Welcome to the forum. Although you can post in any forum, the USA forum is here in case of local regs or laws

Master Soldering help needed for a clean solder

Status
Not open for further replies.
Re Not a wire brush -on Hot splodges ..

Have wondered if leather (like moles skin) shammy would have similar effect.

Not a valid plumbing technique - as moving joint as it cools is a no-no .
Also likely to splash self and surroundings .
 
Last edited:
It hasn't been mentioned what flux you are using. The fluxes like greased based Fluxite or similar Yorkshire Traditional flux will let the flux flow very well and work very well if you constantly add a dot of flux to the joint as you heat it. Leaded solder flows better, wipes better and stays melted longer, but any lead isn't recommended to be handled as hazardous.
As the joints are not going to have to hold water, you just need to tack them together with one dab of solder.
 
You could always solder the open fitting inside and clean and flux the tube, then shuv it into the fitting !
Whilst it's hot of course, you'll need to keep it hot with your lamp.
Stand the lamp on the bench or floor and use both hands
Like I said before, it's only to hold it together, not water tight !
 
Last edited:
Why not wipe the joins with a damp cloth whilst still hot? Wear gloves of course. When I was a sprog we used make all sorts of nice bits and bobs from copper in metalwork class at school ( 1962 to 1969). For example I made a big 12 inch diameter planished dish with a ring as the base for my O level project. That was braised on with silver solder and the joint was invisible , that's what jewels do. So why not do that?
 
Why not wipe the joins with a damp cloth whilst still hot? Wear gloves of course.
Anyway......When I was a sprog we used make all sorts of nice bits and bobs from copper in metalwork class at school ( 1962 to 1969). For example I made a big 12 inch diameter planished dish with a ring as the base for my O level project. That was braised on with silver solder and the joint was invisible , that's why jewellers use the method. So why not do that? Plenty of info on you tube on how to do it. It's much cleaner and stronger. Borax is the usual flux and silver solder comes in 3 types: easy, medium and hard, videos explain more. Bad joints are caused by ANY contamination of the joint, even a fingerprint will be a drama!

EDIT

Got me thinking and reminiscing now! Jee so Christo mr Elf and Safety would have a mare back in the day! Our little old secondary modern taught us 12 year old how to use oxyacetylene welding, lathes, braising, coke blacksmiths forge for wrought iron work. we had a full on gas alloy casting drag and set where we melted scrap alloy and pored molten aluminium into red sand hollow mould's, we used a gas furnace for melting the alloy. All the safety equipment we had was a cotton apron and swarfega hand cleaner!
Don't get me started on sports kit! I had 2 pairs of plimsoles, 1 Black for winter and 1 white for summer! It's a wonder I am still alive.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Electronurd said:
Hi plumbers, I am popping here today to ask how do I solder a clean join? For example I am currently in the process of creating a lamp for my living room out of copper pipe. I started to solder today and realised I'm crap :smile5:. I cleaned the pipe and the elbows and fluxed, but no matter how hard I tried the solder went everywhere and I ended up with proper messy pipe joins.

I would like to create something like the following:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322443512149

as you can see the joins are spectacular and look very clean and nicely done. My question is how??

thought I'd ask plumbers as you may know?
Click to expand...

Epoxy resin.
 
There are some excellent tips here and will have another go using some of them. One thing that I will definitely look at is the silver solder. That sounds like a very good idea. Will post back with results
 
Electronurd said:
One thing that I will definitely look at is the silver solder. That sounds like a very good idea.
Click to expand...

If my memory serves me correctly, ordinary solder requires a temperature below about 200 degrees whereas silver soldering is somewhere above 700 degrees.
Check that as if I am correct then you need to take that into account....
 
Silver solder in the UK comes in 3 different types , easy medium and hard. This relates to the temp it melts at. This is for when you are constructing a complicated piece that needs different joints soldering close together. In the USA they have 6 grades. Important to use propane gas if you can, but not entirely necessary.
 
ShaunCorbs said:
Wasn't sure you were still around, how you doing ?
Click to expand...

Im still around Shaun cheers. Yeah I'm doing alright. I've found a few things out as I've gone such as if I make a mess of a join it's because the fitting wasn't hot enough or I'd applied too much flux. Also as the pipe is for decorative reasons, actually filing down blobs and then applying flux to the excess to darken it makes the joins quite appealing.

Did some archive searching and found this little gem from this forum actually
http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/plumbing-forum/39491-neat-soldering-how.html
And
http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/plumbing-forum/43536-making-perfect-end-feed-solder-joint.html

That link has helped quite a bit as well as this one.

My next little dilemma now if trying to solder to end feed fittings together and have them flush... any takers on that? I'm using a small piece of copper to try and attach two end feeds together with no gap... very difficult indeed and a waste of copper fittings I've found and a great deal of swearing at the sky. Here's a picture of what I mean

IMG_0157.jpg

Any help would be appreciated the image is the wrong way round... changed it on my computer but not happening on upload.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0156.jpg
    IMG_0156.jpg
    91.5 KB · Views: 47
Last edited:
Solder the elbow or t first

And then solder the other through either the elbow or t hole
 
Or just pull the two end feed fittings apart about a couple of mm, then heat and touch of solder and immediately tap the fittings tight together.
But Shaun's idea of soldering through other (open) end of fitting would do also as either method fine because it isn't plumbing
 
Best said:
Or just pull the two end feed fittings apart about a couple of mm, then heat and touch of solder and immediately tap the fittings tight together.
But Shaun's idea of soldering through other (open) end of fitting would do also as either method fine because it isn't plumbing
Click to expand...

Tried the tapping best but couch it would knock some joins out of line and then burnt fingers happen. The idea to solder through the other end though, sounds great and will try that next.
 
Electronurd said:
Tried the tapping best but couch it would knock some joins out of line and then burnt fingers happen. The idea to solder through the other end though, sounds great and will try that next.
Click to expand...

Just one dot of solder will hold the joint forever.
The tapping the fitting while the solder is melted is easy, but takes experience I guess.
I take your point that joints can be knocked out of angle.
 
Your passion for this project is inspiring

Originally I thought you just fancied doing some soldering but the wife wouldn't let you loose on your house
 
Electronurd said:
............. the silver solder..................
Click to expand...

If you go for more strength in the joint with Silver solder / Brazing rod
( expensive -Half-ords ) I only found 4 problems
a) So hot may melt copper !
b) Supports need to be super heat resistant (not concrete)
c) ---The burns are soo... much worst---
d) Hard work cleaning off

But the sense of achievment is worth it ,
(can use solder near by -cos this one won't melt )
 
CP1111 said:
Your passion for this project is inspiring

Originally I thought you just fancied doing some soldering but the wife wouldn't let you loose on your house
Click to expand...

I'm a nutter... once I've got an idea in my head I run out and want to master it. We've just moved house and I'm looking at ways to create small things that are eye catching around the home. For example I created some scaffold board shelves and thought... what would look cool on their is a copper pipe lamp and then I started to think about things I could make from copper pipe around the house. Not made the lamp yet as I need to research electrics and making it safe but I'm currently creating a copper pipe spice rack as we have a ton of spices just in a box.
I'll post some pictures when I'm done.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

We recommend City Plumbing Supplies, BES, and Plumbing Superstore for all plumbing supplies.

Back
Top