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Thread: Soldering steel FYI

  1. #81
    Boolit Master Garyshome's Avatar
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    This might come in handy I need a front sight on my H&R pardner.

  2. #82
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    Soldered a .020" shim to the trigger of my 340 Savage to cut down on sear engagement using this method, worked great!. First tinned a .020 feeler gage and the face of the trigger hook. With tin snips cut off a thin strip of .020 gauge and placed it on the trigger. Heated the two together and voila success. Went from a 4+ lb creepy trigger to a nice 2.5 lb trigger. The steel wool trick with Nokorode worked great. The downside to this trigger mod is that it negates the safety as the trigger does not go back far enough to engage it. This is only a range toy so the lack of a safety is not a problem for me. The upside is when I get ready to sell this gun some heat removes the shim and it's back to factory specs. BTW I found small amounts of 95/5 tin/silver solder at Home Depot reasonably priced. Thanks Goodsteel for the knowledge.
    "Masculine republics give way to feminine democracies, and feminine democracies give way to tyrannies.” Aristotle

  3. #83
    Boolit Master

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    Fair warning, Home depot lead free solder is 95/5 tin/antimony, no silver. If labeled silver bearing, then the msds says (i think, bad memory) between .1-.5% silver. Come to think of it, i think the msds said 3-5% antimony too.

    if you want an even better price for what appears to be the same stuff, Harbor Freight sells lead free solder too, and cheap.

  4. #84
    Boolit Master


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    WR--The tube I bought said Fine electrical rosin core solder and stated contents as 96% tin and 4% silver. It was .5 oz and a couple bucks as I remember. As fas as what I was using it for it wouldn't matter if it was 50/50 lead/tin.

    Melt temp is 460 deg and tensile strength is 14000 psi
    Last edited by fecmech; 06-27-2015 at 07:40 PM.
    "Masculine republics give way to feminine democracies, and feminine democracies give way to tyrannies.” Aristotle

  5. #85
    Boolit Grand Master

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    The main thing is that it has the tin content in it. Seems the tin is absolutely essential to getting it to wet to steel. I have lots of 63/37 solder here (63% tin) and you can't get that stuff to stick to steel to save your life. I think the silver adds tensile strength to the stuff, but the tin is what does the "bonding" (it's not really bonding. I just don't know what you call it when two dissimilar metals share atoms on a molecular level.)
    Precision in the wrong place is only a placebo.

  6. #86
    Boolit Master

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    I thought the same thing too. Package said one thing. MSDS said another. the Home Depot sales literature was based on the package. It's all good if it works for you. I buy it too for non-critical applications.

    I'm just suggesting to take care with respect to the material itself. It may not be what is on the package label.

  7. #87
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    GregLaROCHE's Avatar
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    What about using lead / tin soldier? Is it strong enough or not recommended?

  8. #88
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cap'n Morgan View Post
    Just a few remarks to Tim's excellent write-up: Cleanliness is a must when it comes to soft soldering. No touching, once the surface has been sanded!

    Secondly, heat the parts slowly, concentrating on the biggest part first and allow the heat to spread evenly. Avoid direct heating of the area if at all possible, especially if you're using an acetylene torch. The temperature outside the visible flame is still plenty high to melt soft solder (the temp. in the blue tongue at the tip of the torch is 3200 °C, and can vaporize steel) Most flux will only last a short time when heated to correct temperature before they starts to break down and excessive heat will speed up the process. Smaller parts can be placed on a flat piece of steel which is then heated from below.
    It's pretty common in small parts production work, HVAC, etc...
    Have you tried induction heating?
    I almost never break out the torch anymore, simple flux/solder or flux/brazing paste.
    Simply heat until the part falls into place and you get a bead of molten solder, remove heat, and if your parts are clamped, use an air hose to blow off excess.

  9. #89
    Boolit Master Cap'n Morgan's Avatar
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    I rarely do any soldering nowadays, but have done an awful lot of silver brazing making custom cutting tools (carbide/steel) We used a monster of a water cooled induction heater machine for the larger parts and a more handy non-cooled system for the smaller parts.
    Cap'n Morgan

  10. #90
    Boolit Master beezapilot's Avatar
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    Good post- at a yard sale not that long ago, bought rolls and rolls of bandsaw blade - both wood and metal- I appreciate the education on Silver Solder...
    The essence of education is self reliance- T.H. White.

    Currently seeking wood carving tools, wood planes, froes, scorps, spokeshaves... etc....

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