What Is Thermo-Gel Heat Barrier?
Protect areas when soldering with thermo gel...
What is thermo gel?
Thermo gel is a green paste used to protect areas you don't want to be heated during soldering. It is especially good if you are repairing jewellery containing gemstones which could be damaged by the heat or very complicated soldering jobs with multiple solder joints close together where there is a risk of melting earlier joins.
How do I use thermo gel?
Apply a generous amount of thermo gel over the area you wish to be protected and any soldering can be carried out as normal, with soldering times and temperatures remaining the same.
Do I need to discard any after use?
Once you have finished soldering, some of the gel will become dark and crusty. Simply remove this part and put the rest of the gel back in the pot to reuse for another project.
Is it safe to use?
Yes - thermo gel is non toxic, non flammable and has minimal fumes.
Learn With Andrew Berry
Andrew Berry is an award winning jeweller, founder of At The Bench offering brilliant training and jewellery tutorials. Andrew regularly uploads tutorials on his YouTube channel, sharing tools, techniques and vlogs too. Take a look at these brilliant videos below, where he shows you how you can use thermo gel and why he thinks it's an essential product to have in your workshop.
Read more about Andrew in our 'Meet The Jeweller' interview series here.
Melting Gold In The Palm Of Your Hand With Thermo Gel
As Andrew states, do not try this at home!
This video shows you how thermo gel is the ultimate heat barrier and why it's so popular - Andrew smears the gel over his hand while gold is melted in his hand and he doesn't feel the slightest bit of heat...
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Cyrilyn Shows You How She Uses Thermo Gel Heat Barrier
This video is part of our Top Tip Tuesday video series! Cyrilyn shows you how to fuse argentium silver which she then turns into an organic shaped ring. She also shows you how to protect areas you don't want heating using thermo-gel heat barrier.