Silver Soldering

Hey folks,

I'm trying to teach myself to do some silver soldering. Does anyone know of a good pamflet, book or website that reviews the differents alloys and their melting temperatures, and specific metals they are good for soldering? My current project involves soldering two pieces of mild steel solid enough to do an interrupted cut on my lathe.

I'm planning on using my propane or MAPP (Methyl Acetylene Propadiene) torch to melt it.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Dan (Seattle WA)

Reply to
Dan Miller
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"The Brazing Book" from Handy & Harman is an excellent start:

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Reply to
Joshua Putnam

After getting in some reading, pick up a sleeve of Forney's Sil-Flo solder. It's more forgiving than most alloys, self fluxing on bronze and copper, and easy to control, since there's a good range between flow and decomposition temperatures.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Thanks Lloyd,

Will Sil-Flo work for two pieces of mild steel? If not can you recommend an alloy composition? Seems like most people are using silver solder for copper and brass or bronze. I'm guessing the optimal alloys might be different for mild steel though?

Dan

Lloyd E. Sp>

Reply to
Dan Miller

Can't remember what kind of silver solder it was, but it was silver white in colour, and I used a white paste flux - Silver soldered a distributor drive gear together for a Renault R12 I was rallying at the time, because I had just broke the last available one by not getting the miserable cyl head lined up perfectly (had only one dowel pin - you needed an alignment cone to do the job right - and I didn't have one - finally made one from hardwood dowel). Rallied the car for 3 years, then my brother drove it as a "beater" for another 2 or 3, and it never came apart.

Reply to
nospam.clare.nce

Yep -- with proper fluxing, it will work fine on SS, too. But it really shines on copper and bronze. Pretty much any brazing rod will work on mild steel, so long as you're not particular about thermal characteristics or ultimate strength.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Well I had a go at some silver soldering this weekend. I bought some "Silvaloy (56% Ag, 22% Cu, 17% Zn, and 5% Sn) Turns out I just couldn't get the piece hot enough. The solder is supposed to melt around 1145 and flow around 1205. Everyone says MAPP or Propane is enough but it just wasn't for this piece. I had the flame directed directly at the joint for a good 30 minutes. I'm trying to solder a 1" x 1" x 1/4" square of steel to a 1" x 3" x 1/2" piece. Maybe just too much steel for a MAPP torch. Looks like I'm going to have to fire up the oxy acetylene which means I'll need some regulators and hose. Anyone have any for sale?? Other suggestions?

Dan

Lloyd E. Sp>

Reply to
Dan Miller

More than one MAPP or propane torch would also put more heat on the joint, if you already happen to have another torch around. I've used two MAPP torches a couple of times for joints that were just a bit too massive for one MAPP torch.

Reply to
Joshua Putnam

You can build a propane torch with a few bux worth of plumbing parts that will definitely do your job. Ron Reil has brazed cannon balls with such a torch. See

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I made one of these burners just for the hell of it. It works.

Reply to
Don Foreman

Try to find some insulating fire brick. I use about three to make a corner which reflects the heat. Try places that sell pottery supplies. Hard fire brick will help, but insulating fire brick is much better.

Dan

Dan Miller wrote:

Reply to
dcaster

Not me. For any decent sized (over one cubic inch) part, oxy acetlyene is the only way to go. You'll just waste a lot of gas and burn up the part.

Trouble with any air/gas torch is you are heating up all the nitrogen that comes in with the O2, which robs a great deal of heat from the process.

Get a small OA rig and you will be amazed at how fast it goes.

Jim

Reply to
jim rozen

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