Laser Welding Jewelry
Silver Butter Dish Repair by Steve Satow
1. Recently a customer brought us a broken sterling butter dish. She told us it had been repaired several times and she was worried it soon would be unrepairable if it kept breaking. See red circled area. The break was jagged and uneven.
2. After trying to fit the broken part where it came off it was also obvious it had deformed as the old repair seam broke. I explained it takes longer to repair something that I have to reshape as I rewelded the seam. I also explained I would need to use a new sterling alloy that contained 5% platinum to do her job. It is available from Rio Grande in 30 gauge size.
3. Upon examining the bottom the old solder joint was very obvious. I asked the customer if the top looked perfect could I add reinforcement bars to the bottom. I was concerned because the sterling was so thin that even welding wouldn’t hold it. She approved the sterling reinforcement bars. She now expected to pay more than her previous repairs had cost, because I had to weld, straighten, weld, and straighten until the bent joint was repaired then add three reinforcement bars to make it rigid enough that it wouldn’t break again. She was happy to pay $125.00 for the 40 minute repair.
4. The repair starts by beveling the old break line so I can fill all the way through with sterling wire. I only use the new platinum sterling wire to laser silver. It welds beautifully without needing pulse shaping or argon. I have not had a brittle weld break after reshanks or sizings have been pounded to reshape them. I wish I could say that about Argentium silver as it has yielded brittle joints even after using argon.
5. The top joint is half welded and straightened. It needs a little more straightening to finish the weld joint.
6. Now the top and bottom joints are done and it is time to add the reinforcement bars.
7. To add the reinforcement bars I used a ball burr to help countersink them into the host sterling and not the old solder from the previous repairs.
8. I rolled out 16ga. Argentium sterling wire I wanted to work harden it as much as possible to make it stiffer. I want to prevent the new joint from breaking from metal fatigue from flexing. I placed the first end of the wire in place in its groove and tacked it in place.
9. Here all three pieces of straight wire are in place and ready to be bent down to fit the host materials contours.
10. The reinforcement bars are now flush on the host material and ready to finish welding.
11. The bars are welded in place and ready to be cleaned up with a small abrasive wheel.
12. This is a picture of the joint on the other side of the handle. With one side all reinforced all the flexing will be transmitted to this side. I expect this joint to fail soon. The customer was made aware and knows this will happen. She chose to spread the cost over two separate repairs.
13. The finished underside of the joint is a trade off between ugly and the functionality of keeping the top pretty and not breaking again. I hate to leave a job like this but sometimes there are trade offs the customer will accept.
14. The finished repair from the top looks like it never happened. The customer was very happy with the repair.
