Re: Silver Soldering

ArmyTuger wrote:
Hi fellas,
I need your help. I'm also starting my brazing/soldering works. In my
case, I will need to join small diameter brass tubes together (0.5 mm to
2 mm).
I'm working on a model plane in 1/100 scale (not RC) and I prefer to
make a landing gear in brass than plastic, cause it's a bit large and
heavy bird, so the plastic tubes would bend with the time passing.
I already have a butane pen torch, but I don't know which silver solder
is proper to this use. Which percentage of silver is recommended? And
which flux I must use?

Thanks in advance.
Cheers,
Joao


Just about any silver solder you use will be as least as strong as the brass. I'd recommend Johnson Matthey EasyFlo powder flux.
For the size of materials you are using, put a teaspoon full of flux in an egg cup, add a _small_ drop of washing-up liquid, and drops of water until the mixture has the consistency of double cream.
Make sure the joint is clean and free from oil/grease, paint the joint with the flux, and carefully heat it until the flux bubbles up, clears, and settles down. Now remove the heat and place a small piece of (barely) fluxed silver solder on the joint. Carefully heat the joint again (don't heat the solder directly - if you do it will melt into a little ball and refuse to run into the joint) until the solder melts and runs into it, and the job is done. It should take longer than a few seconds, 10 at the most. Prolonged heating will burn the flux and render it useless.
The above technique is used by jewellers; I've used it for over 50 years 'cos I'm a jeweller. If your silver solder is a rod, flatten the end with a hammer until its about 0.25mm thick, and cut a piece off about 1 - 1.5mm square. That's the size you need for the size of joint you described.

--
Regards, Gary Wooding
(To reply by email, change gug to goog in my address)
.

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