Slipjoint Bolster soldering question........

[beebee58]

First I want to thank everyone that helps us "newbies".


I'm in the process of building my 2nd Slipjoint and have a problem that I'm sure someone can answer for me.

My problem is when soldering my bolsters on: they move and then I have to take them to the mill to align them again. I don't know if I need to clamp them first (worried that the solder won't wick because the joint is too tight) ?
This last one I put 3/32 brass pin in the hole that I have drilled for the pivot pin, but during soldering I end up melting the brass in the hole along with flux flowing around it and now it's soldered in place. So I ground it flat and drilled it out. When doing it this way the bolster can still rotate and cause me too mill the flats again.
I have been using silversolder (hard) that has a high melting temp., so that I don't have to worry about loosening the solder joint while sanding.

Any thoughts and commits are always welcome


BB

 

[zerogee]

Pre-tin both the liner and bolster (silversolder should be fine), flip off excess while molten (should both be shiny silver now), let cool, lightly flux, then clamp together with a couple of pony spring clamps (bare metal clamps of course). Use a stainless steel pin thru the pivot pin hole to hold the alignment - give the stainless steel pin a *light* wipe with oil before you insert it, to keep any solder from sticking to it. Heat bolster until solder melts once again and the spring clamps will pull it all together. BTW, you can use a soft pencil to mark the liners where you don't want the solder to stick.