I'm currently building a Sig Star 40, and am currently trying to solder a clevis onto a control rod and am having great difficulty in doing so. Any suggestions from some of you more experienced builders??????

Clean it all with alcohol, then don't touch anything that you want the solder to stick to. Use SILVER SOLDER, and a torch, no soldering guns or irons here.

Jetts

When you get your silver solder it should come with a tube of flux that needs to be applied to your parts prior to heating them up. You can get silver solder at the radio Shack or hobby shop. Good Luck, Dave

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=172

Take a look at Mike's how to article on soldering. Click on the link or look under RC University at the top of the page.

Eric

You can use the low temp silver solder (2% silver, the stuff that comes coiled up at the local hardware store) wich allready has acid flux in the core.

Simply clean the end of the rod with some sandpaper, put the clevis on and heat with either a high wattage iron, soldering gun or a small butane torch. You dont want it TOO hot, just enough to let the solder flow out easily. Glowing red is NOT good. I find the acid core stuff will clean itself pretty well, and you dont have to get super critial in preparing the parts.

Real silver brazing wire (high temp stuff, 45 to 50% silver) is NOT good for this job, you need to get the parts too hot and the clevis will loose the springiness (temper) and may break easily afterwards.

I actually find it easier to do with an iron (assuming the iron is not a small electronics one, but large enough to heat the parts) simply due to you not being aboe to overheat them, as you can with a torch.

Another good idea is to tin the rod (apply a bit os solder to it before assembly) first, then place the clevis on and resolder.

One last thing, for a really good, strong bond, do not let the psrts move untill the solder cools and solidifies. If you keep moving them around you will get a cold joint (looks dull and grainy) which is not nearly as strong.

AJC

Oooh, good link. I've watched my dad solder electrical stuff many times as a kid, but mechanical soldering is something I'm not familiar with.

I got a question: why bother with soldering clevises in the first place? How is this better than say, a Z-bend, or a plastic adjustable clevis? The latter seems like a more flexible solution than anything else.

-Matt Bailey

Look at these comments:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_19...tm.htm#1999478


Lee

Thank you very much for all the valuable info, as I knew I could count on some valuable tips to help me thru this process!!!!! This is a fantastic site!!!

RCU ROCKS!!! [8D]