Hey Guys,
New to the board here and have a couple of questions. I am in a rut so to say. I cannot get my German silver(22 Ga) to stick to my 12Ga steel. I have preped the steel, use flux everything, and it still pops off.
Some of my solder is beading to the outside. So with the details, is my flame to hot? What type of torch to use? Do I only heat is from the bottom? Flux, very little or the more is better? I am just making some three piece buckles, and need some insight. Thanks Don

What type solder? High temp,low temp?I use a welding tip on a torch,heat from the bottom,and use lots of flux.Most of the trouble I have seems to be flux related.

Don,
Like Chad said, tell us a little more about what you are doing and Ill bet you get answers.

Stewart

Don,

What prep have you done to the steel, lots of things could cause the silver not to stick, I have had problems on occasion after buffing steel I did not clean off the steel with a cleaner and the buffing residue caused problems.

Another problem - and if you are getting beading outside the silver this may be it - is that with solder too much will not stick as well as a thin layer. I personally tin the back of my silver with a thin layer (whether I am using soft, medium, or hard solder) and use clamps to hold in place while heating to temp. I then sometimes draw solder under to fill in any gaps. I like my solder to come all the way to the edge of my silver.

I have never heard of too much flux being a problem other than drawing the solder to someplace that you don't want it.

I am no expert and am just passing on what has been taught to me. I hope that this helps.

D.C.

_________________
The best thing for the inside of a man is the outside of a horse.

Here we go, I am putting my 3 piece buckle in muratic acid to clean it. I put flux on the steel, then my solder(low temp)(hammered out paper thin)then I put my 22 ga silver on top of my 12 ga steel. I have been heating it so that the silver tarnishes a dark color(almost rosbud). I am using a low temp solder. Anyhow if I get it that hot the silver sticks good. I am using my cutting torch with a small tip. I was using my wifes small hand held torch(crack pipe torch)<--sorry thats the best way to explain, anyhow it was not getting hot enough because my silver would pop off. It seems the way I am currently soldering is incorrect, but its sticking so until yall give some insight, I'll keep doing it this way. Let me know something yall are doing-using. thanks Don

Don,

I am fairly new to all of this and well have gone through many of the same issues you are dealing with. Here is how I go about my soldering...

First and foremost I get my steel prepped. I use a 3M deburring wheel to start with then go to a Sisel wheel. Then before soldering I clean the steel with dish soap and a tooth brush and dry the steel well. Then I go to the soldering table... I use Kester Acid Core Solder with Silver Brite Liquid Flux. I shape my silver to the steel first. Then tin the backside of the silver with the solder. I coat the silver in Flux then slowly coat the silver with the solder. Once coated with solder I place the silver on the steel and use clamps to hold it onto the steel. I have made my claps out of Sterling Welding Rod. Then I coat the silver again in flux and heat from the bottom side. I currently use a Oxy/Act Torch but started with a standard Mapp/Oxy Torch from my local hardware store. I swapped the Mapp for Propane and used it for many pairs of spurs and buckles. Once I start to see the silver flow I quench with the flux and check my work. If needed I fill spaces with solder and quench as needed. Then once I am finished soldering I go back to the buffing wheels and clean off any excess solder.

This is what has worked for me, part of it is trial and error and figuring what works for you. I'd be happy to help in any way I can, good luck with your future projects!

-justin

Don,
I can't help you much with this because I use mostly silver solder. I use an oxy-acetelene torch for that but when I do use lo-temp solder I switch to an acetelene-atmospheric torch with a farly big tip. It doesn't get as hot as the oxy-aceceteline and I get along alot better. With lo-temp it's real easy to get too hot too fast. I have a squirt bottle with water and a squirt bottle of Stay Brite flux. If I see I am getting too hot I can cool my piece off a little with the water and then add a little more flux. I learned that little tip from Wilson Capron and it sure made things easier.

The best thing is just practice and more practice. I have been in quite a few different shops and every maker seems to do things a little different. You will just have to figure out what works best for you. If you get your metal clean and get good at controlling your heat, soldering is not difficult.

Good luck,
Stewart

I use SilvaBrite solder with liquid flux for most of my overlay on steel.

About the only thing I would add to the already posted suggestions is the following.

I usually shape the silver, flux and tin it, flux the steel, clamp and heat.
It seems to take about an inch of solder for a square inch of silver.

When starting to heat the part(s), I always start with the underside of the steel, when the flux starts to get bubbly between the steel and the nickel or sterling, I switch to the other side and start heating the silver until it solders. Usually by this time, the flux is almost spent and starting to turn brown, but gives a good joint. Then I have a syringe with flux and spray it down. Examine the joint and if a little bit more solder is necessary, clip a piece off and lay it next to the joint. Flux and head again, just until the solder sucks in the joint. If any of the overlays that are coming off have really black or brown steel under them, that usually means too much heat for the amout of flux and is oxidizing the steel.

Hope this helps.

JB

not much to add but a clean base is always the best

after getting your steel prepaired i use some acetone to clean it removing any oil .......as for flux ....
stay bright if you can not get enough heat...this flows at about 400 deg.
if you are using silver solder you can also try ultra flux you can get your metal red hot before this stuff quits working.....hope you got something from this post