in my wandering around the hardware store, in search of shiny
things, I came across long sticks of “lead free silver solder” in the
plumbing section. These are long, thick sticks of what looks like
mostly copper (coppery colour)- it comes in 5% and 15% silver.
Of course I bought some- since I like to work with copper and
especially brass, and silver solder doesn’t blend in with the god
and red metals. I had a go with the 5% stuff today, and (not only did
it flow) but it also is a lovely golden colour- almost perfectly
matches brass and looks nice on copper too. So far I have only read
about people using gold solder on yellow metals; or oxidising silver
solder to make it stand out less. Is there something horrifying about
these brazing rods that I don’t know?
What I did was smash some up with a hammer (I thought it would
flatten but it broke, it’s very brittle) and laid it on my piece like
I would bits of sheet solder. It worked really well so I am wondering
why I haven’t come across others using this solder?
No metalsmiths / jewele rs use it because it’s for welding and not
jewelry, it has a low silver content and won’t stay bright and shiny
on precious metals for long. You’d do better buying the plumbers or
electronics 65% silver bearing solder than the brazing rods. What
you are smashing is ammonium chloride, and zinc nasty stuff for your
lungs - it’s the flux coating on the welding rods that makes it flow-
why not just buy some yellow coloured silver solder unless you don’t
work in precious metals?.. rer
"lead free silver solder" in the plumbing section. These are long,
thick sticks of what looks like mostly copper (coppery colour)- it
comes in 5% and 15% silver. It worked really well so I am wondering
why I haven't come across others using this solder?
Hope, you can also buy brazing rods/coils which contain a little
over 50% silver. I use them when I want to flow a contrasting
(silver) color onto brass or copper. I’ll look for the
lower-silver-content ones you mention. Make sure that they don’t
contain cadmium, which you shouldn’t braze with, without wearing a
mask (featuring filters for excluding “radon daughters” – I love
that phrase!).
in my wandering around the hardware store, in search of shiny
things, I came across long sticks of "lead free silver solder" in
the plumbing section. These are long, thick sticks of what looks
like mostly copper (coppery colour)- it comes in 5% and 15% silver.
It sounds to me like low-temperature solder, a catagory of solders
which melt at around 350degC. Traditionally this solder was a
lead-based alloy, but recent “lead-free” solders are tin-based, and
they have varying amounts of silver in them. The one I have here is
96%tin/4%sil.
But then I’m puzzled by the copper colour of the piece you have. What
temperature do you guess it melts at? What flux are you using?
If it was me I’d find out who made it and call their customer
services section, ask what’s the melting point!
thanks Judy! i’ll have to look for the ones you mention too! Thanks
for the warning re Cd, I didn’t know that (and it’s part of the
reason I asked, it seemed too good to be true). The 5% silver one
has a lovely colour on brass (I was soldering brass, or was I brazing
brass?). Also, I noticed that these rods fill holes, unlike high
silver content silver solder. Not that I aspire to having holes to
fill, but it’s a property that interested me.
Hope, you can also buy brazing rods/coils which contain a little
over 50% silver. I use them when I want to flow a contrasting
(silver) color onto brass or copper. I'll look for the
lower-silver-content ones you mention.
But then I'm puzzled by the copper colour of the piece you have.
What temperature do you guess it melts at? What flux are you using?
If it was me I'd find out who made it and call their customer
services section, ask what's the melting point!
yes good idea, I will try to find out more. they were in a bin in the
plumbing section of my local big box hardware store, with only the
“lead free silver solder” handwritten label on the bin, and barcodes
for pricetags. I think it said 5% and 15% on the barcode tags. It was
right next to the copper pipe/tubing and fluxes. the 15% is silvery
in appearance, the 5% is like pale copper.
I found this link
which looks like what I have. Maybe. I will try to find out more
info.
this one? : http://www.muggyweld.com/silversolder.html
that does look like the same kind of stuff! Also, I would guess the
melting point is about right- it really didn’t seem to melt at a
temp much below what my medium silver solder was melting at- way
higher than electrical or plumbing solder anyway! So I think that
could be the stuff.
