WhiteRook

My Feedback: (38)

what type of solder and flux should be used for joining 2 pieces of music wire?

blvdbuzzard

I have had good luck with silver solder from Lowes. Small tub of paste.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_23517-138-50...der&facetInfo=

Buzz.

grosbeak

In my (limited) experience, everything has to be clean, clean, clean. If so:



If not:

LesUyeda

"what type of solder and flux should be used for joining 2 pieces of music wire? "

I have always used standard radio grade 60/40 rosin core, and plumbers flux when I felt more flux was desired. Never had any problems.

Les

jaka

Hi!
Any type of sweet soldwer can be used as long as it's got acid flux inside and you sand the surfaces you intend to solder prior to soldering.
But...There is none brand of solder and acid that is much superior to any other sweet solder and that is "Stay- Brite silver solder". Great Planes also sells it under their own name.
No cleaning of parts is needed before soldering using this solder, and the joint is much stronger than any other sweet soldering joint. The only negative thing about it is that the acid is very corrosive and has to be removed/cleaned from the surface of the pars afterwards.

WhiteRook

My Feedback: (38)

i tried 50/50 silver solder, wouldnt work

dasintex

My Feedback: (10)

Not sure why that wouldn't work, always a few things to go wrong when sodering: make sure surfaces are clean & sanded shiny; heat the wire not the soder, when the wire is hot enough it will melt the soder and allows it to flow, too little heat or too much heat will make for a bad sodering experience, use flux, I brush some on once the wire is heated, it further cleans it and makes the soder flow smoother.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

I do fine with Acid core solder and most any paste flux.

John

KitBuilder

Agree on the clean.. sand it clean.. then dont touch the area as the oil from your fingers can compromise it. After done and cool.. i wash with soapy water and dry to remove any flux as it can corroade the joint over time.

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

Yes, clean, clean, clean and clean some more. Plan to spend 10 times as much time cleaning as you do soldering.
Get the parts nice and shiny with skotch brite, then wipe them off with alcohol and don't touch them with your oily fingers.

Once clean, soldering should be easy. Acid core or plumber's flux works better for steel than the rosin core that is intended for electronic work.

TFF

Get the stay brite from tower until you can find the same thing at the hardware store. Dont use the stuff in the plumbing isle that is meant for copper pipes making lead free joints.

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

Get some of the flux coated rod from k&s that is sold for headers. It goes on great with mapp gas.

rexbirk

Im with everyone else on the metal being sanded and clean. Clean it with alcohol or acetone after you sand it. If I remember correctly Silver Solder requires more heat than other solder since it has a higher melting temp. If you are wrapping fine wire around the wire being joined make sure it is not coated wire. The solder wont stick to coated wire.

jaka

Hi!
Cleaning is very important when sweet soldering. But not so if you use "Stay-Brite" silver solder. Then you can just poure some axid flux on and then heat the and solder. I use a 40 year old Weller soldering iron with removable tips.

retransit

My Feedback: (18)

Stay-Silv 56 is the one I use most often.

http://reviews.homedepot.com/1999/10...ws/reviews.htm

Not cheap because it contains a fair amount of silver, but it works for me. I've used Stay-Brite with success, but when it came to landing gear and music wire, Stay-Silv worked best. I have used it without wire wrapping and the joints are solid on a 23 lb. aircraft.

Your procedure is key in that the music wire is heated and the silver solder is fed into the joint and allowed to flow.

I use a propane torch on silver brazing.

Bob

WhiteRook

My Feedback: (38)

i tried a soldering iron and got way better results. i was getting the music wire too hot with a propane torch.

thanks for all the help

jester_s1

It's very easy to overheat the wire with a propane torch, but I still use one because it can get the whole area up to temp very easily. The flux tells you when the heat it right. It will flow like water when you're close, and it will smoke slowly when it's just right. It turns black when you are too hot, so if that happens just let it all cool down and re-clean. It doesn't really matter what kind of solder you use if you do it right. What's far more important is getting a good mechanical joint going as the solder is nothing more than glue to hold it together. A tight wire wrap like the joints shown above is vital to making sure the pushrod lasts, and you need the joint to be saturated with solder and shiny all over like the top picture also.

jaka

Hi!
That's brazing! Sweet soldering is another thing. Brazing pianowire is not recommended as it softens the piano wire too much.

jester_s1

I'm not talking about brazing. I used to be a plumber and have done both quite a few times. Brazing doesn't have an application in our hobby unless a guy wanted extremely smooth joints in a complicated wire landing gear. Even then I wouldn't recommend it because it does anneal the wire. I'm talking about using soft solder to make a proper joint. Stay Brite is the best stuff to use for the joints we need to make, but it's pricy stuff and really not necessary if the mechanical joint is made right. A shot of acid flux and plain old plumbers solder will make a properly made joint the strongest part of any structure. The flux is water soluble and will wash right off. You just have to understand that the solder is only a fancy kind of glue, not a structural piece of metal. You have to do a wire wrap that will hold the joint together all by itself. All the solder does is keep anything from slipping.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

Yup, Yup good old Acid Core and an American Beauty, mine is sixty years old going strong: They are still made, serviced and hoarded[8D]

https://www.americanbeautytools.com/site/


John