Welders for jewellery. So expensive.... or are they?

Whenever anyone mentions welding jewellery, they are usually met with one of two reactions. Philistine, they obviously don't understand the intricacies of soldering. Or the other, teeth sucking and comments on the cost of the machines used. Jewellery welding, that is, joining two pieces of precious metal by fusing and not introducing a solder, is usually performed on a large and expensive laser machine. But not always.....

Last year I had the opportunity of using the PUK 3 precision welder developed by Lampert of Germany. This was on a one day course at Birmingham's School of Jewellery helped along by Sutton Tools of Birmingham, who supply this piece of equipment in the U.K. Its different to other welders as it is a precision TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) welder. Whats the difference? A laser welder uses a concentrated "beam" to weld whereas the PUK uses an electrical arc. The laser has more power and a few other advantages such as being able to weld metals of different thermal conductivity, but most decent ones cost in excess of £15,000. But you can buy the best PUK set up for about £3,500. and it takes up less space.

What can it do? LOTS! The PUK3 Pro is a very versatile machine, it uses a small electrical arc to superheat a small area causing it to melt and cool quickly, fusing, resulting in a joint. The arc and metal are covered in a shielding gas such as BOC's Argosheild so oxides are kept to a minimum creating a stronger joint. It has different modes for different jobs and a good range of power and timing adjustability.

What did I do with it? Again, LOTS! I took as many examples of tricky repairs with me as possible. Everything from silver jump rings threaded onto pearls using silk, as silver conducts heat very well and silk and pearls are easily damaged by heat, through very thin Victorian plaque brooches, that easily melt due to lack of material, to Platinum rings , because platinum always shows up its solder joins. I also re-tipped a claw on an 9ct gold Amethyst ring. Joined heavy silver jump rings (2 x 1.5mm). Joined jump rings in silver, 9ct and 18ct gold and Platinum. Welded together steel plates to make a model fish (I was playing at this point). I even joined some pieces of Titanium together, which under normal circumstances can't be done in a jewellery workshop. By using fine wires of various materials it is possible to add or build up metal.

There are many possibilities for this machine from tidying up imported goods and porosity to premanufacture "tacking" rather than using binding wire. As this is pretty clean requiring a little bit of a brush up on chain and charm welding it would be ideally suited to use by a retailer. No acids, messy polishing or combustible gases are needed, so why not have one? A major advantage of the PUK over laser is you can't miss the metal and damage a Diamond as you can with a laser. You can set presets for welding charms, ring sizing or any other regular job, making jobs much quicker. Its quick and simple to use as long as you have a basic idea of how metals work. There is very little heat transference, meaning you can hold pieces in your hands for maximum flexibility in holding. But you do need a firm and steady hold.

In conclusion if I had a spare £3500, I would buy one without question. A very versatile tool with many possibilities, don't think of just jewellery. If you are presented with a steel or titanium watch clasp, no problem. Costume jewellery or enamelled pieces, pick it up tomorrow? Hole in the claw of an Emerald ring, sure why not. You can repair items that would be uneconomical or further damaged by traditional means. If Lampert are reading this, yes I would gratefully receive a free one (might as well try).

For more information on these brilliant bits of kit please visit www.lampert.info you can find some videos of it in use there. Also www.suttontools.co.uk as they are the U.K. distributor.

I hope this is of use to you. Take Care.

Damian