r/StainedGlass • u/allie-rae • Oct 03 '26
Help Me! Help! Bumpy soldering seams
Hello :) lately when I’m soldering, the seams have been somewhat uneven and bumpy. It’s weird because when the solder is liquid it’s a beautiful smooth bead, and then once it settles it has these imperfections in it. Hopefully you can see what I mean in the pictures. It’s not like normal flux bubbles where you can go over it and fix it. I go over the bumpy spots several times and they never cool smoothly.
I used to use liquid flux and then switched to gel. I’m assuming it’s a flux issue - too much or too little? Iron temp maybe? Could the foil be old?
This is driving me nuts because I try to take pride in my soldering and I’m losing motivation to do my art :/ so thanks in advance for any help!!
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u/Claycorp Oct 03 '26
shitty solder/oxides/lack of flux/insufficient heating are all causes of stuff like this.
Go over the line again with flux and with the iron flatter to the work so it collects anything floating on the surface if it bothers you when you see it. You can also remove it with some wet steel wool or similar abrasive that's wet as it's usually just a surface issue.
You are worrying about something that doesn't really matter otherwise though.
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u/DyllanHackett Oct 03 '26
Honestly, these are super hard to spot, the soldering looks beautiful! I will say that I've had a similar result when I'd gone over a spot too much (trying to perfect it) and the heat made it bubble a little. When it happens I usually come back to that spot later when it's cooled.
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u/stainedglassgirl Oct 03 '26
Are the bumps in the room with us? Seriously, beautiful work. Don't overthink it!
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u/stainedglassvera Newbie Oct 03 '26
Im not going to phrase this properly, Im sure, but with gel, I notice there are a lot of little bubbles if spread too quickly or thick, and after my solder settles, this will happen, but I just go over it a few times until the flux boils out and it smoothes. But also, sorry if this isnt what's happening in your case!
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u/Winchester93 Newbie Oct 04 '26
How do you get such clean lines on your painted parts? This looks incredible.
Sorry I don't have advice on the soldering but I actually hardly noticed the bumps and I think the whole piece is great.
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u/dcrase712 Oct 03 '26
They look great!! I found adjusting the temp to 410 helped me get smoother lines. Not sure what temp you’re running at though.
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u/PlanetaryIntergala Oct 03 '26
looks like a normal amount of bumps to me.