Referring to the thread on soldering, has anyone else tried a piece of titanium wire about 2 - 3 inches long with one end mounted in a piece of wooden dowel, and gently pointed at the other end? You can dip it in a little liquid flux, then pick up a tiny paillon of solder about half a mm square, gently heat it with a soft flame, when it will roll into a ball. Then having heated your work to soldering temperature, apply the solder ball to the right place - and it will flash into the joint if the two pieces of metal are properly prepared and touching exactly. I couldn’t buy Ti wire, but bought a pair of coiled wire earrings and unwound the coloured spiral The point of Titanium is that nothing will solder to it (without special equipment.)
Referring to the thread on soldering, has anyone else tried a piece of
ti=
tanium wire about 2 - 3 inches long with one end mounted in a piece of
wo=
oden dowel, and gently pointed at the other end? You can dip it in a
li=
ttle liquid flux, then pick up a tiny paillon of solder about half a
mm s=
quare, gently heat it with a soft flame, when it will roll into a
ball. T=
hen having heated your work to soldering temperature, apply the solder
ba=
ll to the right place - and it will flash into the joint if the two
piece=
s of metal are properly prepared and touching exactly. I couldn’t
buy T=
i wire, but bought a pair of coiled wire earrings and unwound the
coloure=
d spiral The point of Titanium is that nothing will solder to it
(withou=
t special equipment.)
I use piano wire from the very high notes, I found an old broken
joanna and canibalised some of the pieces for our workshop. Will try
your idea sounds just great Many thanks
Tony H
I buy 16g (1.5mm) titanium wire from Reactive Metals company at about 50
cents a foot
(PO Box 890, Clarkdale, Arizona, 86324, USA)
Also titanium bicycle spokes are often availalbe free from bike repair
shops. I like a pick with a 2.5cm (1") right angled bend on the end, you
can see what you are doing with it (the shaft is not in the way) and pick
things up and carry them around on the hook. A Ti wire pick lets you divide
a ball of solder on the brick, heat, press down and the solder wells up on
each side perfectly divided (don’t boil all the zinc out of the solder
though-this is a quick operation)
Charles
John,
Picked one up about 2 years ago for $5.00 … it preforms as reported at the
time and as you suggested very well. Understand that Titanium handles about
5,000 degrees.
Jim
At 03:50 PM 10/19/96 +1200, you wrote:
Referring to the thread on soldering, has anyone else tried a piece of
titanium wire about 2 - 3 inches long with one end mounted in a piece of
wooden dowel, and gently pointed at the other end? You can dip it in a
little liquid flux, then pick up a tiny paillon of solder about half a mm
square, gently heat it with a soft flame, when it will roll into a ball.
Then having heated your work to soldering temperature, apply the solder ball
to the right place - and it will flash into the joint if the two pieces of
metal are properly prepared and touching exactly. I couldn’t buy Ti wire,
but bought a pair of coiled wire earrings and unwound the coloured spiral
The point of Titanium is that nothing will solder to it (without special
equipment.)
I use a tungsten carbide soldering pick. I made my own from half a
length of 1.6mm TIG welding torch rod.
Tim, do you know the melting point of this TIG welding rod? I bought
a titanium soldering pick, but since I use brazing rod paillons as
solder and am usually making larger pieces of jewelry, the titanium
pick bends just when I need it most.
Tim, do you know the melting point of this TIG welding rod? I
bought a titanium soldering pick, but since I use brazing rod
paillons as solder and am usually making larger pieces of jewelry,
the titanium pick bends just when I need it most.
I’m not Tim, nor do I know the exact MP of the Tungten TIG rods
without looking it up, but I use them as solder picks when soldering
platinum, and I’ve never seen one bend, burn, or otherwise fail from
heat, though you can break it if you try too hard to bend it (takes
some effort, as it’s pretty strong stuff to break). They’re not
malleable. Leave it as a straight rod, and you’ll be fine. I do know
the MP is pretty insanely high. (that’s why the stuff makes good
filiments in light bulbs. Bright white hot doesn’t melt it…) All
in all, it makes a much better solder pic than does titanium, IMHO.
According to Wikipedia, 2870 deg Centigrade, it is the bit that
makes the electrode. Non contaminating for working on platinum. Rio
sell tungsten soldering picks, but you pay a lot more, I buy them for
about 1.50 for a length that makes two. They do break if you drop
them on a concrete floor, then you have to grind and diamond polish
them into tiny burnishers
The nominal melting point for tungsten is 6170. F ( yes that high)
This is the highest melting point of all metals. They are often
doped with 1 to 2% of some other materials for specific welding
purposes. These should be ok for you but if you have a choice get the
pure tungsten. There are several diameters and lengths available.
Normally these are TIG welding electrodes that your local welding
distributor may have.HFreight does have some 1/16 inch cerium and
thorium doped ones at 5 for $10. harborfreight.com Item: 725
The thermal conductivity (very roughly) is about the same as silver
solder or brass.
The alloy tungsten carbide melts at 5198 F. Round tooling rods are
available but harder to find in specific diameters These metals are
rather brittle. jesse
PS
HF also has an India made mill with 5 rolls. same as sold by others-
rather small and a little awkward for full width use and rolls are a
pain to switch but they are cheap! This price is the high price they
are cheaper sometimes ( often): harborfreight.com item: 4832
I don’t think you will have much of a problem with solder sticking…
just let the pick stay the way is - dirty. Brazing tungsten and
tungsten carbide to copper is normally done in a straight hydrogen (
reducing atmosphere) and the work will be very clean. I have always
been trying to get braze alloy to stick rather than not… As is
material seems to work for me otherwise i.e.no sticking. there are
special fluxes that help from no sticking but “clean” is always the
first rule.
If tungsten parts which are not to be exposed to very high
temperatures are to be joined, brazing is preferred to welding. As
long as the braze material has a melting point below the
recrystallization temperature of tungsten (under 2200 F embrittlement
can be avoided.
Copper or silver alloys containing small proportions of nickel or
iron are suitable for these applications.
I don't think you will have much of a problem with solder
sticking.. just let the pick stay the way is - dirty. Brazing
tungsten and tungsten carbide to copper is normally done in a
straight hydrogen ( reducing atmosphere) and the work will be very
clean. I have always been trying to get braze alloy to stick rather
than not.. As is material seems to work for me otherwise i.e.no
sticking. there are special fluxes that help from no sticking but
"clean" is always the first rule.
Well that was my thought too when I first tried it but it does stick
to it if there is a good flux coat on the pick and then you have to
grind it back to a clean surface. Or risk contaminating the next bit
of solder you pick up or worse yet it just melts onto the pick and
then you can’t get it onto the work. While it is often commercial
practice to braze tungsten carbide inserts in controlled atmospheres
it will solder just fine with black flux and a torch, try it you
will see. I make a burnisher that Peter Rowe showed me by soldering a
ball of tungsten carbide to the side of an old burr shaft.
Jim
James Binnion @James_Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts
it will solder just fine with black flux and a torch
Can you list a source/s for 'black flux"? I’ve tried all the local
welding suppliers & none has it or even knows what it is. Does it
have another name?
I’m not sure what the original question is, but as far as soldering
pick with regards to sterling silver/copper/brass/bronze/fine silver
work it has been my experience that coat hanger wire works fine
enough. I snip off a 7" length, curl over an end and then use the
bench belt sander to form a tip of clean mental. When silver solder
melts onto it or it gets gummed up then it’s back to the belt sander
for a quick clean up. Mileage varies, but that’s just what we did in
school and what I continue to do now.
Kindest,
K. David Woolley
Fredericton, NB
Diversiform Metal Art & Jewellery
it will solder just fine with black flux and a torch
Can you list a source/s for 'black flux"? I've tried all the local
welding suppliers & none has it or even knows what it is. Does it
have another name?
That is the common name, the AWS Class is FB3C here are some brand
names
Harris Stay-Silv[tm] Brazing Flux (black)
Handy Flux Type B-1 Paste Sure Flo Black Paste (also from Handy &
Harman)
If you Google “Black Flux” you will find lots of info
Jim
James Binnion @James_Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts
Can you list a source/s for 'black flux"? I've tried all the local
welding suppliers & none has it or even knows what it is. Does it
have another name?
I get mine from Rio Grande…it’s called Handy Flux Type B-1.
JIM you are trying to make it stick… Judy wants it not to stick -
she is brazing brass and copper.
The black flux is for materials that have strong natural oxide–
mostly stainless steel ( chrome oxide surface) and metals like
tungsten. I can solder on electropolished stainless steel which has
a chrome oxide enriched surface with the white handi flux, but I had
a learning curve. The black flux is good for stainless steel and it
also helps to have a filler metal containing about 3 % nickel which
wets out better. CLEAN CLEAN it sticks- DIRTY with an oxide no
stick.
You can find the details on the white handi flux and on the B1 Black
handiflux here. The white is typical of most of the white paste
fluxes.