soldering metal
can anyone give me some pointers for soldering metals. i have some argentium silver that i want to translate into something pretty, but don't want to ruin it so that it becomes ugly and unuseable - if it's not a word it is now. i have solder for it, but would like some pointers. i will do a hub after getting all the information so that everyone who contributes can see how i went.
Pretty good idea to collect info from many.
Work on cheaper practice metals first until you get the hang of soldering--it's easy to do correctly, but easier to do incorrectly. I read a number of books on how to do it and have had two instructors teach me, and I still mess up a good portion of the time. I agree with free4india--You are on the right track asking for advice from many people before beginning with your expensive materials.
What Laura said. Different metals have different melting points and using the correct solder is essential for satisfactory results. Good luck!
You can treat Argentium silver like sterling silver when soldering. Really, the only difference is that Argentium is not supposed to tarnish and firescale.
When soldering:
Apply flux to cool dry piece where you want to solder to flow. If you are attaching two pieces, make sure you flux both.
Heat metal
Watch solder. It will become bright and shiny and will flow like water into your seams, if you have fluxed properly. If your soldering attempt was not successful, put the piece in pickle and clean it and retry.
Easy solder will flow quicker so should only be used if you are soldering one thing..or it is one of the lsat things you are soldering on. Always cover previous solder joints with yellow ochre to prevent those seams from coming undone.
Medium and hard solder flow slower (have a higher melting point), are stronger and should be used for main connections.
hope this helps!
Tara - taragrude.comThere are some very good instructional videos on Youtube for soldering.
I have a good hub on fusing Argentium of you would rather not deal with solder. Take a look here> http://hubpages.com/t/14f7ab
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