Silver soldering - Copper vs Brass

[rtropp]

Most of these were phone calls.  Their tech support spent a fair amount of time on it.  I will write the company with the situation but, other than that, I can only post my experience here, on Amazon, etc.

 

Richard

[dgbot]

I gave a hands on demo at one of my clubs on silver soldering.  How to do it using equipment that is easy and reasonably priced.  I used one of those pistol grip Berzomatic torches using a butane cartridge.  And for the work it did the job nicely.  However I use the medium liver solder most of the time.  Make sue the parts are perfectly clean and oil free.  remove the finish and covering with sandpaper or a file. make sure the joint is perfect and apply flux to the joint.  Start the torch and ease it onto the joint when the solder melts remove it.  The secret is enough heat to almost melt the brass and not the solder.  If you hold it too long the brass will melt as well.  Practice makes perfect.  I was able to help him but joint two pieces of wire together and solder a tubes together.  It was a crude joint but he was thrilled and with practice he was able to continue with his model.  He is always thanking me for showing how the job was done.  Practice and experiment that is the rule when learning a new skill.  Write down what you did and keep track  this way you know what will work and what will not.

David B
 

[rtropp]

David,

At this point I am going to work with the premise that the Blazer torch was the problem by not operating to its published specs.

 

I will try the berzomatic and I understand their torches can be for butane or propane.  Does anyone have opinions on either?

 

A member of my ship club loaned me a torch that takes two tanks. oxygen and a fuel.  That will be my next experiment.  I thought that sort of torch would be unwieldy but the tanks are available at the hardware store and very large.  I want to see both its impact on the solder as well as the size of the flame for the delicate work we do.  If that works I may consider one of the torches such as the smith little torch. 

 

I'll let you all know what I find, thanks again for all the help.

 

Richard. 

[bhermann]

those are approximately the temperatures of the solder I was trying.  I guess the blazer just doesn't reach the temperature it advertises.  One of the members of my ship club loaned by a torch that used oxygen and fuel. I am going to give it a try.  Then, I may just try the Bernzomatic which should be easily available from one of the hardware stores in town.

Bob, does yours still have a model number on it to help with the search?

 

Thanks all,

Richard

Richard

 

I looked all over the torch and I don't see a model number anywhere.  I recall that I picked it up at Home Depot and the price was in the $40-60 range (I think).  Sorry i don't have any better detail than that.  I bought this one after trying a couple of pencil torches.  They worked OK, but I had a lot of trouble trying to refill them.

 

Bob

[Boccherini]

Richard,

several things to consider. The copper may be coated with something. If I suspect my materials are coated, heating them to a dull red color (prior to doing the soldering) generally burns it all off. A quick clean with emery cloth or a file is sufficient preparation before soldering. I have used small pieces of silver solder wire with flux, but the process was awkward or frustrating or both. For several years now, I have been using jewellers silver solder paste. It comes in 3 temperature grades and is sold in syringes from jewellers suppliers. I have had no problems soldering copper to copper, brass to brass and copper to brass using a small butane torch. There is no need for flux. Cleanliness, though, is still important.

 

Regards.

Grant.

[rtropp]

Grant,

What brand and type of silver solder are you using?

 

Richard

[Boccherini]

Richard,

the current syringe full is manufactured by a Swiss company, Hilderbrand & Cie (it's 770 deg C melt point), I have used other brands with equal success. The brand doesn't matter. Have a look at some jewellers suppliers web sites, silver solder paste is readily available. One thing you do need to remember when using it: the surfaces to be joined need to be in contact with each other, this stuff does not fill gaps well.

 

Regards,

Grant.

[druxey]

I've just been silver soldering quite small parts: rings of ⅛" o.d. copper to brass strip for topsail yard stunsail booms at 1:48 scale. I had no difficulty with the joints, directing more heat on the brass which then conducted to the copper. I was using 'medium' silver solder (from sheet) and a butane micro-torch (similar to Hornet's posted photo).

 

An example of these irons is shown here.

Edited April 18, 2015 by druxey