Silver Solder

[deltaenterprizes]

What grade silver solder is best food gunsmithing?

[GunnyMack]

Your best bet is the brownells website or even better CALL their tech support and they should answer any & all questions.
I've had a roll of their silver solder for years, dont know what grade it is but it has never failed me.

[john.k]

There is a fundamental difference in the silver solder of the past and present......cadmium......however in the days of Ballard and Marlin,silver solder was basically silver .copper ,zinc.,in varying proportions .......in the 20th century ,it was found by adding a percentage of cadmium ,the melt temperature was reduced substantially..........however ,now ,the greenies have got cadmium banned as toxic,and consequently the melt temperature has again risen .........may not sound like much,but at the higher temperature ,scaling and oxidation of steel is far greater .......moral .....see if you can find some old silver solder with cadmium in it.

[elk hunter]

I have several different silver solders on hand but the ones I use the most are Brownells High Force 44. I use way more of the low temp stuff than the high temp. I haven't bought any in years but I assume, assume is a bad word but descriptive, that it is still available.

[Hossfly]

I’ve used 45% with good results, with flux you mix with water. 55% may be better thin wire type.

[oldred]

There is a fundamental difference in the silver solder of the past and present......cadmium......however in the days of Ballard and Marlin,silver solder was basically silver .copper ,zinc.,in varying proportions .......in the 20th century ,it was found by adding a percentage of cadmium ,the melt temperature was reduced substantially..........however ,now ,the greenies have got cadmium banned as toxic,and consequently the melt temperature has again risen .........may not sound like much,but at the higher temperature ,scaling and oxidation of steel is far greater .......moral .....see if you can find some old silver solder with cadmium in it.

I have been quite outspoken about the nonsense the "Greenies" have come up with that has gotten some very good (and quite safe!) products NEEDLESSLY taken off the market, Kasnit hardening compound for example was removed for a harmless trace level of Cyanide.

However with the Cadmium bearing Silver solder it was NOT a case of overreacting, that stuff was deadly and a lot of users were harmed by it, I personally know of one such person who nearly died and was left with severe lung damage from using the stuff! I would never recommend using Cadmium bearing solders to anyone unless they were well familiar with it's use and knew what precautions to use. That was one item that should have never been sold in the first place outside of maybe controlled conditions in an industrial setting.

That prominent Skull&Cross bones adorning the very explicit warning label was not there for a joke, Cadmium bearing Silver Solder is very dangerous for anyone not well versed in it's safe use, it's best to just avoid that stuff and use the MUCH safer alternatives.