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New Find-Solder Wick

I was visiting my neighbor who refurbishes musical instruments and he showed me a roll of Solder Wick.

Solder Wick Roll

I asked what it was used for, I hadn’t yet looked at the name which would have been a clue. I was taken with the woven aspect of the material, and it is copper.

Solder Wick 1

Solder Wick is used for wicking away solder, or desoldering. I tend to look at most things as possible materials for use in a piece. The image above is deceptive because the material is not much wider than dental tape.

I think Solder Wick would be great to use as a binding material. The woven braid detail would be a wonderful element for loads of pieces. I will need to check the specifics about whether the rosin flux coating might affect the melt point and interact with my glazes.

Typically I make a bunch of test pieces and fire them up. It is always exciting opening a kiln. What gifts will I be given? I never feel that an unexpected effect is a mistake. It might be the best gift or information to file away for possible use on a different piece.


This is a detail of a piece with some metal sent through a low fire glaze. The piece was then fired with a bottle of Acetaminophen. The dose should be enough for coma.

The Dose Makes the Poison Detail


The vessel is made of hardware cloth held together with nails, coated with Egyptian Paste, and fired to cone 016.

Paste Detail


I am still thinking about the combination of materials used in this piece. I like the straight pins, and the bit of drippy glaze on them. I added a bottle of Ibuprofen to the interior of the cup and fired it again. I had hoped that the Ibuprofen would either become dry and powdery or molten and run between the pins. The pills changed color, but stayed pretty much intact. Couldn’t fire higher because of the glaze and metal used. The foot of the cup is washers bound on with bronze wire.
Pin Cup

Solder Wick can be purchased online or at some local hardware stores. I can’t believe that this was the first time I’ve seen it.

The product images are from Wikipedia .


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