Soldering

“ The Soldering Iron.—A large iron is always better than a small one, particularly for the reason that it will retain its heat better. This should always be kept tinned, which can be done by heating and plunging it into the soldering solution, and the solder will then adhere to the iron and cover the point, so that when the actual soldering takes place the solder will not creep away from the tool. ”

“ Soldering, Electric.
(a) Soldering in which the solder is melted by means of electricity;
either current incandescence or the voltaic arc may be used. It is
identical in general with electric welding. (See Welding, Electric.)
(b) The deposition by electric plating of a metal over the ends of two
conductors held in contact. This secures them as if by soldering. It is
used in connecting the carbon filament of an incandescent lamp with the
platinum wires that pass through the glass. Copper is the metal usually
deposited. ”

“ BRAZING AND SOLDERING, in metal work, termed respectively hard and soft soldering, are processes which correspond with soldering done at high and at low temperatures. The first embraces jointing effected with soldering mixtures into which copper, brass, or silver largely enter, the second those in which lead and tin are the only, or the principal, constituents. Some metals, as aluminium and cast iron, are less easily soldered than others. Aluminium, owing to its high conductivity, removes the heat from the solder rapidly. ”

“ Soft solders are used for soldering easily fusible metals such as Britannia metal, etc., also for soldering tin plate. To prepare solder, the metals are melted together in a graphite crucible at as low a temperature as possible, well stirred with an iron rod, and cast into ingots in an iron mold. To melt the solder when required for soldering, the soldering iron is used ”

“ Do not just touch the metal with the soldering iron and then take it away. You might certainly stick the parts together slightly in that way, but they would be sure to come apart the first time they received a blow or any pressure was put on them.
Soldering on the best work should be used very seldom, and all the fastenings should be either done by riveting, screwing, or brazing; and I need hardly remark that no part of a boiler should be soldered which comes in direct contact with the flame of the lamp or furnace. ”

“ Having learned to keep up the steady blast and get a perfect flame, the beginner will want to practice soldering. The blow pipe method of soldering has for its range of work everything that can be soldered, from Britannia metal to platinum, but the only metals that are used by the plumbers are tin and lead and their several compositions, so we will confine ourselves to the study of those metals. ”

“ How to Solder Metals. —The great secret in soldering metals is to have them perfectly clean and then if you use the right kind of flux and the proper solder you will not have any trouble.
Fluxes. —After you have cleaned the surfaces to be soldered you must use a flux to prevent the metal from oxidizing and to make the solder stick. Different metals require fluxes of different kinds.
When soldering bright new tinware use powdered resin for the flux, but if the parts are old then scrape [72] and clean them well and use a flux of zinc chloride solution. ”

“ The solder is caused to make a perfect union with the surfaces treated with the help of heat from a soldering iron. The soldering iron is made from a piece of copper, pointed at one end and with the other end attached to an iron rod and wooden handle. A flux is used to remove impurities from the joint and allow the solder to secure a firm union with the metal surface. The iron, and in many cases the work, is heated with a gasoline blow torch, a small gas furnace, an electric heater or an acetylene and air torch. ”

“ Hard solder gives better results than half and half, but is more difficult to work. It is very important that the soldering iron be kept at a high heat during all work, otherwise the solder will only stick to the surfaces and will not join with them. ”

“ Having decided which is to be the top and which the bottom of the box, file the bottom edges level and at right angles to the sides. A piece of metal is then cut for the bottom large enough to allow about 1/16" to project on all four sides.
It is then prepared for soldering and bound together with iron wire, Figure 20. The solder should be cut in small pieces and placed about the inside edges. In soldering the bottom, care must be taken not to unsolder the corner. ”

“ To unite them in a straight line, pass the end of one into the end of the other before soldering, or else wind an additional piece of tin over the two ends. To make a turn, or elbow, file the ends on a bevel, or slant, bring them together, and apply considerable solder for strength. If the solder be rightly put on, it will hold surprisingly. ”

“ Remember that soldering is impossible without a flux to keep the metal clean when it is hot; too much heat will burn soldering paste or killed acid away; the tinning and the solder adhering to the point will be burned or oxidized and rendered brittle and useless.
A heat that will melt the solder almost instantly and cause it to flow with a brilliant glistening color should be maintained at all times when the copper is employed for soldering. ”

“ Hold the badge with the pin on top of it in the flame of your alcohol lamp or Bunsen burner and when the soldering fluid begins to sizzle touch the pin with a piece of wire solder. When the solder runs let it cool and the pin will be on securely enough for all ordinary purposes. ”

“ If there should be any soft solder about the article, to be soldered by the means we are describing, it would be almost certain to destroy it, the soft solder having such an affinity for entering into combination with metals more infusible than itself when overheated.
There is an art in soldering greater than some people would believe. ”

“ The solder is melted in an iron ladle, on a rude temporary fire-place, built as near the spot where the solder is wanted as possible. The plumber having turned back the edge of the upper sheet at the joint, an assistant carefully pours the solder on the lower edge. The workman then spreads it evenly along the joint, by means of soldering irons, which are irregularly-shaped iron bars, swelling at their ends into rounded forms of different sizes and shapes, according to the particular purpose for which they are intended. ”

“ For most of the work from 18 to 24 gauge is used, while metal from 12 to 18 gauge is used occasionally.
Copper wire is used in several sizes for making rivets.
No. 22 and 28 iron wire is indispensable for binding when soldering.
Easy running silver solder may be made by the user, but as a small piece will solder many joints, and as it is not practical to make it in small quantities, it is better to buy it ready made as desired.
Powdered or lump borax is used as a flux in soldering. Charcoal or asbestos blocks are used when soldering small work. ”

“ When you are ready to begin soldering, and want to make your solder flow, put your work in the furnace, & place beneath it a few little pieces of well-dried wood, fanning them up a bit with your bellows. Then it is not a bad thing, too, after this to throw a few coarse cinders upon the fire, & this done at the right moment does a deal of good. But it is practice and experience, together with a man’s own discretion, that are the only real ways of teaching one how to bring about good results in this or in anything. ”

“ The engine illustrated in Figs. 53 to 66 will give sufficient scope for energy and handiness with drill and soldering iron. The writer made an engine of the same kind, differing only from that shown in the design of the crosshead guides, without the assistance of a lathe, except for turning the piston and fly wheel—the last bought in the rough. Files, drills, taps, a hack saw, and a soldering iron did all the rest of the work.
Solder plays so important a part in the assembling of the many pieces of the engine that, if the machine fell into the fire, a rapid disintegration would follow. ”

“ The operation of soft soldering, requiring only a moderate heat, does not weaken the material to any great extent, and for some items a properly pegged and soldered joint is superior to the two methods of jointing previously described. ”

“ Close one end of the cylinder by soldering a disk of zinc over it, making a watertight receptacle. All soldering should be done on the outside and none of the solder allowed to run on the inside of the seam. All seams on the inside should be painted with asphaltum in order to cover any particles of solder. Do not paint any surface, only the joints. Secure three carbon rods 1/2-in. in diameter and 6 in. long which are copper plated. Carbons used in arc lamps will do. File the rods to remove the copper plate, leaving about 1/2-in. ”

“ The use of all zinc preparations for soldering presents the drawback that vapors of a strongly acid odor are generated by the heat of the soldering iron, but this evil is offset by the extraordinary convenience afforded when working with these preparations. It is not necessary to subject the places to be soldered to any special cleaning or preparation. All that is required is to coat them with the soldering medium, to apply the solder to the seam, etc., and to wipe the places with a sponge or moistened rag after the solder has cooled. ”

“ Solder will not adhere to oxidized metal. The metal must be protected with a coating called a flux while being soldered. Soldering paste, soldering fluid or “killed acid,” resin, paraffin, heavy oils, and vaseline all serve as fluxes, some better than others. The soldering paste is by far the best, as will be shown later.
Soft solder is applied to the tin, on the point of a hot soldering copper, often wrongly called a “soldering iron.” A soldering copper consists of a pointed bar of copper suitably fixed to an iron shank which is firmly set in a wooden handle. ”

“ The melted mass is run out upon a cold plate of sheet iron, and when it is completely chilled it is broken into small bits or finely powdered. To solder, it is necessary to sprinkle the powder on the surfaces to be joined several minutes before bringing them together.
Soldering Solution For Steel.—A soldering solution for steel that will not rust or blacken the work is made of 6 ounces alcohol, 2 ounces glycerine, and 1 ounce oxide of zinc. ”

“ Don’t leave an uncovered wire to show in your window. If you suspend a design, wrap the wires with the same color as your background.
Don’t imagine you are an electrician because you can run a string of lights. Keep digging away; you’ll learn something every day.
Don’t try to do all kinds of joint soldering by heating the wires merely. When you become a little more accustomed to the work, get a larger tool kit, and among the first things get a soldering iron. In many places it is necessary. ”

“ By means of the new apparatus, a soldering flame can be conducted to a distance of several fathoms without the dangerous necessity of lighting a brasier to heat irons, to melt masses of solder, and to carry the whole into the midst of complicated carpentry work. ”

“ To tin it get a pine board about 1 inch thick, 4 inches wide and 6 inches long, and put some brown resin and bits of solder on it.
File off the copper until the point is sharp and it is bright and smooth; heat the copper and then melt the resin and solder on the board with it and rub the copper in them on all sides until a film of solder is formed on it.
(17) It is cheaper to buy a stick of soldering paste than it is to make it but you can easily and cheaply make a good soldering fluid by dissolving a teaspoonful of zinc chloride in an ink bottle full of clean water. ”

“ Soldering Of Metallic Articles.—In a recently invented process the parts to be united are covered, on the surfaces not to be soldered, with a protective mass, which prevents an immediate contact of the solder with the surfaces in question, and must be brushed off only after the soldered pieces have cooled perfectly, whereby the possibility of a change of position of these pieces seems precluded. ”

“ When this happens, the shortest way out of the difficulty is the application of the old file so as to obtain a perfectly fresh surface. No one who knows his business ever uses an iron that is not perfectly clean and well tinned.
The iron may be cleaned from time to time by heating it red hot and quenching it in water to get rid of the oxide, which scales off in the process.
§ 95. Soft Soldering. —
In the laboratory the chief application of the process is to copper soldering during the construction of electrical apparatus and to zinc soldering for general purposes. ”

“ Electrical Soldering Coppers.—The electrically heated copper is ideal for soldering as the heating coil is enclosed within the copper itself, the wire running out through the handle and connecting with an ordinary electric light socket. The heat is maintained at a proper degree for melting the solder; hence it is an ideal equipment for those who can afford it and where electric current is available. The doctors of certain hospitals have recommended electrical coppers for the use of patients in making tin can toys. ”

“ The idea of revolving the soldering-tool about the pivotal rod is not suggested in the original patent, but is excluded by the statement in the specification that the inventor contemplated making the soldering-iron and the guilding-rod of any form in transverse section necessary to fit in any form of cap, whether round, square, oval, or of any other curved or polygonal shape. ”