Highlights of Soldering Bootcamp with Karen Christians
A mini-dive into hot topics of tips and tricks of soldering techniques highlighting Karen’s Titanium Soldering Pick sold through Pepetools and fusing/soldering Argentium. Tips on efficient heat transfer, choosing the right flux for the job, soldering jump rings to a bale with a set stone, how much solder and how little, and for teachers, the perfect exercise to build muscle memory for soldering. Karen looks at both wire and sheet solder, displays the range of different solder temps from many vendors She will demo fusing gold to Argentium, plus when to solder and when to fuse. Karen will demo paste solders for those pesky spots, when using a pick is problematic.
Karen Christians is an educator and maker in the metal arts. She holds a BFA with High Honors from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1997. In 1998, she founded the Non Profit Metalwerx: School for Jewelry and the Metal Arts in Waltham, MA, and in 2012, the Jewelry Shop at Artisans Asylum in Allston, MA. Karen is a Certified Argentium Instructor. She teaches nationally, lectures around the country, and is published in many professional and technical magazines. She has attended Burning Man since 2006. For the last two years, she spends 4 months in Chiang Mai, Thailand studying traditional Thai Metal Chasing at Wat Srisuphan. Karen is the author of two books, Making the Most of Your Flex-Shaft and, Jewelry of Burning Man. Currently she is working on her third book, Jewelry of Star Trek. Karen has a studio Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, MA and divides her time between Chiang Mai, Thailand and Waltham, MA with her husband Dave and one demanding cat.