how to join thin stainless steel sheet metal.

sorry for got to mention , already tried silver solder ,and had hard time heating the metal to the correct temp. actually the flux started burning before the solder melted, and the burned flux left a black residue which repelled the solder even more.

You need a high temp black flux to silver solder SS.
Lane

I suspect the silver solder was 'to hard' - e.g. a high temp version. I got a sample box some years ago with 4-5 temps and then twice that in diameters.
Diameter might be to high, flux might be ok or lower temp.
IIRC, there is a special flux for Stainless. Might try searching for info.
Martin
acrobat-ants wrote:

Very simple. Zinc Chloride flux and pure tin solder. Works great on stainless steel. I use it to seal simplle pans.

isn't that the B1 stuff (used for brazing chro mo)?

Is that the method for mild steel too... like attaching hardware cloth to angle?

Ernie--is this stuff available at Central Welding--or do you have to get it somewhere else? I poked around on the web and had a bit of trouble finding pure tin solder.
Also, would my MAPP torch be a good choice here?
Thanks,
Jeff Dantzler Seattle, WA

Most hardware stores carry pure tin solder in small rolls. It is required by code for copper pipes used for drinking water. The Zinc Chloride flux is a litle harder to find. It is used by a lot of sheet metal shops for soldering galvanized steel seams.
Solder
Flux
Make sure those URLs are all on one line
A mapp torch is perfect for this.

I've got a few rolls of plumbing solder around. Some from Sterling, which claims to be lead-, antimony-, & nickel-free.
And some 'bridgit' from Harris which has some silver and antimony in it.
The flux from Sterling definately has ZnCl in it (but no other warnings).
The Harris flux has ZnCl, ammonium chloride, some ground up tin/antimony (95/5) solder to pretin the parts, and some other stuff.
I'd be inclined to use the Sterling solder which flows at 410F--along with their flux.
For education's sake, is ammonium chloride in the flux inappropriate for soldering thin stainless or does it not matter?
Also, would silver or some antimony in the solder be problematic?
Forgive me for asking so many questions. I have learned much about welding, but not so much about soldering and brazing. Mainly only in the context of sweating pipe.
Jeff Dantzler

That I don't know.
Shouldn't be a problem