Polishing a precious metal, resizing a jewelry section, or repairing a broken part of an heirloom piece are all things that require the utmost care and attention to detail. In earlier years, the jeweler had to be extremely careful in their soldering, controlling the heat used, as well as using their experience to fit the small joints together so they did not release the heat from the solder joint into the stone setting.

In most instances, even with the best of care and practice, one inconsistency in either soldering or controlling the heat or not properly ensuring the quality of the solder joint would be detrimental to the stone setting; the surface of the metals would oxidize and become contaminated with the other metals the jeweler worked with; and lastly, the process would have left a crease in the finished piece.

Thanks to the development of the NOVA laser welding machine, the ability to repair a piece of jewelry now exists with an easier way, a safer way and a more consistent and predictable way. The NOVA provides jewellers with a tremendous increase in their ability to perform high precision laser welding for jewellery repairs.

The NOVA offers the jeweller the opportunity to perform repairs in an efficient manner while providing them the assurance of a high degree of accuracy and control during the repair process.

What Is the NOVA Laser Welding Machine?

The nova laser welding machine is a vertical/desklike style of welding and soldering system used for creating metal joints. The NOVA uses a laser that precisely focuses the heat on a small area (1064 nm wavelength) of metal and fuses those metal pieces together. In contrast to flame-based soldering methods, the NOVA’s non-contact laser process allows the jeweller to provide accurate, controlled and extremely precise jewellery laser welding machine operations to achieve clean and accurate joints without causing any heat to be introduced into the surrounding metal or stones of the piece being worked upon.

A unique strength of NOVA is its ability to weld many different kinds of metal, including Gold, Silver, Rose Gold, Copper, Platinum, Titanium, Argentium Silver, Nickel, Aluminum, Stainless Steel, and many other types of alloys. In addition, because the heat from the laser is so localized, it reduces the risk of discoloration, warping, or other damage that can occur to surrounding delicate components during the welding process. This is particularly helpful when doing work on intricate pieces of jewellery, or on items containing precious gems and metals.

NOVA also emphasizes ease of use in its design, allowing for consistent high quality and penetration along with minimal seams and quick turnaround times. This makes NOVA an excellent choice for today’s modern Jewellery Workshops that do a lot of routine jeweller repair, resize and create custom jewellery.

How laser welding makes jewellery repair easier with NOVA

Is No Longer Just a Good Thing, It Is a Reason To Get A Laser.

Total Precision, No Damage

Traditional methods of soldering with a flame have a tendency to heat an area large enough to cause discoloration of the metal at the joint, to weaken the solder joints next to it, and/or to damage heat-sensitive gemstones.

A laser welding machine for jewellery repair concentrates its energy into the area of the joint and leaves the rest of the piece untouched, resulting in Clean Joints, Better Finishes and Very Little Thermal Distortion, all very important advantages when working with intricate settings and heat-sensitive stones.

Stronger Joints with Minimal Cleanup

NOVA creates laser welds that are narrow and clean, which means that little to no filing, polishing or reworking will be required following welding.

Due to the fact that NOVA produces very deep penetration and very strong bond formation, the end result of welding can often be stronger than the similar type of joint created using a solder-based system and can therefore offer more structural integrity, durability and long lasting function.

Versatile: Compatible with Many Different Types of Metal

NOVA can be used to repair anything from a simple silver bracelet to an intricate three-dimensional custom piece made of multiple types of metal. NOVA can weld any type of metal used in the jewellery tradies not only laser welder for gold and silver jewellery but also includes brass, titanium, stainless steel and even Aluminium since the adjustment of laser parameters and high control capability of NOVA makes it versatile enough for most types of jewellery repair and fabrication.

Efficient Workflow, Short Turnaround

Because laser welding is repeatable, precise, quick and easy, the use of NOVA allows for the maximum amount of productivity and repair being completed in the shortest amount of time. What may typically take several hours to repair using traditional methods, due to both the cooling and solder cycles, can often be accomplished in mere minutes with NOVA.

This means less wasted time and therefore, increased production opportunities for busy jewellery stores or workshops that do a large amount of jewellery repair work.

Clean, Non-Contact Operation

NOVA’s feature of using a non-contact approach with operative lighting eliminates both mechanical and contamination concerns in this application area. The reduction of these factors is critical, especially when dealing with intricate workmanship that has been polished or when trying to maintain the original luster of metals.

NOVA is ideal for the following applications:

• Repairing broken clasps, joints, or chains in a wide range of precious metals (gold, silver, platinum).
• Resizing rings while avoiding any potential damage to gemstones or adjacent metal surfaces.
• Re-tipping prongs and reinforcing existing settings.
• Joining small pieces together (earring posts, chain links, etc.) that have been damaged.
• Repairing any mixed-metal jewellery (gold/stainless steel).
• Repairing vintage/antique jewellery that contains stones or patinas that are heat sensitive and must be preserved.

Things to remember when working with NOVA are:

1. An adequate cooling system is required, typically a heavy-duty/chilled water supply system due to the heat produced during multiple welding cycles.

2. Operators must understand how to set up the laser according to the metal’s characteristics, as well as the thickness and design requirements, since metals conduct heat in different ways.

3. To ensure optimal results, clean and prepare all surfaces (i.e., oxidation debris) prior to welding, just as with all soldering/welding applications.

NOVA Laser Welding Machine – Technical Specifications

Specification	Value
Model No.	SLW-100 / SLW-200
Output Power	100W / 200W (based on requirement)
Single Pulse Energy	0–150 J
Machine Design Type	Desktop / Vertical
Laser Source	ND:YAG
Laser Wavelength	1064 nm
Pump Lamp	Pulsed Xenon Lamp
Pulse Width	0.1 – 20 ms adjustable
Pulse Repeated Frequency	1 – 50 Hz adjustable
Welding Spot Diameter	0.2 – 1.3 mm adjustable
Observing System	Microscope / CCD (based on requirement)
Cooling System	Water Chiller
Power Supply	Single Phase AC 220V ± 10%, 50Hz/60Hz, 4KW
Running Environment	Temperature 5°C – 28°C, Humidity 5% – 70%
Supported Application	Gold, Silver, Rose Gold, Copper, Platinum, Titanium, Argentine Silver, Nickel, Aluminum, Stainless Steel, etc.

Final Statement

NOVA Laser Welding Machines are revolutionising the way jewellers perform repair services, custom projects and delicate restoration. Because of the heat/energy concentration of the welding process, the chances of damaging gems or complex mountings is significantly lower than traditional methods that use a flame. The NOVA jewellery repair laser technology provides depth of penetration, cleaner joints and excellent control over all aspects of the welding operation, resulting in stronger, cleaner and more reliable results.

In addition to precision, efficiency is increased in jewellery businesses as a result of NOVA with faster welding cycles and less after-welding cleanup, along with the ability to weld almost any type of metal, the best laser welding machine for jewellery. NOVA allows jewellers to be more productive by increasing their speed of generating finished goods and producing them faster than previously possible. The NOVA also allows jewellers to confidently and consistently repair vintage, resize rings, repair mixed-metal jewellery, or to reinforce delicate jewelry parts.

FAQs

1. Which metals can NOVA weld?
NOVA supports gold, silver, rose gold, platinum, titanium, copper, nickel, aluminium, stainless steel, and many alloys. 

2. Is laser welding safe for gemstone-set jewellery?
Yes. The laser’s heat is highly localized, which minimizes the risk to nearby stones or fragile parts.

3. Do welds require extensive finishing?
Typically no, welding seams are narrow and clean, often requiring little or no polishing.

4. Does NOVA require special cooling?
Yes, it works best with a heavy-capacity chiller to manage heat during continuous use.

5. Can I use NOVA in a small workshop or at-home studio?
Yes. Its desktop/vertical design and manageable footprint make it suitable for both small and large jewellery operations.