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to those who might know-

planning to silver solder a new circular sheet /patch "foot" onto the end of a brace rod. (old circular foot torn through/off, have removed remnant from end of brace rod, etc.)

The original was silver plate on brass. New foot is Nickel-silver. (good enough match for this application...but...)

Should I expect that the rest of the existing silver plate on the rod will survive the glow of ~1000F or be compromised/destroyed and require replate?

Many thanks for insightful replies

ajh184

The approach depends on the type of soldering torch you are using and your skill level. Because you are asking, I would assume your experience is a bit less then mine. If you are going to use an oxy-acetylene torch or acetylene with air you will still (no doubt) get the whole part cherry red, this will cause the silver plate to melt / distort and look rather unsightly. You would probably have better results polishing off the silver plate prior to silver-soldering. Be sure to remove every bit of lead-tin solder before proceeding with the silver-soldering to avoid burning the base metal. straighten the damaged parts and fit them together the best you possibly can. Take the time needed to practice on some scrap brass and get a feel for what you are doing before attempting this or just have an experienced repairman do it for you. Best of luck.

Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works
Seattle, WA
206.241.5767
www.oberloh.com

Daniel C. Oberloh wrote:Because you are asking, I would assume your experience is a bit less then mine.

Dan....I think you owe me a new keyboard! Anyone know how to clean Sprite out of all the keys???

Not only should you practice first, but are you even sure you need a brace to be silver soldered on?

harold wrote:

Because you are asking, I would assume your experience is a bit less then mine.

Doesn't this include nearly everyone on this board?

Almost certainly!

king2ba wrote:Anyone know how to clean Sprite out of all the keys???

Because you are asking, I would assume your experience is a bit less then mine.

You would probably have better results removing old food prior to Sprite removal. Be sure to remove every bit of old lunches and other junk food before proceeding with the Sprite removal to avoid soiling the base keys. Straighten the soiled parts and fit them together the best you possibly can. Take the time needed to practice on some scrap keyboard and get a feel for what you are doing before attempting this or just have an experienced geek do it for you.

windshieldbug wrote:

king2ba wrote:Anyone know how to clean Sprite out of all the keys???

Because you are asking, I would assume your experience is a bit less then mine.

You would probably have better results removing old food prior to Sprite removal. Be sure to remove every bit of old lunches and other junk food before proceeding with the Sprite removal to avoid soiling the base keys. Straighten the soiled parts and fit them together the best you possibly can. Take the time needed to practice on some scrap keyboard and get a feel for what you are doing before attempting this or just have an experienced geek do it for you.

windshieldbug wrote:

king2ba wrote:Anyone know how to clean Sprite out of all the keys???

Because you are asking, I would assume your experience is a bit less then mine.

You would probably have better results removing old food prior to Sprite removal. Be sure to remove every bit of old lunches and other junk food before proceeding with the Sprite removal to avoid soiling the base keys. Straighten the soiled parts and fit them together the best you possibly can. Take the time needed to practice on some scrap keyboard and get a feel for what you are doing before attempting this or just have an experienced geek do it for you.

Simply buy a new raw brass keyboard from China, or even India, for less than the price of a can of compressed air.

windshieldbug wrote:Not only should you practice first, but are you even sure you need a brace to be silver soldered on?

Sounds like a good question to me. I think I would want a brace to be relatively weak, so should heaven forbid some great force be applied to that area, the brace will fail before it rips a hole in the tubing.

Just don't use super-glue.

Donn wrote:

windshieldbug wrote:Not only should you practice first, but are you even sure you need a brace to be silver soldered on?

Sounds like a good question to me. I think I would want a brace to be relatively weak, so should heaven forbid some great force be applied to that area, the brace will fail before it rips a hole in the tubing.

Just don't use super-glue.

He didn't say he was going to ATTACH the brace to the horn by silver-soldering. He's going to CONSTRUCT the brace from the old post and a new flange by silver-soldering. I would assume that the assembly, once constructed, would be soft-soldered to the instrument tubing.
________________________________
Joe Baker, who can-a speak English; he learned it frrrrrom a book.

Yes-

I am rebuilding a broken brace (removed) by brazing a new flange, then soft solder restored unit onto the instrument.

I have a quite a bit of practice and success with regular soldering and silver soldering, and I realize that it will look a mess immediately after the brazing (that nasty borax glaze/scale "slag". I just haven't worked with previously plated pieces. only raw brass that you can keep buffing and buffing until it is nice.

My question is whether or not the nearby silver plate will survive the heat & clean up OK or require a re-plate before installation on the horn.

Thanks.

Joe Baker wrote:

Donn wrote:He didn't say he was going to ATTACH the brace to the horn by silver-soldering. He's going to CONSTRUCT the brace from the old post and a new flange by silver-soldering. I would assume that the assembly, once constructed, would be soft-soldered to the instrument tubing.

Yes, actually I got that, but between failing by pulling the foot loose from the tubing, and failing by pulling the brace apart, I would expect the latter to cause less damage.

My tuba arrived with a broken brace like that, but it wasn't a flat joint between the foot and post. I think there was some sort of pin and socket involved, with the pin probably on the foot. So even though the solder failed, the brace was still there, pinned in place.

ajh184 wrote: My question is whether or not the nearby silver plate will survive the heat & clean up OK or require a re-plate before installation on the horn.

Your chances of not melting off the silver will be increased if you incorporate the following:

• Use a lower-temp silver solder, like a 56% alloy, which melts at about 1000F. It'll be plenty strong for your brace--and has the benefit that it'll look like silver when it's clean and polished.
• Use a small, hot flame rather than a large cooler one--heating will be more localized and less likely to mess up the rest of the piece. Work quickly.
• Use a heat sink to keep the part you want preserved cool.

My .02 on the matter, anyway.

Maybe you're thinking of this stuff. Used by jewelry makers to protect stones during brazing:

http://rainbowsupply.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=54.469