Silver soldering advice

[Derek Sheldon]

Peter, try contacting the supplier on these contacts
mailto:info@bulletbp.co.uk
01274752643r

[Howard Wright]

H Peter

I baulked at the idea of acetylene given the legal implications, however the Mapp gas I use is readily available along with the small oxygen canisters and delivered by courier with no fuss so I guess there are no legal problems.  The main problem is the cost of canister bottled oxygen that you will get through very quickly.  I’m investigating a bigger oxygen bottle that is refillable. But I’ll have to wait until lockdown is over to visit a local supplier. My father had a huge bottle of oxygen to assist his breathing delivered shortly before he died so I guess bottled oxygen is not a problem.

Cheers

Howard

[Stuart Giles]

Nobody seems to have mentioned that silver solder is available in a range of melting points. If you imagine soldering a tankard, you would use the highest for the side seam, the middle for the base, and the lowest for the handle. So you can chose the one most suitable for the job in hand. Generally called "Hard, Medium, and soft" although I have heard one called "Enamelling"

Agreed.
If you want to learn how to silver solder this book is good
https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Books/Soldering-and-Brazing-WPS9?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgsnx5Ozx6QIVU4BQBh2gPAlmEAQYAiABEgKwJfD_BwE

And as others have said don't fool about with DIY store torches or small canisters that end up costing a fortune.
Buy a redundant oxy-acetylene set - a BOC Portapak is good. They are not expensive.  Acetylene is the expensive part so run it on oxy-propane using oxygen from Hobbyweld and propane from multiple places.
Great for brazing, silver soldering and heating up stuff that won't budge. The only downside is that you can't gas weld with oxy-propane, but if you are struggling with silver soldering I suppose that gas welding is still a fair way in the distance.

Charles

I agree with Charles, It shouldn't be difficult to find a secondhand BOC Portapak trolley with hoses etc. as BOC have put their cylinder rent up to usurious levels. Propane is cheaper, but Acetylene is so much more versatile and can produce a more focussed flame in my experience. I've now gone over to Albee for the Acetylene and use Adams gas for my oxygen. There's no rent I just paid the cylinder (apparently returnable) deposits, these work out to be about the equivalent of 2 years BOC rent. The gas works out to be a bit more than BOC, but unless you're a heavy user, it still works out massively cheaper than BOC. I did the same move dumping BOC for the Argomix MIG gas and Pure Argon for my TIG set several years ago and have saved hundreds of pounds in rent since then.

[Peter Naulls]

Thank you all again for the advice, plenty to follow up.

I'll give your supplier a call tomorrow Derek. I'm inclined to think the little bottles are the way to go, at least until I know how I get on. It's not something I'm going to be using often but just want to make sure I stay on the right side of the regulations.

Sorry to hear about your loss Howard.

Peter.

[Ian Williams]

It seems a strange policy by BOC, they are here as well, brought out all the competition stole everyones owner bottles and drove rentals to eye watering levels. This seems to have lost them thousands of customers and opened the door for new competition who, like the schemes Stuart described, do exchange bottles with a refundable deposit. I could not function in my workshop without Oxy Acetylene bottles, so incredibly versatile and far better for welding panels than Mig, the only real failing is when welding particularly thick steel, then a cheap stick arc solves that problem. That said I have not yet found a job on an A7 that can't be done with Gas.

[Jeff Taylor]

A few equipment links but all based on the small gas canisters:

https://www.tradecounterdirect.com/plumb..._type.html

https://www.tradecounterdirect.com/plumb...00529.html

https://www.tradecounterdirect.com/plumb...roducts/1/

https://www.tradecounterdirect.com/plumb...roducts/1/

https://www.welduk.com/product/mini-port...turbo-kit/

https://www.welduk.com/product-category/...ding-sets/

[Parazine]

It seems a strange policy by BOC, they are here as well, brought out all the competition stole everyones owner bottles and drove rentals to eye watering levels. This seems to have lost them thousands of customers and opened the door for new competition who, like the schemes Stuart described, do exchange bottles with a refundable deposit. I could not function in my workshop without Oxy Acetylene bottles, so incredibly versatile and far better for welding panels than Mig, the only real failing is when welding particularly thick steel, then a cheap stick arc solves that problem. That said I have not yet found a job on an A7 that can't be done with Gas.

I'm with you Ian, I use Oxy-Acetylene for most things and I have a stick welder for the real heavy stuff. I'm still with BOC, I looked at the AlBee offering but calculated, at my rate of usage. it would have a 5 year payback and a hefty up-front charge, so I decided to give it a miss for now.

[Peter Naulls]

Thank you Jeff, much appreciated.

Peter.

[spannerman]

I use a tig for silver soldering and brazing its a ac dc one so will weld most metals with right rods and gas?
I think in long run works out cheaper than oxy-acetyene