Soldering With Marc – For Microscope Slide Christmas Decorations.

While I was in London the other week with Marc we watched quite a few microscope soldering tutorials on YouTube before having a go ourselves. Crafting with microscope slides has been a thing with me for too many years now,  I really think I should let go!The first thing we did was edge our experimental glass pieces with copper foil, which the solder should adhere to, after it has been coated with flux.

All was going well, but then we got unstuck as Marc’s soldering iron was, we think, more for proper electrical work, it had a weird end which was difficult to work out, at first, where to apply the solder, in the end we worked it out, but it was frustrating and fiddly, what we really needed was a pointed ended soldering iron.

The solder that came with it was also very thin, more suited to fine electrical work, but we persevered.

As this was pure experiment we used pegs to secure/hold the glass, but should I wish to pursue the idea I think I would need to get a Helping Hand magnifying glass stand as well.

And the results? Well, I am not sure …….. I was expecting a rougher, thicker and lumpier, handmade sort of looking end result …….

….. and though my application of copper wasn’t exactly perfect, we/I think the solder was definitely too thin.  However, for once, I didn’t get all that impatient and preserved just to get a feel for it all, in fact I quite enjoyed it, I didn’t get the usual itchy gum feeling when I get frustrated. 

I have had a look on e-bay and if I wanted to I  could invest in a soldering kit for under £10, I would then need to buy solder and flux (not sure how much) and a stand (£5).  However, to be honest, if applied with care, using the silver foil I bought a month or so ago, with hindsight, would/has produced just as good an effect as the slides I have studied on Pinterest, plus I can easily change the colour of the foil using a Sharpie pen …… so I need to think carefully if, after all this playing, it’s really worth it.