Silver butcap soldering

H

hawkwind

Joined
Oct 26, 2004
Messages
298
Hi folks,

I m making this big scandi knife and I m making butcap out of 1 mm 999 silver sheet. I need to do some soldering to get the shape right, actualy to solder the colar over the base.

Now - I would like for this work in future use silver wire as solder, but my jeweliers little torch doesnt gives enough power to work with such a piece of metal.

I would like to ask if anybody does this kind of work, where precision soldering is required, what kind of torch do you people use?

I would like to use propan butan, I do not make too much of else to go acetylene.

The task requires quite sharp pointy spike flame to actually track well.

Thanks

Jaroslav
 
I m considering a buy of new torch for future use.
I need something I can move and trace easy on smal features, but with enough power.

Yes I think I saw that gas on sales somewhere. Does it gives sharper flame?

Jaroslav
 
hawkwind said:
I m considering a buy of new torch for future use.
I need something I can move and trace easy on smal features, but with enough power.

Yes I think I saw that gas on sales somewhere. Does it gives sharper flame?

Jaroslav
Click to expand...
map will not cause a sharper flame ,, map is hotter than reg LP gass
the tip controls the flame shape..
 
Sharper=hotter in my language, I know that flame shape is controlled by other things.

"Get bigger one" - How much bigger? :) I asked, I thought somebody soldered this kind of silver, so I might get experienced advise.

Anyway I m getting the picture.

Thanks
 
ummmm.... you didn't provide much info in your question to start with. size of silver cap? fuel tank size and type? torch tip size? after getting the right size of tip for the job ,please come back and ask any other questions you may have. link to torch tips.

http://www.littletorch.com/tips.html
 
"Get bigger one" - How much bigger?
it depends?? do you want to

braze / gas welding it
or solder it?
brazing you need a lot of heat because you have to melt the Silver
you need to know just what your doing so as not to mess up your silver.
soldering you have to melt the solder,
the type of solder you use has differant heats to melt.
if this is not done and fitted tight you may be able to see the joints.
silver solder is not 100% silver, very little silver as a fact.

I do see you said solder,,
you could get an lp gas set up with O2 that will be a lot of heat for you..
 
I use a torch for working on gold/silver/platinum all day long.It is a propane/oxygen torch.I have a "Little Torch" for smaller work,and a Mecco for larger pieces.A small brazing torch (casting torch) works well.You need regulators for the tanks,but there are inexpensive ones around.A Presto-Lite torch with a small tip will work,too.
20 gague (1mm) sheet is pretty thin for a butt cap. I would do it in 12 gague.The collar could be 18 gague.Use hard silver solder to join them together.
 
bladsmth said:
I use a torch for working on gold/silver/platinum all day long.It is a propane/oxygen torch.I have a "Little Torch" for smaller work,and a Mecco for larger pieces.A small brazing torch (casting torch) works well.You need regulators for the tanks,but there are inexpensive ones around.A Presto-Lite torch with a small tip will work,too.
20 gague (1mm) sheet is pretty thin for a butt cap. I would do it in 12 gague.The collar could be 18 gague.Use hard silver solder to join them together.
Click to expand...
yeah what he said :D ;)
 
Get a piece of ceramic tile that will withstand high heat or corning ware. Put this on a hot plate. Lay the big piece of silver on it and heat the smaller piece to solder. You're letting the hot plate and tile heat the large silver piece and only need to direct heat to the smaller piece to solder
??
TJ
 
I would be inclined to raise the buttcap from the 1mm sheet and if any more soldering were required it would be hidden and could be done with soft solder or even plumbers solder inside the cap.
 
as a side note,,
if you want to use thin silver you can form it to the shape you want
much like making a silver n/s or Brass sheath..
look here under
sheaths, metal, by Bruce Evans
http://www.knivesby.com/knifemaking.html
you'll be able to do anything you want to it by adapting these methods.
 
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