Subject: Re: Silver Soldering

From: [email-masked] (Tim Kirby)
Date: 10 Oct 94 13:38:59 CDT

Matthew Jones ([email-masked]) wrote:
: What is a good book to get if I want to learn to silver solder, where
: should I buy the torch and supplies.

Hmmm... I can "see" a book in my minds eye but I can't remember the name;
I'll try & find it tonight.

What sort of silver soldering had you in mind?...
the range of applications covers (as a couple of examples) repairing
jewellery to building copper boilers. What you use to repair a fine bracelet
is typically unsuitable for large boilerwork...

Tim
--
Tim Kirby _________ Cray Research Inc., Eagan, MN, USA __________ [email-masked]
Software Division              System Support                +1-(612)-683-5390
__________________________ Consider it disclaimed ____________________________
If all else fails, Immortality may always be assured by spectacular error(JKG)

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From: [email-masked] (Timothy D. Shoppa x4256)
Date: 11 Oct 1994 09:22 PST

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Matthew Jones) writes...
>In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Tim Kirby) writes:
>:What sort of silver soldering had you in mind?...
>:the range of applications covers (as a couple of examples) repairing
>:jewellery to building copper boilers. What you use to repair a fine bracelet
>:is typically unsuitable for large boilerwork...
> 
>Definitely not jewellery. General work, right now it would be for soldering
>brass, aluminum or steel tubing.  Also some sheet metal work.  Some of the 
>work will be strictly fuctional others will have some appearance.
> 
>Matthew Jones
>[email-masked]
>[email-masked]

For the applications you describe, the term I would use would be "brazing".
The terms "silver soldering", "hard soldering", and "brazing" all mean
roughly the same thing, as far as I can figure out - to attach two
pieces of metal by using a dissimilar filler with a melting point higher
than tin/lead solder, but with a melting point lower than the metals
being joined.  
	"Silver soldering", in particular, seems to be associated
with jewelry repair and fabrication, and often uses a tin/lead/silver solder.
For small pieces, silver soldering can often be done with a small butane
or propane torch, of the sort you can buy at nearly any hardware store.
Depending on the silver content of the solder and size of your work,
these small torches may heat your work up too slowly to the solder's
melting temperature.  In this case, you might want to get one of the small
oxy/propane torches that you can also find in hardware stores.
	Complex fabrication using silver solder may use several different
solders, each with different melting temperatures.  The most complete
selection of solders I ever saw was in the "Indium Coporation of America"'s
catalog.  Not only did they have a wide range of very low melting point indium
solders (some of which, it claimed, were capable of wetting and joining
glass), but they also had a small stock of higher melting point silver solders.
I believe the "Small Parts" catalog (mentioned in the FAQ) also lists several
different solders with a wide range of melting points.
	"Brazing" or "Hard Soldering", in my mind, refers to joining two
pieces of metal by using a non-tin/lead filler.  The sort of brazing I'm
familiar with is joining two pieces of steel using a bronze brazing material.
There are also brazing rods available for joining aluminum and stainless,
but I've never used these.  Small brazing jobs can be done using one of the
small oxy/propane torches I mentioned above, but I'd strongly recommend
borrowing, renting, or buying an oxy-acetylene torch if you are going
to be doing more than just a few small joints at a time.  The tiny oxygen
cylinders for the oxy/propane torches are not refillable and are very
expensive (around $10.00 each) for the small amount of working time
(about 10 minutes) they give you.  While an oxy-acetelyne setup will cost
you much more to buy (around $200.00 + the cost of the tanks will get
you started), the tanks are refillable so the costs are much lower in the
long run.  It's hard to tell, from your e-mail address, where you are located,
but if you are anywhere in So. California, I'd strongly recommend that you
visit IPS (Industrial Pipe & Steel) in So. El Monte.  They have a very complete
selection of everything you'd ever need, ranging in quality from cheap-and-not-
worth-it imports to professional quality welding outfits.

Tim. ([email-masked])

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From: [email-masked] (Matthew Jones)
Date: 10 Oct 1994 14:29:45 GMT

What is a good book to get if I want to learn to silver solder, where
should I buy the torch and supplies.

Matthew Jones
[email-masked]
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Matthew Jones)
Date: 11 Oct 1994 14:47:46 GMT

Matthew Jones
[email-masked]
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (David Jenkins)
Date: 12 Oct 1994 07:33:30 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Matthew
Jones) writes:
|> What is a good book to get if I want to learn to silver solder,
|> where
|> should I buy the torch and supplies.
|> 
|> Matthew Jones
|> [email-masked]
|> [email-masked]

If you can get hold of British books, look for one on soldering by
"Tubal Cain" (a pen name for T.D. Walshaw).  This covers everything
>from  soft soldering to silver soldering and brazing.  It's a small
paperback.

Alternatively, find someone who can silver solder, get a few pieces of
scrap metal, some flux and some silver solder and get a demonstration.
10 minutes of demonstration will beat reading any book. _It's a very
simple process_, when you see it done first-hand.

-- 
David Jenkins

"This looks like a job for... somebody else!"
	- Plucky Duck