Nick Winter Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 (edited) If I wanted to attach 2 peices of soft metal, I've never tried it but I my Brother bought A new Soldering gun and gave me his old one, which I think Was my grandfathers, well that's not important, would it work, if not what's another way I could? Nick Edited March 28, 2010 by Dukefan69'
Ken Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 You can try, but I believe it won't work. Soldering is mainly for brass and copper only. You can weld aluminum, but that would kill any small scale work you are attempting. You could use brass for the parts rather than aluminum. Thick super glue is your best bet for aluminum.
Nick Winter Posted March 28, 2010 Author Posted March 28, 2010 You can try, but I believe it won't work. Soldering is mainly for brass and copper only. You can weld aluminum, but that would kill any small scale work you are attempting. You could use brass for the parts rather than aluminum. Thick super glue is your best bet for aluminum. Ok I'll switch to brass then.
MrObsessive Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 (edited) Nick, do you have a pic of the soldering unit you have? There are all types-------some are not good for soldering at all, while others are fantastic. Soldering would be the best way to go to permanently joining two pieces of metal together. Also, what kind of metal are you soldering? Brass will solder well if properly cleaned, but potmetal or aluminum not so much. A good flux is also important to getting acceptable results for soldering work. The trick to soldering is you want to get the heat in, and get the heat out as quickly as possible. I train people to solder on my job from time to time, and one mistake people make is having too much heat on the part-------destroying the property of the solder and eventually destroying the part itself. A good solder joint should be smooth with no cragginess, or "cold" solder look to it. In other words, for those of us who solder on a regular basis-------your parts should have proper solder "wetting". Here's a couple pics of how a good solder joint should appear.............. Note the hinge that was soldered, has a slight "fillet" around the joint. That's a good sign the part will hold and not break due to a cold solder joint. Here's a pic of the solder unit I use at home, as well as the type we use on my job if I'm training someone.................. It's a Metcal unit I bought off eBay about 5 years ago. The solder tip is a 600º unit and I generally use silver bearing lead solder with a flux core. Hope all this helps! Edited March 28, 2010 by MrObsessive
Harry P. Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 Hey Bill, if you see this, I have a question for you. I've never soldered anything since high school electric shop class. Recently I was trying to solder some electrical connections for the lighting circuit of my Pocher Mercedes (you remember that one!). Anyhoo... no matter how long I held the tip of the soldering iron to the wires, the solder wouldn't flow, it would just form little balls and fall off the connection. Was the problem not enough heat? Wrong type of solder? Help!!!
MrObsessive Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 Hey Bill, if you see this, I have a question for you. I've never soldered anything since high school electric shop class. Recently I was trying to solder some electrical connections for the lighting circuit of my Pocher Mercedes (you remember that one!). Anyhoo... no matter how long I held the tip of the soldering iron to the wires, the solder wouldn't flow, it would just form little balls and fall off the connection. Was the problem not enough heat? Wrong type of solder? Help!!! Harry, try running some flux (you can get some at the hardware store) on the wires. That'll help clean 'em up somewhat as well as help the solder to flow. Don't hold the iron to the wires too long, or you'll start melting the insulation leading to a bigger problem (shorts)! The solder is "balling up" due to the area not being clean, as well as your tip needs to be squeaky clean in order for the solder to transfer well. One thing I recommend to folks I'm training is to always flood your tip with solder in between soldering and put it in the holder. When you wipe off the tip on the sponge, this will keep the iron tinned as well as keeping off burned on flux, which can sound the death knell for any solder tip if it's not kept off properly. Hope this helps ya Harry!
Karmodeler2 Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 Hey Bill, if you see this, I have a question for you. I've never soldered anything since high school electric shop class. Recently I was trying to solder some electrical connections for the lighting circuit of my Pocher Mercedes (you remember that one!). Anyhoo... no matter how long I held the tip of the soldering iron to the wires, the solder wouldn't flow, it would just form little balls and fall off the connection. Was the problem not enough heat? Wrong type of solder? Help!!! Hey Harry, I'll toss in some hints. Are you using flux (paste or liquid)? Sometimes the solder will form little balls and dance around on the metal and not melt. Part of this is solder and not a clean (sanded or wiped or pickled with acid) piece of metal. Part of it is heat. Also, try a solder with a lower melting point if you can. Another thing you can do is to "tin" both the parts. By this I mean, get a piece of glass, marble or something that the solder will not adhere to but will stay in a melted state before hardening. Sand both your parts so you have a course finish (doesn't have to be 80 grit, but sand it with 220 or 320...it's like primer...it likes to have a surface to cling to). Wipe some flux on both parts. Melt a ball of solder, and dip one part into the melted solder, lift it out, and let it dry. Do the same with the other. Then clamp or hold the parts in the way you want them mounted. Add heat, and the solder will melt and form a great bond for you. David
Harry P. Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 Thanks for the tips, guys. I'll try and see if I can get some better results.
Nick Winter Posted March 28, 2010 Author Posted March 28, 2010 Bill, I used the method you described and it worked perfectly, thanks for you help.
Jairus Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 Hey Bill, if you see this, I have a question for you. I've never soldered anything since high school electric shop class. Recently I was trying to solder some electrical connections for the lighting circuit of my Pocher Mercedes (you remember that one!). Anyhoo... no matter how long I held the tip of the soldering iron to the wires, the solder wouldn't flow, it would just form little balls and fall off the connection. Was the problem not enough heat? Wrong type of solder? Help!!! Flux. You needed to use a rosin core solder because it has flux in it. This is for electrical connections and don't need cleaning. For those guys soldering brass to brass for construction purposes... look for a product called "Stay-Brite". Tower hobbies has it available if your local hobby shop dosn't carry. This is a very strong solder with silver in the mix. Plus it includes the very best flux known to man included, Acid flux! 1. Clean contact surfaces with sand paper. 2. Wet the tip of your iron with flux and then solder. 3. Using a toothpick place a tiny drop of flux on the joint. 4. Touch the iron tip to the joint and the acid flux will burn off, (don't breath the fumes) which pulls the solder into the joint. 5. After soldering immediately clean with toothbrush, water and kitchen cleanser. If you do not clean, the acid flux will start corroding the brass and solder but you can wait a day if need be. NOT OVER NIGHT! Here is an example of my soldering skills:
Bruno Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 I used paper clips and solder to make the luggage rack on that challenger
LDO Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 Here is an example of my soldering skills: Jairus- It looks fascinating. What is it?
Nick Winter Posted March 28, 2010 Author Posted March 28, 2010 Thanks guys, Bruno I did something similar last night without problems.
Terry Sumner Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 Jairus- It looks fascinating. What is it? THAT my friend, is a really well done example of a slot car chassis. I used to build those chassis all the time back in the middle to late 60's when I was heavy into slot car racing. Nicely done Jairus!
MikeMc Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 After seeing the sweet work of Jairus I would only add a couple of small bits.... TIX solder, TIX FLUX, TIX ANTIFLUX.... I made a living with my iron on the bench and the Tix products are the best around...very strong...worked great for slot chassis, and just about any RR brass work It will work with resistance irons also.
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