Silver Soldering For Beginners

[@FFS__Dave]

Please! For the love of all English speaking countries (outside of the North American continent) It’s not sodder. There’s an L in there and, (unusually), we use it!

[@Liriq]

If she did that, there would be an opposite comment by someone else. People should be natural.

[@hashgeek929]

It’s not soldaa. There’s an R in there.

[@ssolomon999]

According to OED it comes from old French “soudure,” I think the “L” got added to the spelling later by pedantic academics to reflect the Latin origin, same thing happened to “soldier” which was pronounced “sojer.”

[@Blondihacks]

Sorry, the country that pronounces “Leicester” as “lester” gave up all right to complain about pronunciational consistency with spelling.

[@saintchuck9857]

Do you chastise the French for not pronouncing or spelling it with an L, when they also don't pronounce the R in souder?

[@RonCovell]

Quinn - this may be the best tutorial on ANY technical process I've ever seen! Very clear, very detailed, always to the point, and a joy to watch!

[@hughjohnson5496]

I agree. All Quinn's tutorials are excellent. Not only does Quinn demonstrate exemplary fabrication skills but her teaching/communication skills make it a joy to learn. Thank you Quinn for your presentations.

[@Rocketman88002]

This instructional is NASA grade and I know because I was certified to solder to Mil-Spec standards on PCB's. Absolutely perfect instructional!

[@robertphillips9017]

Worked at a science center where one of the operations involved silver soldering a 100 lb assembly with 10-20 parts. The machinist/model maker used a big, very hot, oven th heat the entire assembly at one time. Then flowed the silver solder to all joints in one pass. About 5 lbs of solder. Took immense skill and was really neat to watch.

[@woody442]

That sounds amazing

[@57dent]

Quinn, I've done lots of normal soldering but never silver soldered. With the exception of pickling the processes are very similar. It's testament to how well you put together your series videos (A3 switcher) that I found this video to be more of a convenient reminder on how to do it as I'm pretty sure you've covered 95% of the info as you led us through the build process. We'll done.

[@nerdoutside6545]

I’ve been an armchair machinist for years. With many years of experience in consuming and parroting other peoples opinions and knowledge whilst having no primary experience myself. And I consider your videos a primo source of expertise i can recycle and credit as my own without any real understanding. I thank you.

[@minibigs5259]

The machinist version of a Gravy Seal! What are we called?

[@bertkutoob]

Seven points that my shop teacher forgot to mention 55 years ago... He gave a 1 minute demo during which he said not a word other than "OK then - just do like I did" at the end... Thank you Ma'am... It's been a long wait... 🙏🙏🙏

[@AnsonMK5]

Excellent tutorial. I have been silver and gold soldering for 50 years and I could not have said it better myself. Like most things, the preparation is paramount in order to obtain a good result.

[@TomokosEnterprize]

Silver smith here and you are absolutly right. Many have tried and failed to get things right.

[@csspinner]

How you structure and present this content is really impressive. I’ve only had to silver solder something once or twice, and I guess it went well, but I really wish this video existed back then. You deserve all the success on KZbin and beyond. Thanks again

[@a-k-jun-1]

Thanks for making a proper silver soldering video. Been using silver solder for over 35 years and this is the best video how to I've seen so far. Thanks from Alaska 😂

[@swcheshier61]

Wow! Incredible video. I have been a toolmaker/machinist for decades. I have done my share of silver soldering joining carbide to cutting tools and protective carbide surfaces. Also mig and tig welding. I guess I got lucky most of the time when soldering. After watching your video, I now know where i went wrong when it didn’t work. I recently started making jewelry with some silver soldering. I learned so much from your video. Thank you so much. I am subscribed.

[@robertkirby3158]

Visual and audio content, linking of both and pace, all held my attention without any form of distraction. A classy presentation from all aspects that left no doubt about your competence in this field to an interested novice.

[@karlschwab6437]

I had looked for a possible way to thin my dried-out silver solder flux and wasn't able to find one until this video! When mine dried up, I would buy another. Another thing, I have always thought that I needed MAPP gas to do my silver soldering, and I dreaded having to buy new cylinders at todays current price in the Detroit, Michigan area at about $15.00! Now, I'll use propane (and refillable small cylinders) with a larger torch. The silver soldering technics that you show here, are mostly new to me. Most of my soldering is in building small model steam (compressed air) engines from Elmer Verburgs? model engine designs. You're a great teacher of the hobby and I am glad you are there for us! Karl T.

[@alexbarrass4252]

An absolute lifeline for the novice silver solderer - thank you!!!

[@thomashand1316]

Super excellent educational video. I am called upon to do silver-soldering once every 2 years on average. I was taught with oxy-acetyline, myself, and it is what I used, up to now. This will make things much easier next time. Great video.

[@nathancowieson511]

I've really enjoyed your switcher content and in the process I've consumed a few of these tutorial type videos. You're a great teacher Quinn. I got some soldering (pronounce how you will) kit at your recommendation and I definitely feel that your tips have put me ahead of the game. I hope you know that your expertise and teaching skills are not common whilst simultaneously being extremely valuable. Respect.

[@peterward5723]

Thanks for the very clear instructions and excellent presentation of silver soldering.

[@stefanblack3909]

You're a national treasure for your reviews!

[@stuartsamuel1879]

Soldering thoughts (trained as a goldsmith in the early 2000's, mostly custom lighting for the last 18 years, lots of silver soldering, including single joints holding 400 lbs over people in an event venue): Cleaning: Sanding/scotchbrite right before flux works well. Maybe the dust carries away any skin/cutting oils, along with oxides? Comet is also excellent, the bleach really helps cut/oxidize any oils, I suspect. You can get a really good water break test result that way (credit to Robin Renzetti for that one). I like a flux mix of ~10 white flux to 1 black (it's not precise, but it's easy to add too much black, take it slow). I find it gives me just a slightly longer working time, while helping a little on oddball alloys that don't solder reliably with just white. The black works well, but as you note, makes the joint hard to read, and I find the orange flare pretty hard on my eyes if I'm doing lots of parts. Fixturing/set up: Don't fight gravity, use it! Solder will run uphill, but it is far from ideal. As Quinn notes, solder will flow towards a hotter area (I'm guessing the viscosity drops, causing it to wick in that direction?). The gold standard for a continuous joint, to my mind, is to add solder at one point and draw it from there. Once you get into adding at lots of locations, you can find you have pinholes the solder skipped. Pickle: pool 'pH down' (sodium bisulfate) works well! Broadly: If it is clean enough, and hot enough, it will solder. If it does not solder, it is not clean enough, or not hot enough. (Too hot gets you not clean enough, as does hot too long) With practice, you'll get a sense of where you can be a little lazy with prepping the joint (the flux will dissolve a certain amount of oxides). The more work you ask it to do, the more risk you're taking. But when in doubt, if you're running into problems, or if you absolutely cannot afford for it to go wrong: Clean everything scrupulously, scrub your solder with scotchbrite to get rid of oxides, get fresh flux (it can be contaminated in a busy shop, I usually work from a small jar and fill from the large), use distilled/RO water to thin it. Control your variables to control the outcome. :)

[@AlexanderBurgers]

> Pickle: pool 'pH down' (sodium bisulfate) works well! The Sperex #2 is also Sodium Bisulfate :)

[@billharbaugh8121]

Thanks!

[@ArtVanAuggie]

This is a damned good video. Good techniques, well presented.

[@ericfalkenberry2908]

I love the explanation about using propane vs acetylene.

[@Sb129]

I've never even heard of silver soldering before, this video was an interesting watch indeed

[@NigelTolley]

Really, really good technique, you're better than I am. Can't fault that video at all, except you said flux instead of pickling at the end of the soldering stage (~22:24) Absolutely agree with the idea of fixing the parts together before heating starts. Custom jigs, or a tiny jewellery spot weld are other options, but mechanical fixing is best, if slower than a couple of spot welds.

[@motobenbh4722]

Thanks for another great video. I know your narration is always excellent, but wow! This time you really did hit ''Shining Beacon'' level. (I checked 3 times to make sure I typed 'beacon' and not 'bacon')

[@mykeready3742]

Thank you Quinn for taking the time to make this excellent video. I’ve struggled in the past and I now know why. Is there a link to the Kozo article please? I’m really enjoying your videos as you explain things how I understand them. 👍🏻

[@TomokosEnterprize]

Hey, I am a 70 yr old welder fabricator/mechanic/silversmith that has been forced in retirement ((from injury) and am impressed with all your basic knowhow and process ability. Stop by for some silver pouring of large pieces of silver if you like. Back to this post now. I do really like your style. I'll be baaaack.

[@johnapel2856]

Very good primer. But I have also watched all of your other videos so maybe that's why it made sense to me. Thanks, and Meow to Sprocket.

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

Awesome video. This nearly everything I ever wanted to know as an introduction to silver soldering. Three are still a few questions I'd like answered: a) Is there a silver solder for drinking water boilers? How would one know what it should or should not consist of? b) When is silver soldering needed versus other types of soldering? Does this video cover most of the cases of its use? c) The converse of b: How does one recognize that silver soldering was used to join two pieces? Is there a safe way to verify it is silver solder in the existing join?

[@Blondihacks]

The reason to use silver solder is when high pressures, high temperatures, or high strength are required. I don’t know the answers to your other questions

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

@@Blondihacks Thank you very much for your reply.

[@jasonmansfieldsr8645]

About oxy/acetylene versus propane: at the rate you need heat (gas), acetylene cannot supply gas that fast. It's dissolved in acetone to make it more stable and boils out to replace the gas used. If you boil the acetone/acetylene mix too violently, it can splash and get sucked into the hose to your torch and cause issues. I think I learned about the heat/gas use rate here!

[@poopy_pants_joe1194]

" acetylene cannot supply gas that fast." NONSENSE.

[@terminalpsychosis8022]

Very impressive. Excellent tips. And I am mad jealous of even your old, much smaller shop. Thanks for the entertainment, and for sure all the practical tips & err.. hacks. (your word, not mine!)

[@paulswift700]

That's very interesting. I've not done any silver solder but I now have a better u understanding on the technique for doing it. Thanks very much for sharing it. Paul.

[@DavidNitzel-q5d]

Great video. My application is different. I have older tractors where the rubber hydraulic hose is crimped on a steel line. The dealer no longer has these hose assemblies. So I'm machining (thanks to your lathe and mill videos) a 1018 steel adapter that I can silver solder on the steel line with a female NPT port. Some lines have limited clearance between them. Thanks. Suggestions are always welcome!

[@paulwomack5866]

Acetylene vs propane - it's essentially the difference between high temperature and high heat. My favourite (Boys Own Book of Science) example of this is the spark from a grinder has an extremely high temperature (but carries very little heat) whereas a cup of boiling water carries a great deal of heat (but isn't at a high temperature).

[@davidhaywood8029]

Excellent tutorial! Incidentally "The Wind from the Torch" is my favourite 1970s Prog Rock Band.

[@jmullner]

great video at just the right time for me. Im buying Kozo's book after watching this one. thank you.

[@EngineerRaisedInKingston]

Once again Quinn blesses us with the absolute top tier educational content. This level of quality puts most of my university lecturers to shame. I've wanted to try silver soldering for years now, and I think I might actually be informed enough to do so now. Keep it up, Quinn. Amazing stuff.

[@brunopassarelligell1]

Hi Quinn! Excellent video as always! One quick fact: I deposited copper many times in the lab, were we are able to measure the thickness down to single atomic layers easily. If you can see the layer, it probably is at least a few 100s of nm. Thus about 1000s of atomic layers. A little thicker than what you said, but the conclusion is the same. This is irrelevant for the strength of the part.

[@johnmoorefilm]

Thank you🎯

[@Blondihacks]

I didn’t literally mean one atom thick, obviously.

[@Radiotexas]

Having recently finished a PM Research horizontal boiler kit, I wholeheartedly agree and endorse everything Quinn has said here. I DID NOT do anywhere near as good a job as she did however. My biggest mistake was to use an oxy-acenylene torch. BIG MISTAKE. The boiler kit used rivets and was extremely hard (for me) to solder. And, I melted TWO bushings!!! NEXT time it will be better. Knowing the proper techniques is critical but practice and experience is what makes her work so successful. By the way, the boiler eventually held pressure but did not pass the "gee-it-looks-great" test. A good coat of high-temperature engine paint covered most of the "sins!"

[@jimsvideos7201]

Thank you for the distillation of the knowledge you’ve gained. Please give Sprockets some pets from all of us, too. 😊

[@fsj197811]

Awesome tips! Thanks a lot for sharing.

[@peterhickey1218]

When I first worked in Southern California I had to buy some solder. I went to the hardware store and, being English, asked for some solder. The assistant didn't know what I was talking about at first but eventually said, "Oh you mean sadder". Ok, I'm now living in California so from then on, solder was sadder. When in Rome.....

[@homerodominguez4705]

Sorry iam writing since Mexico !. I dont know anything about colokial spea 27:09 king English. But the matter on this case for my is to send a kiss and congrutulations to this beatifull gringa blondhacks. Wonderfull explanation. ❤.

[@Lolloolollool]

I've been silver soldering silver jewelry for the last 7 years, and I just wish I'd had this video available before learning all of the pitfalls firsthand. This is a fantastic resource, and has the information and production quality to rival any college courses I've had the displeasure of watching. Everything you touched on is also valuable information when soldering silver pieces together with the only exception being the type of silver solders used in silversmithing. I'm going to point people to this video any time I get questions about soldering issues in the future. Thank you for consistently providing top tier content!

[@maxw576]

Very well done. I learned a lot!

[@Emu0181]

Takes me back to my course in silversmithing. It was very cathartic to beat the hell out of a piece of metal, dunk it in acid, set it on fire, and dunk it in acid again. Sometimes the end result even came out as I expected. Will confirm that one should not heat the solder lest one end up with oxidized solder everywhere but in the joint, and that a poking bit of wire is very helpful and sometimes necessary to get the solder to flow.

[@MrBlackbutang]

Heat control! Have a happy and safe thanksgiving ❤🐾🐾

[@GRAHAM1514]

Excellent Tutorial ,Now I know where I have been going wrong with Silver soldering , I use use those Scotchbrite wheels ,a large bag is a must as you say they soon disappear ! Thanks for sharing

[@bluefishactcl1464]

Gold. Great content . Thank you

[@prsearls]

Excellent how-to description. You expanded my silver knowledge 1000%.

[@stephaniesinger1159]

Wonderful video, thank you....! 👍👍

[@seldendaniel8819]

I will book mark this, it will be useful.

[@jerryuhte1284]

Congrats girl , amazing !

[@evangarner4523]

In my experience the pickling isn't entirely necessary if you're quick. If you abrade or file the surface to be silver soldered and immediately apply your flux, it will be clean enough to let the solder grab hold. I'm talking apply the flux within 30 seconds of exposing fresh surface. Maybe not practical for a lot of situations, but useful for some. I like pickling in general and it's definitely the way to go if you're getting started, but for things like ferrous metals that don't need a super accurate dimension I've found it to be useful, especially on a time crunch

[@kilcar]

Brilliant! Thank you!

[@wayneswonderarium]

24:24 so copper anodized but from the inside out?

[@davidwilliams1060]

Really good to have this information in one place as well as being sidebars in other videos. Thanks.

[@seahorseist]

Oxy propane torches can be good to use instead of oxyacetylene

[@pforbom1844]

Thanks for a great video. How would you fixture carbide when make soldered carbide tooling?

[@TonyBarr99]

I have a project that requires silver soldering. Thank you for this excellent video instruction. This makes me confident that I will get off to a good start and know what to look for. Thank you Quinn!

[@EclecticOmnivore]

Subscribed! Well, I thought I was subscribed about a year ago ... but wasn't! Dense, practical, ... thank you for sharing your expertise! I am not smart, though if I am careful a small amount of your knowledge will be in my mind when I'm about to do something really stupid! May I never have a reason to change to the name 'lefty' or 'righty', and if I never do I thank you in *large* part.

[@stephaniea9722]

Thank you for the Video Quinn! I silver brazed for the first time last week (I refuse to call it soldering, as I have had jobs where I soldered electronics). I did a lap joint on some steel bar, and a butt joint of carbide to steel. It took me some time to figure how I could fixture it, and came up with using pins and wire. However the butt joint for the carbide was difficult to align and keep from moving (the wire actually made it worse). Any tips there would be appreciated.

[@laumuseka]

That was truly amazing footage! lol. But for real I always enjoy your tutorials. Very detailed and educational. And I’m pretty sure now my silver solder at work is not the legit type.

[@markh5889]

Great video. How cdo you hold the Parts for something like carbide tips or something too thin to drill and tap? Thanks

[@markgillett1472]

Thanks Quinn, a new technique I knew little about, you explain things so well, nice to have you back, we missed you😁

[@workshop719]

Great tutorial. Complete "how to in less than 30 min". Bravo! Thank you!

[@jrporo]

Excelent content as always! 👍

[@schutendohkji548]

This video is the most comprehensive, yet from a person w actual experience giving us her success n failures of which many of the soldering (and other processes) videos do not mention. I do dink it's funny at (13:42) when she says why she doesn't use Acetylene torch despite "all the Kool kids in utube use it ..." and then she showed us her booboo. Nut(not) many of the Kool video silver solder presenters do this (bc. it's nut Kool to show the boo boos he did?). Funny. Loved ya! Thanks! U gave me courage to fix all my boo boos on silver soldering w Propane torch (never got two metals stuck together) n even tried a small hand gun type butane on tiny 1/16D steel wire to stick onto 3/16"D steel rod (kitchen sink grill). Of course that tiny silver solder piece beaded up, never got the wire n rod stuck together. Nut nuf heat! And inproper flux (regular flux for Pb/Tn solder). But i switched to 63/37 solder w the same liquid flux worked. My ultimate goal is to add a bronze bushing under my 16mm/ft (1/19th scale) bellie for blow down valve to spew out debris vs. the standard commercial** made small scale live steam's blow down valve only at the bottom of the small 1/4"D glass tube water gauge. It is best to have the blow downs at both places, the gauge one to clear the air bubble and the bellie one to get rid of the debris at the bottom of the boiler. Any comment/advice would b appreciated. _____________ **Actually, only a few makers even in 1/32nd scale Mainline live steam model provides any blow down valve, including one under the water gauge. There is a concern of having the valve opening causing the sudden rush of vacuum, sucking in steam oil from the cylinders and even the displacement oil tank. So u really need to remove the debris slowly here n there while running the loco or idling little amount at a time to clean the boiler.

[@ernestrosenkranz7642]

How would you fixture the carbide to the boring bar you showed in the picture ? Thanks for your videos I sure enjoy them.

[@kencurtis508]

Great video, thanks for sharing.

[@JonesMetalCraft]

Great tutorial! Thank you.

[@sateeshum394]

good stuff and takes a lot to reach there.

[@pauldehaan3574]

Very good video.....Thanks for sharing

[@Ham-j9i]

Excellent video Quinn. I've watched all of your previous videos but it's great to have all of this detail in a single video.

[@robertpearson8798]

I think you must have read my comment on the steam manifold video about silver soldering. This was a great tutorial and goes into my playlist in case I ever decide to do a project where silver soldering simply can’t be avoided or is required in abundance. Otherwise, the materials and equipment required are a bit too extensive for the rare necessity of having to do it (other than the bigger torch which would be very nice for heat treating). It’s also nice to get an idea of where I can find the right materials up here in Canuckistan should I ever need them.

[@mlrable]

My tip I use bake pads as a base when soldering in care.

[@OceanViewLocomotiveMachineCo]

Where does one dispose of used heavily-contaminated Sparex Number 2? Asking for a friend

[@Lykoloo]

Many areas have hazardous waste disposal services, they would give you better advice than youtube.

[@stuartsamuel1879]

Slowly add baking soda until it doesn't react any longer. What you do after that depends on where you are.

[@samalbury9183]

@@stuartsamuel1879 The concern is not the acidity, it's the metal, especially copper, contamination. Copper is quite toxic and a large amount of dissolved copper is absolutely toxic waste

[@mattomon1045]

Quinn This is A great clinic, thank you for teaching us!

[@PhilipKloppers]

Have you ever considered using something like an inductive loop to heat the whole part quickly to silver solder? I'd imagine it could work well for smaller parts/assemblies?

[@Blondihacks]

It would be very slow and use enormous amounts of electricity

[@davestraughan449]

Great information thanks for sharing.

[@01thomasss]

@09:38: "There he lies, so still and placid, because he added water to the acid"

[@swirlius]

“He should’ve done what he ‘oughter’: put the acid into water”

[@Rickmakes]

Nice vintage Dremel!

[@hussainali9999]

Thanks

[@B-System]

And because we've watched both the results of following these guidelines and the results of not following these guidelines in extensive detail on this very channel I have absolute confidence in the information.

[@nicholashacking381]

Informative as ever, and good to see another Quinn video. When silver-soldering carbide to steel, I suppose that fixturing screws are not an option. IIRC Steve Jordan has a video showing how he does it. Personally, being somewhat lazy and inept, I use indexable carbide inserts in standard, commercial tools.

[@CothranMike]

Best way with pocketed carbide silver soldering is to let gravity assist your efforts. Place the pocket in such a way as to have gravity hold the piece of carbide into the pocket and use a gentle flame. The heat will get there fast enough and you don't need the breeze from a fast flame moving your bits around.

[@Scott-l5r]

Thanks for taking the time to teach !

[@johnmoorefilm]

It is prudent to pickle properly, prepping priority proves procrastination puts pressure per plentiful previous poor periods.

[@richardschnoor6995]

i have about 50# of cadium plated silver. but cad is so bad if you breathe it i only solder outside with this.

[@CKILBY-zu7fq]

Cool Information

[@GEV646]

Thank you very much for sharing this information. I restore vintage fountain pens and have some brass parts that I want to silver solder for the sake of strength, so I appreciate your guidance greatly.

[@tkat6442]

A jeweller told me to use PH Down for pickling solution, where pool supplies are sold. It's the exact same chemical but costs less. (Edit) The kind I've bought is granular to be mixed with water, and has the active ingredient sodium bisulfate, just like the pickling solution here.

[@colemine7008]

Thanks so much. Your pickle bath was always such a mystery to me.

[@richardspalding3622]

Thanks very useful

[@Roy_Tellason]

I've been doing electronic soldering for many decades, but haven't gotten into this stuff at all, yet. Your videos are actually the first place I've run into it. I did think that the hearth idea was a good one, and will probably snag some firebrick one of these days. We do have a woodstove anyway that needs a bit of help there. "Amazing footage"? Looked more like elbowage to me...

[@rjschubert30]

Q: where do I find the link you refer to at 15:50 in this video showing one person using propane to heat the general assembly and another using oxyacetylene to heat a specific area?? Please?

[@Blondihacks]

In the description

[@rjschubert30]

@@Blondihacks Many thanks for responding so quickly.

[@tonyking2030]

Absolutely brilliant video, thank you 👍

[@RussellCompton-fh3gr]

GREAT info,,,,,,,,,,,,,,thanks

[@securitydinosaur]

One of my first jobs back in 1980 - 1984 was when we used oxy-acetylene when brazing/soldering parts of the chassis on a Volvo 240, 245 and Volvo 740 cars. The flux was included in the flame, also it was not silver solder...

[@bambukouk]

because it was brazing, NOT soldering some people use term "brazing" incorrectly 🤪

[@ralphnewcomejr]

Well DAMN...if the Boilermakers union hasn't given you an honorary book for your pre-submerged arc welding prowess on boiler construction I can only say they are not aware of your level of mastery. GREAT WORK! 🙂👌

[@micmathers1]

This may not work for every situation but I have great results using a solder paste, typically used for SMT applications, and a stainless steel flux (hydrochloric acid and zinc chloride). The part I use this on is a stainless steel tube to a brass pipe fitting. It's then tested to 375 psi. I just use the cartridge torch with map plus (because I'm a cool kid 😉). Obviously all the same steps apply (you have a great resource), only the solder and flux are different, but I find it more controllable and cleaner. In fact the client I do this for, I have seen their products in your shop during some of your videos.

[@eliduttman315]

The paste used for SMD electronic parts is lead free, primarily due to the EU's RoHS directives. I wonder what the composition of the soldering alloy you use is. Each soldering job requires a correct combination of temperature, flux, and alloy. One size most definitely does not fit all.

[@wanglydiaplt]

Any thougts on using air-acetylene? I've had good luck with that gas combination, particularly for non-huge assemblies.