solding guards or is epoxy good enough?

The blade should be completely finished except sharpening before you fit the guard....or the blade will be smaller than it was when you fitted things.
 
Lot of collectors don't want to worry about flux leeching 10 years from know. I like solder but have had spotting on stainless in my own collection
 
I have also seen a very bad picture of a Randall's blade snapped right at the solder joint with sign of corrosion behing the joint.
Also the TME (read:blue embrittlement) may be a concern not only in the blade portion, so the heat sink methods standing to protect the blade may not be enough to protect the knife.
I believe the skills necessary to do a proper solder job are higher then the ones necessary to achieve only a very pretty display.
 
Just a few comments, (I don't want this thread to morph into a "How to solder" thread.)

Blue embrittlement and temper loss will not happen at the 300-450°F temps needed to soft solder a guard. If you are getting the blade/guard hotter than that you are doing something wrong. I use TIX, which flows at 275°F. Stay-brite flows at 430°F.

Also, proper flux type and rinsing/neutralizing is important. If you used the correct temperature, you won't burn the flux and leave residue in the joint.
 
bladsmth said:
Just a few comments, (I don't want this thread to morph into a "How to solder" thread.)

Blue embrittlement and temper loss will not happen at the 300-450°F temps needed to soft solder a guard. If you are getting the blade/guard hotter than that you are doing something wrong. I use TIX, which flows at 275°F. Stay-brite flows at 430°F.

Also, proper flux type and rinsing/neutralizing is important. If you used the correct temperature, you won't burn the flux and leave residue in the joint.
Click to expand...

Thank You Stacy, the soldering thing it's at the moment a bit out of my reach... i manage to screw things royally in too many other way i'm satisfied with ;)
The low temp solder should be the best thing to try, and i will one of this days.

Back to the thread: are there evidences/experiences about the "shelf life" of the epoxy vs. solder joint subject?

cheers

Stefano
 
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Lucky me Grandpa was a plummer so I learned how to solder.Stainless steel can be a pain to solder on.Oateymakes a liquid flux that really helps.You can put it in a syringe and put it right where you need your solder to flow. Be careful as it has an acid in it.Make sure your joints are cleaned with emory. Key is to make sure you don't touch them with your fingers after clean up. Hope this may help.
 
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