welding and steel

According to ANIMAL :

I *think* that you mean "solder", not "sauder". The spelling makes a difference when you are attempting to find information via Google or other such search engines, and your spelling is so far off that I'm not even sure that it could offer a reasonable suggestion for a corrected spelling.

Solder (soft solder, the lead-tin alloy) wets copper, brass and tin-plated surfaces nicely.

It does *not* wet steel very well in most cases, without extreme measures.

Try "silver solder", or perhaps brazing. They will need different tools, as a soldering iron or a propane torch will not get hot enough, and the way silver solder is used is rather different from soft solder. Spend some time searching for information on "silver solder" and you might find enough information to get you started.

Good Luck, DoN.

to make solder stick to steel it must be extremely clean..like sandblasted clean

You are not getting the steel hot enough. Heat the steel and let the steel melt the solder, not the soldering iron. Needs to be fluxed first also.

Steve.

Mechanical cleaning (wet sanding works well) followed by use of "tinner's fluid" (zinc chloride in hydrochloric acid) works quite well. I've been doing this for decades.

Wash the parts in hot water after they cool, to remove the residue, which is very corrosive.

Tinner's fluid is still sold, but not necessarily under that name. Plumbing supply houses often carry suitable fluxes.

One maker is Johnson: . There are many others.

Joe Gwinn

Just What the He** is sauder??????

Assuming that this is not a troll question, solder does indeed stick to steel. I'd recommend grinding the steel (or sanding) and then using a liquid flux such as Harris Stay-Clean (hydrochloric acid and zinc, I believe). You'll need a propane torch for the heat source. You mention a steel socket. The chrome plating may be the problem. Keep in mind that solder joints should be very "thin", in other words, a tight fit between the two pieces to be soldered. If you're trying to fill a 1/8" gap, soldering is probably not the process you need.