# Jewelry soldering glossary: bench terms explained

> Jewelry soldering terms explained: hard, medium and easy solder, pallion, flux, pickle, capillary action, flame types and firescale.

- Source: https://www.711grados.com/en/soldering-glossary/
- Language: en
- Note: This entry was drafted with the help of AI and is pending review by the author.
- Published: 2026-07-23
- Updated: 2026-07-23
- Translation (es): https://www.711grados.com/es/glosario-de-soldadura/
- Author: Sandra Sánchez
- Site: 711 Grados (https://www.711grados.com/)

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Soldering is one of the pillars of handmade jewelry. This glossary gathers the words you hear at the bench, with the Spanish term. For the full procedure, see [soldering for jewelry](https://www.711grados.com/en/jewelry-soldering/).

## Materials

- **Solder (soldadura):** an alloy that melts at a lower temperature than the pieces and joins them. In jewelry it is usually silver with copper and zinc, or gold.
- **Hard, medium and easy solder (dura, media, fácil):** three melting grades; hard melts at the highest temperature. They are used in that order, hard to easy, so earlier joints do not come apart. See [types of solder](https://www.711grados.com/en/jewelry-solders-hard-medium-and-easy/).
- **Silver solder (soldadura de plata):** used on silver, copper and brass. On gold you use gold solder of the same karat.
- **Pallion (paillón):** a small chip of solder. It has [its own entry](https://www.711grados.com/en/solder-pallion/).
- **Solder paste (pasta de soldadura):** powdered solder mixed with flux.
- **Flux (fundente):** cleans, shields from oxygen and lets the solder flow. See [flux](https://www.711grados.com/en/flux-for-soldering/).
- **Borax (bórax):** traditional flux, a cake ground in water on a dish.
- **Pickle (decapante):** a mild acid bath that removes oxide after soldering. See [pickling](https://www.711grados.com/en/pickling-metal/).

## The physics of soldering

- **Capillary action (capilaridad):** molten solder is drawn into a tight joint. That is why pieces must fit without gaps.
- **Melting point (punto de fusión):** the temperature at which a metal turns liquid. Alloys melt over a range, not at a single point.
- **Refractory (refractario):** a heat-resistant material, such as the brick or board the piece rests on.
- **Cooling (enfriamiento):** let the metal lose its red glow before quenching in water or pickle.
- **Deoxidation (desoxidación):** removing surface oxide, with flux before and pickle after.

## Flame

- **Neutral, oxidizing and reducing flame:** see [flame types](https://www.711grados.com/en/torch-flame-types/).

## Defects

- **Firescale:** a gray or purplish stain that appears on overheated sterling silver. See [workshop chemistry](https://www.711grados.com/en/jewelry-workshop-chemistry/).

## Other methods

- **Capillary soldering:** the method above, with a torch.
- **Laser welding (soldadura por láser):** fuses the metal with a concentrated beam, with no added solder or with very fine wire; ideal for repairs. See [laser welding](https://www.711grados.com/en/laser-and-spot-welding/).