gold, consider that the chain part is soldered.

Important! The whole process is very scrupulous, so take note of the additional recommendations:

• Work with the burner will have to be done according to the “sensation”, since talking about a certain temperature at home is pointless, since it is impossible to control it. To work with soldering metals, you need experience.
• If you are a beginner, then a single description of the process will not be enough, so we recommend that you practice soldering the metal in small pieces of the same solder. In the process of training, you will gain certain skills and learn to determine the state of the metal by its color in the heated state.
• Do not reuse "used" solder, as there is no cadmium left in it. If you need a new solder, then repeat the melting process to return cadmium to the composition.

Final processing

In order to give the product a marketable appearance, it is necessary to process the soldering place. This can be made with a file. However, it must be remembered that gold is not very willing to grind, and you will have to work with small details. But the drill from the dental office could speed up this process by an order of magnitude. The same machine could be used to polish the surface. As a result of processing with a drill, the chain will not differ from the one just bought in the store.

Important! Jewelry is expensive, and they can finally be ruined by any inept action. Therefore, if you are not ready to solder metals and do not have certain skills, then you should not start work.

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What to do if a silver chain is broken?

Silver is a very popular precious metal. Silver perfectly reflects light and is suitable for any skin color, therefore jewelry is often made from this precious metal, in particular chains. They are worn as a necklace or bracelet. Silver chains are classic and charming jewelry. They come in various sizes, styles and shapes, from the smallest to the most massive, from traditional to modern.

Silver is a fairly strong material, however, chains of this metal can be brittle and often break. Most products can be easily restored, but for this you need to master the silver soldering. This is one of the most basic jewelry techniques. Silver soldering is used for invisible seams and adding individual pieces of metal. Soldering is often used to make chains.

To fix a torn silver jewelry and reunite two pieces of a broken chain, proceed as follows:

1. Soak the two ends of the restored chain in an acidic solution for 5 minutes. Use the solution that is used to clean silver before and after soldering.
2. Place a small piece of silver solder directly between the parts to be joined. Solder should be no more than the size of individual links.
3. Make sure the solder is in contact with both sides.
4. Heat the solder with a small nozzle and wait until it melts.
5. Turn off the nozzle.
6. Let the solder cool and harden.

Important! If the silver chain is broken, then the damaged link can be replaced. To do this: gently squeeze the damaged ring with a pair of pliers and remove it from the chain. Then take a new ring made of silver and put it on one end of the chain and then on the other. Gently press in the new ring with a pair of pliers so that it connects.

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Practical Tips - Video

If your chain is broken - silver or gold, then do not despair, but follow our instructions:

1. Put all the pieces of the jewelry in a clean, tight-fitting bag.
2. Find out where to repair your jewelry.
3. Give the product to the workshop, after discussing the cost of work. The more difficult the repair, the more expensive the services of the master will cost.
4. If you decide to repair the jewelry yourself, then in the workshop you can familiarize yourself with the soldering process and purchase a certain amount of solder. The last moment is the main one, since it is extremely difficult to make high-quality solder for gold at home. And you don’t need the rest of the alloy.
5. If the clasp malfunctions, purchase it separately. You can use a clasp made of another material, the main thing is that the color fits. You can put the clasp yourself.

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Stock footage

There is a possibility that if you try yourself in the role of a jewelry master, you will not be able to stop. And although any creative work is commendable, we recall that the manufacture of jewelry from precious metals is prosecuted. We did not set ourselves the goal of educating you in jewelry, we only wanted advice and recommendations to help fix the chain breakage. We hope that now it will serve more than one year!