METALS 1 HOW TO SOLDER

SOLDERING COPPEREASIEST TO WORK NICKELALLOY OF COPPER, NICKEL & ZINC BRONZEALLOY OF COPPER & TIN BRASSALLOY OF COPPER & ZINC STERLING SILVERFINE SILVER & COPPER ALLOY:ANY METAL COMPRISED OF 2 OR MORE OTHER METALS TO MAKE A NEW METAL SOLDER: AN ALLOY OF SILVER, COPPER & ZINC – HAS A LOWER MELTING TEMP. THAN THE METAL YOU ARE USING. PICKLE: MILD ACID SOLUTION USED TO CLEAN METAL OF SCALE, EXIDES AND FLUX.

SOLDERING ALWAYS USE A MINIMAL AMOUNT OF SOLDER; IT’S EASIER TO ADD MORE IF NEEDED THAN TO REMOVE EXCESS WHAT HAPPENS DURING SOLDERING? METAL IS COMPRISED OF CRYSTALS, WHEN HEATED, CRYSTALS MOVE APART CREATING MICROSCOPIC GAPS. SOLDER FLOWS INTO THE GAPS BETWEEN THE CRYSTALS AND FLOODS THE SPACES; FORMS A BOND AS THE 2 METALS CONTRACT.

SOLDERING WHAT IS FLUX? A PASTE USED TO COVER METALS DURING HEATING TO FORM A PROTECTIVECOAT AGAINST OXYGEN. WHEN HEATING METAL, OXIDES FORM (DIRT), FLUX PROTECTS THE METAL FROM OXIDES ALLOWING SOLDER TO FLOW. SOLDER WILL NOT FLOW ON DIRTY METAL PROLONGED HIGH HEAT BREAKS DOWN THE FLUX SO IT NO LONGER ABSORBS THE OXIDES=EXHAUSTING THE FLUX.

SOLDERING 3 BASIC SOLDER JOINS: BUTT: TWO ENDS OR EDGES COME TOGETHER SQUARELY PERPENDICULAR: ONE PIECE OF METAL STANDING UPRIGHT ON TOP OF THE OTHER. SWEAT: ONE PIECE OF METAL LAYING ON TOP OF THE OTHER.

SOLDERING CHECKLIST FOR SUCCESSFUL SOLDERING: CLEAN SURFACES (NO GREASE, OXIDES, ETC.) CAREFUL FLUXING-SOLDER FLOWS WHERE THERE IS FLUX RIGHT AMOUNT, PLACEMENT AND TYPE OF SOLDER CAREFUL AND QUICK PREHEATING EVEN HEAT OVER THE ENTIRE SURFACE ENOUGH HEAT TO CAUSE COMPLETE SOLDER FLOW CORRECT PICKLING

3 STAGES OF A SOLDERING CYCLE: PREHEAT: HEATING THE WHOLE WORK; BEGIN BY MOVING THE TORCH IN A CIRCULAR MOTION AT A UNIFORM SPEED TO SMALLER CIRCLES AROUND THE JOIN. LOCALIZED HEAT: CONCENTRATE FLAME ON THE JOIN AND SOLDER, MOVING SOMEWHAT. AS SOON AS SOLDER FLOWS LEAD IT ALONG SEAM WITH THE FLAME (SOLDER WILL FLOW IN THE DIRECTION OF HEAT) HEAT WITHDRAW: AFTER SOLDER FILLS THE JOIN, WITHDRAW HEAT OR SOLDER WILL BOIL RESULTING IN WEAK JOINS AND PITTED METAL.

SOLDERING WHAT SHOULD FLUX LOOK LIKE DURING SOLDERING? 1 – FIRST, FLUX BECOMES WHITE 2 – THEN TRANSLUCENT, SHINY; THIS IS WHEN IT IS PROTECTING THE METAL FROM OXIDES-IT BLOCKS AIR CONTACT WITH THE METAL. THIS INDICATES THAT THE MELTING POINT OF THE SOLDER IS APPROACHING-ACCELERATE THE HEATING BEFORE THE FLUX EXHAUSTS OR SOLDER WILL NOT FLOW.

SOLDERING BASIC METALSMITHING TERMINOLOGY: MALLEABILITY - (LATIN-MALLEARE=TO HAMMER); ABILITY OF A METAL TO BE EXTENDED OR SHAPED BY BEING BEATEN OR ROLLED IN ALL DIRECTIONS WITHOUT BREAKING OR CRACKING. GOLD IS THE MOST MALLEABLE, SILVER IS THE NEXT. TENSILE STRENGTH – TENACITY IS THE MEASURE OF THE GREATEST LONGITUDINAL STRESS A METAL CAN TAKE WITHOUT BREAKING. A METAL’S ABILITY TO RESIST ELONGATION IS CALLED ITS TENSILE STRENGTH. COMPRESSION – IS THE OPPOSITE OF TENSION. IT REFERS TO THE ABILITY OF A METAL TO BE SQUEEZED OR REDUCED IN VOLUME AND ITS RESISTANCE TO CRACKING OR BUCKLING.

SOLDERING SHEAR STRENGTH – SHEAR REFERS TO THE ABILITY OF METAL TO RESIST THE ACTION OF HAND OR BENCH SHEARS. SHEAR, TENSION AND COMPRESSION ARE THE 3 BASIC STRESSES THAT DESCRIBE THE STRENGTH OF METAL. ELASTICITY – A METALS RECOVERY TO NORMAL SIZE AND SHAPE AFTER BEING SUBJECTED TO FORCES OF COMPRESSION, BENDING OR STRETCHING. BRITTLENESS – THE CHARACTERISTIC IN METAL OF BEING EASILY FRACTURED OR SNAPPED WITHOUT WARNING DEFORMATION. IMPACT RESISTANCE – A METAL’S RESISTANCE TO SUDDEN SHOCK, SUCH AS HAMMER BLOWS. RIGIDITY – THE OPPOSITE OF MALLEABILITY; THE CHARACTERISTIC OF SHOWING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE OF FORM.

SOLDERING ANNEALING – SOFTEN WORK HARDENED METAL THROUGH HEATING WORK HARDENED - METAL CONSISTS OF NUMEROUS SMALL CRYSTALS PACKED TOGETHER, MAKING METAL POLYCRYSTALLINE, WHEN SUBJECT TO FORCE, CRYSTALS EVENTUALLY FLATTEN AND BECOME INDISTINGUISHABLE, MAKING THE METAL WORK HARDENED.

YOUR SKETCHBOOK YOUR SKETCHBOOK IS ESSENTIAL TO THIS CLASS AND SHOULD INCLUDE: ALL WORKING DRAWINGS FOR EACH ASSIGNMENT ALL NOTES (AND HANDOUTS) TAKEN DURING LECTURES AND DEMONSTRATIONS RETAIN ALL YOUR WORK –YOU WILL RECEIVE A FINAL GRADE BASED ON THE ABOVE SKETCHBOOK CRITERIA