TubeNet

Does silver plating need to be removed before soldering or can it be done directly to the plating? Thanks.

No need to remove the silver. However... silver LOVES lead. Use low lead or no lead solder.

You can also use LOTS of pledge to help keep the Solder at bay. You will need to apply more regularly as you're soldering, but it does a very very good job of keeping it from running all over.

To have the best results, I'd suggest the following;

1) make sure the two parts to be soldered fit well together
2) make sure the surfaces to be soldered are really clean, bare metal
3) apply paste soldering flux to the surfaces to be soldered, wipe away any excess
4) if possible, take a Sharpie marker and trace around the edges of the pieces to be soldered (it seems to repel solder)
5) heat the area, and introduce only enough solder to do the job

With practice, one can solder on silver-plate in this manner and have only minimal clean-up.

Pencil lead is also an effective deterrent to keep the solder flowing where you want.

Lee Stofer wrote:To have the best results, I'd suggest the following;

1) make sure the two parts to be soldered fit well together
2) make sure the surfaces to be soldered are really clean, bare metal
3) apply paste soldering flux to the surfaces to be soldered, wipe away any excess
4) if possible, take a Sharpie marker and trace around the edges of the pieces to be soldered (it seems to repel solder)
5) heat the area, and introduce only enough solder to do the job

With practice, one can solder on silver-plate in this manner and have only minimal clean-up.

Do these steps apply to "regular" a.k.a. bare brass, soldering as well? Is the paste flux better than liquid?

Essentially, yes