Soldering is a way to connect metal surfaces using heat and solder. By heating the metal, particles move apart and tiny spaces are created. The solder (a metal alloy) is then able to flow into these tiny spaces and this connects the metals together.

There are a variety of solders available. Silver solder is used for silver (I also use it for copper), and there is gold solder used for gold. The average silversmith will find she uses hard, medium, and soft (also known as easy).

These types of solder are used depending on the melting temperature (high to low) and are used best when a piece is soldered more than once. For example, if you have to solder a piece three time you would start with hard, then use medium for the second solder, and finish up with soft for the third solder. Solder comes in stick, wire, or sheet. These are the melting temperatures of silver solder:

Soft = 1325 °F
Medium 1390 °F
Hard = 1425 °F

To solder, you will need the following tools and supplies:

solder (soft, medium, hard)
flux
thin paint brush
jar of water
fire brick
tweezers
pickle solution
torch

For more details on the step by step process of soldering, see "Step by Step Soldering."