# Need a piece of silver solder



## DAN_IN_MN (Feb 6, 2014)

I have a small project I need to silver solder.  I don't have the funds to buy a whole roll.  

Anyone have a small chunk I could buy?

Thank you!


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## Tony Wells (Feb 6, 2014)

Silver solder as in the electronics kind? Tek scopes have a particular junction that requires it. 

Or just general purpose silver solder, as in silver brazing? What are you joining?


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## DAN_IN_MN (Feb 6, 2014)

Tony Wells said:


> Silver solder as in the electronics kind? Tek scopes have a particular junction that requires it.
> 
> Or just* general purpose silver solder, as in silver brazing?* What are you joining?




I'm joining two flat pieces of steel.  About .030 thick 3/16 wide.

Thank you for the reply!


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## John Hasler (Feb 6, 2014)

DAN_IN_MN said:


> I'm joining two flat pieces of steel.  About .030 thick 3/16 wide.
> 
> Thank you for the reply!



Unless the part was going to be subject to high temperatures or strong solvents I'd consider adhesives such as cyanoacrylates or epoxies for that.  The bond can be nearly as strong as those pieces of steel.

[Edit]  The outfit that I bought my bandsaw blade brazing kit from (I'll try to find the name) sells "refills" that consist of a couple of short strips of silver solder and a tiny tub of flux.


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## DAN_IN_MN (Feb 6, 2014)

It'll see clothing dryer temps.


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## rafe (Feb 6, 2014)

I got a peice off e-bay a while back it was reasonable


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## David S (Feb 6, 2014)

DAN_IN_MN said:


> It'll see clothing dryer temps.



Dan I have an assortment of silver solder both flat strip and round.  I can send you some if you PM me.

David


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## cathead (Feb 7, 2014)

Maybe you could use some copper house wire to join the pieces.  It's inexpensive and
has worked well for me in the past.  If I remember correctly, I used a bit of brazing
flux with it and it worked very well.  Has anyone else tried this?


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## LJP (Feb 7, 2014)

Cathead, can you elaborate a bit about the copper wire?
Is it literally just wire that you used to braze?


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## John Hasler (Feb 7, 2014)

DAN_IN_MN said:


> It'll see clothing dryer temps.



JB Weld will take that.


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## davidh (Feb 7, 2014)

pm your address, i'll mail you a strip


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## DAN_IN_MN (Feb 7, 2014)

David S said:


> Dan I have an assortment of silver solder both flat strip and round.  I can send you some if you PM me.
> 
> David



Thank you all of you for your replies!

David is sending me some.  Thanks David!


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## David Kirtley (Feb 7, 2014)

Original question was resolved but other might come and look for more information 


I just bought some off ebay. Seller was rlm1147. An ounce of flat rolled 55% silver with a jar of flux and a brush was $36 to my doorstep.

That is actually quite a bit of solder since you use so little at a time.


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## David S (Feb 7, 2014)

DAN_IN_MN said:


> Thank you all of you for your replies!
> 
> David is sending me some.  Thanks David!



Dan it will be going in the mail at noon.

David


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## cathead (Feb 7, 2014)

Yes, just #12 bare solid copper wire was used.  It the same process as brazing.


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## 12bolts (Feb 7, 2014)

DAN_IN_MN said:


> I have a small project I need to silver solder.  I don't have the funds to buy a whole roll.



My local hardware store sells it by the stick. About 3' long. A few $

Cheers Phil


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## Tony Wells (Feb 7, 2014)

I've bought sil/phos at HD a couple of times. Good for air conditioning work. Color doesn't match perfectly for cosmetic purposes, but it is strong. Now they make a glue for a/c work good for 1200 psi. Sounds crazy.

I buy ss for welding copper tubing now from the a/c supply house. Pretty high but no flux needed. Just like gas welding. 

Copper electrical wire isn't the best for welding copper, but it will work. It can be TIG welded, or O/A. Most welding filler rods are oxy free, but still bare solid wire can be used. Probably never pass code, but for ornamental work, or non-critical applications it's probably just fine.


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## David Kirtley (Feb 7, 2014)

The silver solder you can get at the hardware store is usually in the range of 1% - 5%. Much different than the high sliver content solders. For high strength, get up into the 45%-55%. The others are not as strong (although much stronger than most solders.)

TMI:

There is a range of melting points for silver solder (Yes, it is brazing and not soldering but don't get too worked up over the inconsistency). When you are soldering together something complex, you start with the highest melting point solder and then move down the temperature range so the previous solder doesn't get re-melted.

The flux you use for the high temp solders is basically borax (boric acid). The fluxes you get at the hardware stores don't take temperatures high enough for silver solder.

You really need to read the contents of the solders you use. Some use cadmium to flow more readily but it is not as common because of the health effects) Like the problems with lead, you really don't want to breathe cadmium fumes. Ventilation is your friend.

Wash the parts down after soldering to neutralize the acid. If you don't, they will usually start to corrode.

If you have specific questions about sliver soldering, feel free to ask. We got into excruciating detail when I took a jewelry making class and ended up being responsible for more silver soldering information than anyone will probably ever need... That and making wire. Lots of making wire....


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