Soldering Nickel

dave gibson

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I'm making some belt buckles, I have nickel blanks and backing hardware, What's the right solder to stick this stuff together? I went to Lowes today and solder isn't marked with the alloy on the label. I was looking for silver solder (95%silver/ 5% tin, right?) and some liquid acid. That's what we always used to replace SS tube tips for tattooing.

So how would it be labeled and who carries it?
 

monk

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find the melting point of the metal you bought. make sure your solder of choice will flow well below the mp of the metal.
 

Southern Custom

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Sta-Brite is the best stuff I've found for this application. Try Rio Grande. You won't find it locally. It's expensive but it lasts forever. Low temperature, strong, and won't oxidize the parent piece you're working on from excessive heat.
 

dave gibson

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I'm finding I'm not equipped or educated for this job yet. I'm told I need a propane/ oxygen and or acetylene torch, a simple propane tank wont work. Does anyone reccomend a decent torch set up? Please keep in mind this is a small production project, no need for machines that will run 24/7 on maximum out put. Probably less than 50 buckles a year.
 

sparklemotion

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Since I don't know exactly what nickel alloy you're using, I'm going to assume that it's nickel silver, which has a lot of copper in it, and so "solders" like copper does.

I bet you will be fine with a propane-air torch. I do a fair amount of what jewelers call "soldering" (and what others call "hard soldering", or "low temp brazing") with MAP-PRO using a torch pretty much exactly like this Bernzomatic fuel-air setup. Propane/air burns at 1980 °C 3596 °F (source), mapp pro burns at 2054 °C 3730 °F (source). I don't think this temperature difference will be that much of a big deal.

For solder, I use jeweler's silver solder like this one from Rio Grande. For your purposes I'd probably go with "medium" -- easy "flows" at a lower temperature, but is less strong, hard needs more heat, but makes a strong join. Rio is not ideal for pricing info unless you are logged in, so here's a link to a product available through amazon that is a selection of Easy, Medium, and Hard. Another good source is Beaducation (which, despite the name, isn't really all that "bead" focused). For what you need, the amazon kit might work out better for you, even though cost/foot is quite high.

I don't think the hardware store "lead free" solders are going to work for you here (my concern is join strength at their super low melting temperatures).

For flux, I am a fan of Lucas-Milhaupt Handy Flux (amazon). There are many other types of flux. But this is what I learned on and it works for me.

Another product that you might want to consider is solder paste. Lots of tutorials recommend it for people just learning soldering. It does seem convenient -- it has the flux mixed in already, you can just dab it where you need it while the work is cold. But it also seems really expensive, and I've never really tried it.

Finally, you might end up with some copper oxides on the metal when you are done (if you used lots of flux and didn't overheat, you should be fine). The standard jeweler's way to deal with that is a "pickle" of some kind of acid (usually sodium bisulphate, sold as Sparex No. 2 for metalwork, and PH Down/Reducer at pool stores). But for 50 buckles a year, I'd just go with Pennybrite, brasso, or any other copper cleaner that hardware store has for you. (Penny Brite is just citric acid and soap, and you can buy powered citric acid too -- look at a store that has canning supplies -- but penny brite is fast and easy).
 
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sparklemotion

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And another thing: copper oxides can be sanded/ground/wirebrushed off instead of chemically removed if you don't want to bother with a pickle/pickle substitute. That might work for you depending on the size of the work (and complexity of the surface), but acid (sparex, citric acid, vinegar, etc.) will remove less metal.
 

monk

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I'm finding I'm not equipped or educated for this job yet. I'm told I need a propane/ oxygen and or acetylene torch, a simple propane tank wont work. Does anyone reccomend a decent torch set up? Please keep in mind this is a small production project, no need for machines that will run 24/7 on maximum out put. Probably less than 50 buckles a year.

dave: on the cheap side, bernzomatic sells oxy-mapp gas torches. they will solder or braze anything you would need to work on. the cylinders of oxygen and mapp gas are the small size that propane comes in for home soldering. a rig ready to go from home depot or lowes will run about 80 or so bucks. the cylinders aren't prohibitively expensive. when empty, toss the empty and go buy replacement cylinders.
a mapp gas torch will do the soldering or brazing without the use of oxygen------- but the pressure from the flame will blow tiny little solder snippets all over the place. the bernzomatic oxy/mapp flame is very small, and wont blow solder pieces all over the place.
 

monk

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sparkleman mentioned "solder paste" i tried this stuff years ago. ugh! i found it to be the crummiest ever to work with. if it sets too long in the syringe, it gets so stiff, it's nearly impossible to squeeze it out. wire solder far easier to work with imho.
 

dave gibson

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I'm finding several Bernzomatic oxy-mapp torches, some with
2 tanks, some with 1 and different hose and torch set ups. I want something of dependable quality, simple operation and affordable price, Any favorites?
 

dogcatcher

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I spent a little more and bought a Gentec small torch. https://www.amazon.com/Kit-prop-Dis...93491049&sr=1-2&keywords=gentec+propane+torch
I have found it cheaper at other places. It is a knock off of the Smith Mini Torch that uses preset regulators on throwaway cylinders. I don't use it much, but no complaints and I like the compact handle and that I can buy the cylinders at almost any big box store.

The cheapest I found. https://weldingsupply.com/cgi-bin/einstein.pl?PNUM::1:UNDEF:X:KSTP14-TSP
 
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DKanger

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Just a heads up based on my experience. In the past, I have soldered German silver objects to both steel and brass patchboxes. I only used a propane torch and TIX solder. TIX is sold by Brownells and is low melting point solder. While searching for various solders, I found that if you heated the German silver too much it started to get a yellowish scale on it , which I assumed was the zinc burning out of the GS.

Therefore, as mentioned, you should know the composition of the alloy you are using.
 

dave gibson

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You folks are great, I had no idea when I posted this thread how lost I was . It's coming to me now, I'll read it some more and look things up but I'll have a quality product and a good time building it. Best of all I'm not limited to low quality suppliers, thanks again. I'm open to any other suggestions.
 

cropduster

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Hello All - Investigated solders quite a bit and agree that "Sta Brite" is one of the finest and priced all over the place. Loads of trial and error - Sta Brite is also marketed through "Airgas" (the large supplier of welding gas) under their branding name Radnor. It is not available as an off the shelf item in their stores but the stores are happy to order it for you. Comes in a typical blister pack of the same size as Sta-Brite and is labeled Radnor "Stay Brite" silver solder right on the pack - it is made by the same outfit - Bought some about 6 months ago for under $9 which is a far cry from the $26 I've seen it advertised for. Hope this helps.
 

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