How To Solder A Jump Ring
This video demonstrates how to solder a jump ring closed. Solder is made of mixed metals making the melting temperature of it lower than the sterling silver. That allows to solder to melt into the seam of the jump ring without melting the sterling silver itself.
I buy my solder from www.riogrande.com where I purchase all of my silver.
In order to solder a jump ring, you must first close the jump ring so each side lines up and touches. Since we used the flush wire cutters when cutting our jump rings, each side of the jump ring has a straight cut allowing each side to line up without leaving any gaps.
Once we have bent the jump ring so the ends touch, we add flux to the jump ring which will allow the solder to flow. Without flux the solder will not melt onto the silver.
Once the flux it covering the sterling silver, we place the solder so it is touching the silver along the jump ring seam. As we heat the silver with the torch, we must heat all the silver evenly or the silver will melt. You may use a soldering pick to keep the solder in place making sure it is touching the jump ring. Since the jump ring is in the shape of a circle, we want to make small circles with the torch to make sure the silver is heated evenly.
As the silver and solder reach a certain temperature, the solder will melt onto the seam closing the jump ring. Now we can solder the jump ring to any other piece of jewelry we are making without there being a seam.