Brass solder color match

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi all Orchideans,

Does anyone know a good match colour solder for brass? I’m in the UK
and could find good options here.

Every help is welcome,
Thanks a lot,
Melissa

2

Melissa, you won’t find one. Solder is almost universally shades of
silver. What you want to look into is brazing, using the best rod,
close to the metal, alloy-wise, that you can find. And the technique
is similar to soldering, but different.

Michael

3

I’ve used Johnson Matthey “Mattibraze 34” to solder brass; it gives a
very good colour match, much better than normal silver solder. MP is
610-670C (1130-1238F) and it contains Cd.

Regards, Gary Wooding

4 
...Does anyone know a good match colour solder for brass?

Mel, go back through the Orchid Archives and look for discussions on
this topic. In the meantime, visit a shop selling welding/brazing
supplies and look for a 1/16" (diameter) brazing rod with a brass
color (not plated). Try to buy a single one for experimentation.
Hammer out a short length of it (it’s somewhat brittle). Snip that up
into little squares. Use the high-temperature flux (probably black),
and try soldering with this “solder.”

I find this to be a decent color match (not perfect). You can only
use it with brass which does not contain more than 15% Zn; otherwise,
it will melt before the solder does.

Let us know if you find other options.

Judy Bjorkman
Owego, NY, USA

5 
Solder is almost universally shades of silver. What you want to
look into is brazing, using the best rod, close to the metal,
alloy-wise, that you can find. And the technique is similar to
soldering, but different.

If the OP wants so solder brass then brazing rod will not work as it
will melt at the same temperature as the brass. There are low silver
content solders that are fairly yellow they are useable for work on
brass but will still leave a lighter colored seam. She should look
at the alloys that have less than 30% silver in them.

James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts

6

Silver and gold soldering is, in fact, brazing…

7

Someone from a casting place that I use suggested mixing a small
amount of the brass/.bronze molten metal with the silver solder. I
haven’t tried it yet. Would it work?

Sandra
Elegant Insects Jewelry