If I get some of that high-percentage silver solder and "tin" a piece of brass with it, will I get a surface that can be polished and look like a silver-plated bit of brass?
This because a) the bit of brass is quite small; b) silver-plating isn't done locally; and c) mail-order kits to do silver plating are rather too expensive for this item
I don't see why not. Don't polish through.
Tim
No. The silver content is too low. However, if you buy solder for sterling from a jewelry supply house, it will likely work. You may not be successful in getting a nice, smooth layer. You might find you polish through it. Hard to say.
Silver solder, as it applies to those of us that work in other than jewelry shops, usually runs around 50% or so in silver, and is a light yellow color, far from the color of silver. Silver is the whitest of all the white metals.
Good luck!
Harold
I agree with Harold. I have tried several different brands of silver solder and the color varies drastically from brass color to slight yellow tint. The brass color solder contained cadinum and the lighest color was Harris brand.
I have seen spots of very silver color on the part but I cannot determine what causes them. They occur where there is extra flux and the solder migrates a considerable distance from the joint. Must be some combination of distance and heat.
chuck
But you can buy the just the solution from Caswell, and other places, for less than 20 bucks. Using a 1.5 volt power supply and info from the Caswell web site will enable you to do what you want. The power supply can just be a single battery cell. ERS
Use brush plating technique. You can make all the parts. Use a clean carbon rod wrapped with cotton batting for the anode. This technique is gtreat for small parts since you only use enough of your solution for the job and don't contaminate or dilute your solution bottle.
Ted
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