Silver soldering small components

[thehomeengineer]

Hi Gary
practice is the only way to improve silver soldering and watching the flux change state is the cheapest way because you can do this without using solder on different scrap pieces of material just to get use to the temperature and flux change. Then when confidence in this the solder can be introduced.
Any questions please ask.
The Home Engineer

[Okapi]

Hi Okapi
I am not sure what tested silver is?
I have used copper to copper which is not as nice as silver soldering as it doesn't flow as well. I have never used the solder that is suspended in flux which is like a paste you paint on. This tends to be used in jewellery making but I definitely would like to give it ago just to see what type of results I could get but very expensive to buy. I do use different melting point solders on some fabrications so I have less chance of effecting the previous joint but generally as long as there is no flux present the previous solder joints require a higher temperature to remelt the joint.
Many thanks again
The Home Engineer

Hi, I've controlled on the box if it is something about silver grade, but it's a very old packaging from Castolin and it was originally for assembling hard metal on lathe tools, in my opinion as I use it for jewellry too for my wife it's about 0,750 and very white, it's a band of 0,1mm X 20mm, if you want I can send you a part for proofing, I have enough for about 50 years…
It's very convenient because you just put a part of the sheet between the parts you want to assemble at the dimension of the contact between them (with 1802 flux in my case) and you heat it, no cleaning and a very esthetic assembly.
I have the same in copper and I suppose it was for the same purpose, the difference is more on the heat transmission than the resistance of the soldering because I just have to heat more with copper than with silver and I see no evidence of a difference in my purpose.

[DIYer]

Thanks thehomeengineer! We've added your Silver Soldering Technique to our Fastening category,
as well as to your builder page: thehomeengineer's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Silver Soldering Technique by thehomeengineer

tags: soldering

[gatz]

HE, Thanks for the tutorial.

is it best to use distilled water to thin flux, or is it not that important?

[petertha]

Very, very nice.
In your final assembly pictures does the dark mat finish come from the blasting only, or was there some kind of color/heat treatment used that gives it that nice gunmetal look? Are you showing this build in some other forum I can follow along?

[Murph1090]

Water? Thin the flux with alcohol! Water boils away and splatters the flux, alcohol burns off, leaving the flux whete it should be.

[Toolmaker51]

Soldering & brazing bond materials in a manner similar to glue and wood. Increased heat, cleanliness, and flux promote the expansion of parent metal to where the solder or braze rod penetrate a few bare thousandths. An ideal gap is .002 -.004. A proper joint displays a thin silver line without pits or empty spots; a familiar application is mounting of shotgun ribs and front sights of rifles. The silver doesn't take bluing, so extra care is taken; that line displays craftsmanship.

Like lead solder, various melting temperatures of silver help assembly projects, especially prevalent in jewelry, starting out with higher temps first. Other way around is more like a house of cards.

[thehomeengineer]

HE, Thanks for the tutorial.

is it best to use distilled water to thin flux, or is it not that important?

Hi gatz
Thank you for the message.
I use standard tap water to mix flux and this works fine. Add a small amount of water at a time to the flux powder and mix until it is slightly runnier than tooth paste.
Hope this answers your question.

[thehomeengineer]

Very, very nice.
In your final assembly pictures does the dark mat finish come from the blasting only, or was there some kind of color/heat treatment used that gives it that nice gunmetal look? Are you showing this build in some other forum I can follow along?

Hi petertha
The finish is from the shot blasting. I use this to give a good key for painting. If it was a pressure fitting or vessel it would be placed in my acid bath to clean of the flux. The reason for this the shot blasting can remove some of the solder and comprise the solder joint. For everything else the shot blasting method is quick and gives a great finish. Hope this helps and answers your question.

[thehomeengineer]

Water? Thin the flux with alcohol! Water boils away and splatters the flux, alcohol burns off, leaving the flux whete it should be.

Hi Murph
I have never used alcohol but will definitely try it. The reason I use water is I can mix a small batch of flux and as long as I put in a sealed container it lasts for months. Flux is not cheap and I never seem to be able to mix the actual amount I need so this works for me. I have not had the issue with the flux splatter? Do you place the heat directly on to the joint as this will cause a problem with the flux as the heat from torch can burn the flux off before the material is up to the correct temperature. This is more prevalent on larger assemblies and I apply the heat uniformly around the joint and on the largest material section and allow the heat to move toward the joint. But I am very interested in the alcohol especially on smaller assemblies.