soldering guards

R

Random Mutant

Joined
Oct 18, 2001
Messages
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How does one solder a guard onto a knife without ruining the heat treat? If you solder it on before the heat treat, wouldn't the heat treat loosen the solder joint? If you solder it on after the heat treat, wouldn't that ruin the temper?

I can't figure out how to go about this, other than combining the heat treat with soldering in one heat, but that seems wrong...
 
The silver solder that most makers are using melts at about 400-450 deg.,F.
Since most knife steels are tempered at about 400 deg.,in the case of 440C, to upwards of 950deg., for ATS 34, and a few others. You can wrap a damp wash cloth around the blade, and use care when heating the blade/guard area. It won't hurt the tang area, if some of the temper is taken out. Probably make for a tougher knife. Just watch the blade.
 
Thanks for the reply.
That makes sense. I was assuming a silver solder with a melting point of around 1200 deg F, as that is what I am experienced with from jewelry making.
Is the low-temp solder reliably strong for, say, flat bolsters, or should it be backed up with pins?
 
I personally wouldn't use solder at all on bolsters. Strictly pins. Flux tends to work it's way out of bolsters, making for a nasty look.
Just make sure that the mating surfaces are real flat, and peen the pins good. I use a taper pin reamer, going not quite to the base of the pin hole, for extra grip when peened. There are others that get by very well without this extra step though.
 
I have water soaked a couple of pieces of felt, thrown them in the freezer till they setup nicely, wrap them around the blade with tape beforehand. This seem to protect the heat treat very well. LOL Terry
 
Hi my name is Daqo'tah

I plan to solder my very first brass guard this next week or so.

Im still in the learning and pre-planning stage of this all,

But I have a question, I was planing on useing a low temp. silver solder, but do I use Flux ?

and if you use flux with this type of solder, what type of flux should I use?

I have some solder leftover from when I ran some copper pipe in the laundry room, will that old stuff work here too?
 
DaQo'tah, the type of solder you are talking about is plain old plumbers solder. It melts at 250-275 degrees F. It does not (IMO) have the strength for guards.
Any knifemakers supply house will carry the correct silver solder, like Sta-Brite, Eutectic, Tik, etc. They also carry the flux to go with them.
The big secret to a successful soldering job is cleanliness. Wipe the whole blade and guard down with Acetone, then wash the same in very hot water and detergent, or use a cleaner like 409. The water should flow across the guard area like a sheet of glass, not streak, or bead up. Dry with a lint free (clean)cloth, and don't touch with the bare hands again, at least on the surfaces to be soldered. The solder usually comes with directions from there, if not, let me know and I can go further with this, if you wish.
Good luck. :)
 
Lots of folks solder and thats fine but any more, its nothing but JB Weld for me. I have seen a number of knives that weren't properly cleaned up after soldering. After a few years, that particular solder job did more damage than good. If you do solder, clean it up WELL!!!!!!

Once again, I can't say enough about Terry Primos tutorial on solderless guards.

C Wilkins
 
Hey Mutant,Using the low temp solders like plumbers silver solder or lead solder is all you need to solder on a guard,it really is only being used to seal moisture out of the handle tha can get in throught the joint of the blade and guard.Bolsters are and can be soldered on but pins are needed,and the flux can cause rust if it isn't cleaned good after soldering,I am finding that bolsters only need a tight fit and pins only or maybe a thin coat of super glue to hold them in place while peening..
There is a tutorial on my site about how to clean up a solder joint if you want to check it out.
http://www.homestead.com/beknivessite2/solderingguard.html
Bruce
 
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