Solder? Flux? Heat? for brass

Be careful you don't burn it with your OA torch - keep it moving. Even better and safer from a burn standpoint would be to use mapp or propane on such a small job. Clean both pieces well and coat with a flux recommended for silver soldering. Place a small piece, say 1/4 in. or less, of silver solder next to the rod, and laying in the flux. You may want to use some sort of a fixture, or holding device, to make sure the square doesn't move while you are heating it. Apply heat being careful to not directly heat the flux or it may burn and lose its effectiveness. As the heat approaches "correct temperature" the flux will be seen to melt and shortly thereafter, the solder will flow between the square and the rod.

If strength is not an issue, the same can be done with ordinary wire solder. Again, fluxing is important - and do not apply heat directly to the solder or the flux.

"Bob Swinney" wrote: (clip)solder next to the rod, and laying in the flux. You may want to use some sort of a fixture, or holding device, to make sure the square doesn't move (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^ After you adjust your torch to a neutral flame, just brush the end of the flame back and forth across the assembled joint, to keep the heat down. Oxy/acetylene is way overkill for this job. If you have silver solder in sheet form, you could put a small clip of this between the end of the rod and the middle of the plate, and then use downward pressure on the rod to hold everything in place. If you have wire silver solder, hammer the end flat, and then break it off and proceed as above.

Watch carefully that the edges and corners of the sheet don't overheat. They can bead up on you very easily while you are waiting for the solder to melt.

No, don't use a torch for this. Practically the smallest soldering iron sold will do this job. A weller 100/140 watt solder gun is plenty.

You could use electronic solder with rosin core, if you clean up the brass with steel wool first. If you have any trouble with the mild rosin working, simply put a tiny amount of plumbers ZnCl paste flux on the joint.

Jim

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Always use a clean, polished hammer for this, because when dirt gets in the solder it won't stick. HF sells a tiny hammer with nice heads, but I like about an 8 ounce ball peen, and I use the face not the ball.

Yours,

Doug Goncz, Replikon Research, Seven Corners, VA Unequal distribution of apoptotic factors regulates embryonic neuronal stem cell proliferation

Very informative reply, Doug! I think I have had the "dirty hammer" problem before but didn't recognize it as such. I will definitely look out for it in the future.

Jim sez: "You could use electronic solder with rosin core, if you clean up the brass with steel wool first."

If it's all the same with you, I would rather use digital solder.

Bob Swinney

oxy-acetylene

If you have

Bob Swinney wrote: If it's all the same with you, I would rather use digital solder. ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Bob, I have a digital door bell button on my house. Most people press it with their index digit.

Solder: Harris Staybrite Flux: Harris Staykleen or ordinary tinners fluid (zinc chloride)

Welding stores sell a little "handypack" with a coil of solder and a little bottle of flux in a blisterpack. This is a surprisingly strong tin-silver solder that melts at 430 F. A soldering gun works fine on small jobs. It will wet and join brass, copper, nickel, steel and/or stainless in any combination.

For a job that size with oxy/acetylene youll need a very small tip. I'd use a Smith-Victor "Little Torch". See