Soldering Etched Wrought Iron

[JTknives]

I am working on a guard that is forged wrought iron and I must admit in not normally a solder the guard on kind of guy but i am stepping up my game and doing it more. but my question is this. I am going to do a deep etch on the wrought and so how do i protect it from getting solder all over it. I have read that i can cover everything that i don't want solder on with Pencil lead (graphite) and that will prevent the solder from wetting it. so do i cleat everythig good and then slide the guard on and then with it in place draw on the guard and just leave the joint clean? thanks so much for your help.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

That should work fine. You just need to draw a heavy line with the pencil, and don't use much solder-just enough to make the joint. Use a good flux.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The standard anti-flux is yellow ocher. It is mixed with alcohol to make a thin paste and applied with a brush to any place you don't want the solder to flow.Let it dry well, and avoid using too much flux.
Any sort of contaminant, like pencil markings, will do the same thing to a degree (which is why cleanliness is so important in soldering).
Stacy