Welding jewelry bracelet clasp made of "925 silver"

At a Marshall's parking lot, I found a silver bracelet made of 925 silver. The only problem with it is that on the clasp, there is one chain link welded or soldered to it that connects to the bracelet chain. That link, whose job is to connect the rest of bracelet to the clasp, is broken and looks like letter C as opposed to letter O.

Since this is a low value item anyway (probably $5 worth of silver at most), and I got it for free, I am considering trying to do a DIY repair of it.

My question is, do I have any chance at all to _autogenously_ weld it shut with TIG, maybe something like 10 amps with a sharp .040 tungsten or something like that. It could possibly get me some extra "points" with my spouse.

The size of the link is probably 2-3mm at most.

I am sure that given the size of this link, I could not possibly braze it nicely, but perhaps I can just heat up a tiny area on it and get the area to melt and get a autogeneous weld.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus18810
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Guessing...

Are you sure it was welded/closed originally?

I would probably reshaped said link back into a circle and call it good. If you catch this on something it is kinda nice to have something give on the bracelet rather than on you (shrug).

Reply to
Leon Fisk

Good question. I am not sure.

That was the first thing I did.

I did not think about it. It is possible that the link was designed to be open, and it simply bent to open the gap, as opposed to breaking open a completely shut link.

You made me think about it and it would seem that not trying to weld it shut would be a better option.

I am not really a jewelry person. At some point I had 40 or so lbs of silver, but in form of bars.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus18810

As the son of a jeweler..and having run a pawn shop for a few years..Id call it good.

While silver can be soldered then cleaned up beautifully...Ive seen more than one that had been snagged on something fast moving and Ive purchased more than one that had blood and skin still in the links.

Just a thought.

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do something damned nasty to all three of them.

Reply to
Gunner Asch

Awesome...

That blood and skin could possibly have something to do with how the jewelry was removed from the original owners?

i
Reply to
Ignoramus18810

mattathayde had written this in response to

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------------------------------------- Ignoramus18810 wrote:

the only type of welding done in jewelry is going to be laser welding, tig is just a no go. honestly you could go to a jewelry store and for 5-10 bucks get a new clasp (probably closer to 5). and unless its a very fine bracelet its probably more than 5 bucks since silver is at about 14 bucks/troy ounce (i just checked the price after my instructor heavily suggested we get an amount of silver that comes out to 3-400 bucks... gar)

silver soldering it will be a PITA and also ruin the spring action of the clasp

-matt

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Reply to
mattathayde

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For any silversmith /jeweller to comment on a repair he/she needs to see it first. Lets have a picture then youll get the right answer to the way to repair it. with the right size flame , an oxy propane is standard, a bit of flux like borax, a paillion of silver solder and some heat sink paste either side of the break, Id do it in 2 mins. Do not tig it, or use lead solder. .

Reply to
Ted Frater

Not in my area..and not when the owner came in wearing bandages on his hands and wrists.

Perhaps in yours, of course.

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do something damned nasty to all three of them.

Reply to
Gunner Asch

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at last, someone who knows whereof he speaks

you could probably just flux and silver solder/heat - you won't get as nice a joint as above but you won't require any special anything - of course an oxyacetlyne torch and a 000 or smaller tip is absolutely mandatory

Reply to
Bill Noble

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My first and so far last try at this was a couple months ago. I just used silver solder and flux. A heat sink would have been nice. I did get it welded together, but there was a pretty big glob at the weld,and the ring was now sort of oval. Jewelers file pretty much cleaned up the glob. Use a very small tip, a very small flame. I think mine was too hot.

Reply to
Calif Bill

A goldsmith repaired a Turkish puzzle ring for me using this technique: One of the four parts had worn so thin that it finally broke--iow, there was almost no meat to silver solder to. He pressed a piece of scrap gold of the right color against the side of the broken part, and silver soldered the assembly together. He then removed the excess material until he had it looking as good as the original.

However, I agree that the best solution in this case is to simply bend the link closed. If you look at bracelets, necklaces and watch bands, you will usually see links that can be opened by bending.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

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