If you want to join two pieces of metal one of the easiest ways to approach this task is to use silver solder to fuse the items together. Buy some solder wire, use a soldering tool and the silver solder can melted and placed up the join. Once it cools silver solder forms a solid barrier and it can be used for a number of purposes. It’s relatively cheap to buy and silver solder comes in bars, sheets and solder wire depending on the application. Normally the silver solder is melted using a melting gun or a soldering iron between temperatures of around 180 and 190o C. Once it’s melted it’s easy to manipulate the alloy and hand-solder it into place.
It’s quite common for plumbers to use silver solder on new installations of pipework. They tend to use bars of solder as opposed to solder wire to ensure a tight seal is performed around the joints on pipes. In recent times plumbers have started to use lead-free versions of solder because of environmental issues.
Jewellers use silver solder as well when they are making bracelets and other jewellery items. They tend to prefer sheets of silver solder when they make jewellery in a workshop setting and carefully bring numerous creations to life using this type of soft alloy. Sheets of solder are handy because they can be cut into strips and melted onto different parts of the jewellery.
Another use for silver solder is in the electronics industry. Tiny components are soldered on printed circuit boards using solder wire once in place they remain firm and secure. Wire is the preferred choice for soldering in the electronics industry and this is normally bought in small spools although pastes are sometimes used on the smallest of circuit boards.
Shop around for silver solder and you’ll find it’s available in a host of different diameters. This can vary from 0.3mm up to 3.25mm in total. For the maximum amount of choice it’s best to shop for solder at a specialist supplier that stocks a range of soldering products. Bill Shorthouse Metals is a prime example of a quality retailer that stocks different types of soldering parts. You’ll find them online at www.billshorthousemetals.co.uk and it’s a one-stop shop for high quality materials.
silver solder by billshorthousemetals.co.uk. Visit their website today if you’re looking for solder wire.