Stay Brite solder ?

T

Taximanny

Joined
Jul 27, 2015
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Is there a certain of percentage of silver I need to be looking for?
Do I look for a low temp solder?
And flux to match the temp?

I've searched and what I have read the just say Stay Brite.

Trying to get what I need to solder bolsters.

Thanks, Manny
 
So is the 4 percent silver solder sufficient ?
Or do I need a higher percentage for it to match?
 
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Most "bright" soft solders are a tin ( with a little other stuff) 2-5% silver added. It is properly called "silver bearing solder" as the silver is only a minor ingredient and not really part of a eutectic alloy. By adding indium and/or antimony a eutectic alloy forms that allows melting points down as low as 280F. Most of the stronger ones flow closer to 400F.

This is far different from actual silver solder, which is usually 50-80% silver. These melt at 1000-1300F.
 
Yes 4-5% silver solder is the product. As suggested get it together with its flux...stainless steel rated.
 
Great tutorial Sbuzek! Thanks for taking the time to put that together. Probably a stupid question but how do you separate bolsters that are super glued together?
 
I can't speak for Stan, but if you only use several drops of superglue you can usually get metal parts to separate by smacking them smartly with a hammer or against a flat surface. The shock breaks the bond.
 
Personally, I prefer to use a high silver hard solder, but do it pretty much the same as Stan does in his tutorial. Typically only solder bolsters when doing damascus over some other base metal however, as spot welding will show in the damascus unless you heat them up to red a couple of times afterwards because of spot hardening.
 
javand said:
Personally, I prefer to use a high silver hard solder, but do it pretty much the same as Stan does in his tutorial. Typically only solder bolsters when doing damascus over some other base metal however, as spot welding will show in the damascus unless you heat them up to red a couple of times afterwards because of spot hardening.
Click to expand...

So just pin with no solder? On Stainless steel
 
I spot weld stainless to stainless liners if I'm not doing them integrally.


Look into it, the 220V Harbor Freight spot welder does a fine job. I wouldn't run a sheet metal business with it, but for bolsters, it works great.
 
Javan, when spot welding SS to SS, i understand the bolster is well attached to the liner, but i ask if the joint is invisible the same as when silver soldering? Thanks
 
Stefano, if both pieces are clean and flat, then yes, the joint is hidden, better than if your solder doesn't color match IMO. Only drawback of spot welding is that you've got to grind out the weld marks on the liner side after welding if they're in a location that will show.


It works for titanium also.
 
Can someone post a spot weld done right, showing the seem?
And maybe a pic too of soldering done right showing the seem?

I'm leaning on the solder way first because it's cheap and I have everything already.
 
I don't know how to post pictures of mine here, but if you look at any of Tony Bose's here on the forum you'll see nice soldered seams...as Javan said clean and FLAT is the name of the game. Be careful that even hand sanding on the granite plate is not enough....you need to be sure that the sandpaper is really flat on the granite and go slow and steady, because it takes just a "wave" on the sandpaper to knock the flat edges and it will show the seam. Don't dig in the same sandpaper "track", else the grit on the sides will be higher and knock the piece edges as well....
If you try to flatten on a machine (disk is better than belt) only lift the piece when the machine has stopped.

I'd like as well to see spot welded seams.....
 
Sanding on the surface plate in a "figure eight" movement is how to get a flat surface. Back and forth will make the edges higher than the center.

Also, contrary to what you might think, a very fine grit finish isn't as conducive to solder flowing as a 120 grit surface. A dead flat 120 grit surface that is surgically clean and fluxed will flow the solder at 10 degrees above the rated temp. A heat gun is more than sufficient for this. The trick is to have both the blade and the bolster at that temp together.
 
If I want to solder a brass guard to carbon steel (1084) do I want 4-5% silver solder or something else?
 
Brass to carbon steel can be done with lead solder.
You can also use 4% silver solder, but it's not necessary.
Silver content is necessary when soldering stainless steel.
 
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I don't have any plans to make anything with stainless liners/bolsters atm, but I'll see if I can't spot weld up a scrap piece of bolster/liner material and show you guys a joint.
 
For general non-stainless soldering, I use TIX. It is advertised as "The World's Hardest Soft Solder". It works really well with proper surface prep and heat control. 275F flow point.4000 PSI strength. Strays shiny. Jewelers love it.
 
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