Food safe kinda low temp solder

The little grease catch pan on our electric griddle broke.

Rather than being sensible and trying to buy another catch pan, I want to bend up a wire basket that'll hold a tuna can in the appropriate place -- it's more fun, and we can reduce the number of steps to get the grease into a tuna can and thence into the trash.

But I anticipate needing to solder or braze the thing in places, and I'd like to do it without discoloring the base metal (I'm thinking of using brazing rod, 'cause it's purty).

SWMBO will freak if I use Poisonous Metals to do the job, so regular solder is out. Anyone know of a solder that melts above 500F (so it won't fall apart from the heat of the griddle), but below the melting point of brass? Is this something that I can pick up at the local welding supply, or do I have to order it from someplace?

TIA.

Reply to
Tim Wescott
Loading thread data ...

Tim Wescott fired this volley in news:PvidnXe5_Zhog0zUnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@web-ster.com:

melting

You gonna EAT the drippings, or just throw them away?

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Indeed, there is a difference between waste contact and food contact.

Reply to
Pete C.

(a) Invalid argument; read my post about the source of the objection. Poison Metals act first by shutting off the critical thinking areas of the brain, remotely and by reputation. Only by saying "yes, dear, I made sure there's no Poison Metals in this" can I hang it on any Food Preparation Thingy without being nagged to death*.

(b) You gonna throw away nice tasty bacon drippings?!? My gawd, man, what do you fry onions in?

  • Besides, she has a point, however overblown it would be if I didn't anticipate it.
Reply to
Tim Wescott

Harris 45% silver solder, if she's paying.

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

I could be wrong on this, but aren't tuna cans soldered? Will a tuna can survive the temperatures in the griddle?

Unsure, BobH

Reply to
BobH

Well, let's see what is available! The zinc in the brass is toxic when it oxidizes. The copper in brass is toxic when oxidizes. If you use silver solder, silver is toxic. If you use pure tin solder, the tin oxides are toxic. Perhaps you could use JB Weld epoxy, I know it will stand up to the heat. Possibly not toxic. The brazing rod will discolor when it is washed it dish washer. See if you can find some stainless welding rod and silver solder that. If you were closer, I would give you some.

Why are you using a dangerous electric appliance? I remember once when my wife was making gravy in an electric skillet and threw the spoon clear across the kitchen when she went to turn on the vent fan ( Aluminum camp trailer).

I guess I would pick up a roll of silver solder and a bottle of flux at the welding supply store and use a propane torch. Any actual non- lead solder will require some flux that is very nasty smelling when heated to activate it.

Paul in Central Oregon

Reply to
co_farmer

They are deep-drawn now and will survive molten aluminum.

Stainless steel screen from various cheap kitchen accessories might work well.

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

Yes. Plumbing solder is also lead free and has been for at least 20 years.

Reply to
Pete C.

Poison metals act? I thought you lived in the USA.

Just buy her a new grill, put old one out in your shop, don't let her know where that one went.

I think you spend a lot of time out in the shop for some reason.

Wes

Reply to
Wes
95/5 solder is acceptable for potable water and all plumbing that touches the water you drink and use every day. Somebody decided that would be an acceptable non toxic level of lead for all of us.
Reply to
DanG

95% tin, 5% antimony. It's stronger than lead solder and melts higher, but is more difficult to work with. I first used it on industrial refrigeration systems in the mid 70's.

Jim Wilkins

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

More importantly, what are onions going to taste like that have been fried in bacon fat stored in a tuna can?

Reply to
Pete Keillor

You don't _store_ it in a tuna can (and you do clean the can before you use it to catch the grease -- geeze). You make the bacon, you dump the grease into the frying pan, you caramelize the onions, you serve with the bacon...

Reply to
Tim Wescott

Since when? All the plumbing solder and flux I've used for the past couple decades has been lead free (and silver bearing).

Reply to
Pete C.

Others have mentioned silver solder or similar, if your electric griddle is like mine, perhaps rather than wire you could just bend a piece of stainless thus:

_ _ |_________|

And then you could use the empty tuna can if you intend to discard the grease or a glass custard cup if you wished to preserve the drippings.

This way there is no toxic issues for her and she also might appreciate the ease of cleaning.

Reply to
Roger Shoaf

Let the Record show that Pete Keillor on or about Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:41:36 -0400 did write/type or cause to appear in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Definitely not like Chicken.

- pyotr filipivich "And Art is art, and east is east and west is west, and if you take rubbarb and stew it like prunes, it will taste more like raspberries than cauliflower. Now you tell me what you know." Groucho Marx

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

Most silversolders melt at considerably below the melting point of brass, and most of those readily available are now Cd free. I'll bet you'd have a hard time finding Cd-bearing silver solder in Kalifornia. I'd send you some nice Cd-free food-safe 56% silver alloy but you pissed me off recently though I only vaguely recall how or why. Oh yeah, it was the tweak about ohmygawd buying guns rather than tobacco. Macht nicht, you can afford to buy what you need.

Reply to
Don Foreman

Excuse to buy a spot welder.

formatting link

Reply to
Calif Bill

I shoulda put a smiley.

Reply to
Pete Keillor

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.