Reviews
Part of Silver soldering guide: joints, solder, flux, heat, ventilation, and cleanup
Hard, medium, easy, and extra-easy silver solder compared
Silver solder grades differ by supplier, not by fixed rule, so compare each alloy's melting range sheet before you buy or plan a joint sequence.
What to take away
- Hard, medium, easy and extra-easy are comparative labels inside one supplier's family. They are not compositions and not temperatures.
- Rio Grande, Hoover & Strong and Cooksongold each publish their own grade ladders, and the numbers do not match across houses.
- Every grade below is a cadmium-bearing or cadmium-free silver filler. The sheet, not the label, tells you which.
- Buy the sheet before the joint. Solidus, liquidus, working range, silver content and color vary by maker.
- Sequence from high flow to low flow only when the sheets leave a real margin between steps.
- Log the product code and batch at every seam. A repair years later depends on that line.
What the labels actually promise
Within one family, hard flows hotter than medium, medium hotter than easy, extra-easy lowest. That is the whole claim. The word hard says nothing about silver content, cadmium, color match or strength.
Suppliers publish the rest. Rio Grande sells silver solder wire and sheet in hard, medium, easy and extra-easy, with cadmium-bearing and cadmium-free lines. Its hard cadmium-bearing wire is typically 75% silver, with a solidus near 1360°F and a liquidus near 1435°F.
Hoover and Strong publishes the same grade ladder with its own solidus and liquidus figures; its medium cadmium-bearing sheet is typically 70% silver and flows roughly between 1275°F and 1360°F. Cookson Precious Metals (Cooksongold) runs its own range under the same four names; its easy silver solder wire is typically 65% silver and melts around 1170°F to 1275°F.
Those three sets of numbers do not match each other. A hard from one house can sit near a medium from another.
Outside the jewelry supply houses, Lucas-Milhaupt sells Easy-Flo 45, a cadmium-bearing silver brazing alloy with 45% silver, a solidus of 1125°F and a liquidus of 1145°F. Lucas-Milhaupt also makes Silvaloy 56, a cadmium-free 56% silver alloy with a solidus of 1145°F and a liquidus of 1205°F.
Harris Stay-Silv 15 is a 15% silver copper-phosphorus brazing alloy with a solidus of 1190°F and a liquidus of 1475°F. These are brazing products, not jewelry solders, but they show how wide the silver content and flow range can run under a low-temperature label.
SCAD's jewelry course materials listing stocks easy, medium and hard silver wire solder as separate supplies. That confirms the labels in a teaching setting. It does not make two makers' grades interchangeable.
The four grades at the bench
Hard. Highest flow of the family, so it leaves the most room for later heating. Use it on the first seam of a multi-stage build: a box corner before the lid, a bezel before the bail. Rio Grande's hard cadmium-bearing wire is a common choice. It needs the assembly to survive that heat. Thin edges, set stones, enamel and earlier repairs rule it out.
Medium. The middle step. Its margin below hard is often smaller than the label suggests, because a large assembly conducts heat into the first seam even when the flame is elsewhere. Hoover & Strong's medium sheet and Stuller's medium solder paste are two examples. Check the sheets, not the names.
Easy. Late seams and repairs. Lower flow, and often a different color after polishing. Cooksongold's easy wire and Rio Grande's easy sheet both sit here. On a white-finished piece that color shift shows.
Extra-easy. The lowest flow in the family. For heat-sensitive assemblies where the product permits it. Rio Grande's cadmium-free extra-easy wire is one option. Low flow is not a claim about strength, color or gap filling.
| Grade | Named example | Typical bench role | What the label will not tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hard | Rio Grande silver solder wire, hard, cadmium-bearing | First seam, later heat expected | Silver content, cadmium status, color |
| Medium | Hoover & Strong silver solder sheet, medium | Middle operation | Margin below hard |
| Easy | Cooksongold silver solder wire, easy | Late seam, repair | Color after finishing |
| Extra-easy | Rio Grande silver solder wire, extra-easy, cadmium-free | Heat-sensitive work | Strength, suitability for a gap |
| Low-temp brazing | Lucas-Milhaupt Easy-Flo 45 | HVAC and copper joints | Jewelry color match, cadmium safety |
| Cadmium-free brazing | Lucas-Milhaupt Silvaloy 56 | Food-service and medical brazing | Jewelry-grade flow control |
| Copper brazing | Harris Stay-Silv 15 | Copper pipe and tubing | Use on precious metals |
The table is a planning aid. The supplier's liquidus, solidus, working range and flux guidance govern the joint.
Flow, color and strength
Flow temperature is the number you sequence against. Color is the number you finish against. Strength is neither.
Filler strength depends on the filler alloy, the base metal, the fit, the joint geometry and the heat cycle. A hard solder in a loose seam is a weak joint. An easy solder in a tight seam can outlast it.
The University of Virginia Physics Department's joining-process note splits soft soldering from hard soldering and brazing by filler temperature. That is a process distinction. It sits outside the hard, medium and easy labels a jewelry supplier uses.
Buying and storing
Buy from the technical sheet, not the shelf tag. Ask for the current sheet with the order and keep it with the batch. Rio Grande, Hoover & Strong, Cooksongold and Stuller all publish solidus, liquidus and working range for each grade.
Silver solder wire typically runs $40 to $70 per troy ounce in 2026, driven by silver content and cadmium status. Cadmium-free grades often cost more.
- Product code, grade name and maker recorded on the container
- Solidus, liquidus and working range on file
- Cadmium status confirmed before any torch work
- Approved flux and firecoat matched to the filler
- Separate cutters for each grade, or cleaned between grades
- Loose chips treated as unknown, never sorted by eye
A chip that falls into a mixed tray is scrap. Size and color will not identify it.
Records that survive a repair
Log the base alloy, the filler product code, the batch, the flux and the date at each seam. Note the sequence. A ring that returns in four years for a sizing needs that page, not memory.
Common questions
Is hard silver solder always the strongest?
No. Strength comes from the filler alloy, the base metal, the fit and the heat cycle. A hard grade in a poorly fitted seam is weaker than an easy grade in a tight one. Lucas-Milhaupt Easy-Flo 45 at 45% silver is not stronger than a 75% silver hard grade just because it flows lower.
Can extra-easy solder bridge a visible gap?
Do not use any grade to fill a gap unless a written specification designs the joint that way. Solder is not a gap filler.
Can I sort grades by color?
No. Keep the labels and the batch records. Colored wire in an unmarked tray is unknown material.
Does every build start with hard?
No. Pick the sequence the assembly and the sheets support. Some builds start at medium and never touch hard.
Do I need cadmium-free solder?
Cadmium-bearing fillers like Rio Grande's hard wire and Lucas-Milhaupt Easy-Flo 45 flow lower and wet better, but cadmium is toxic. Check your shop rules and the supplier sheet before torch work.
