Soldering Stainless

[ibby458]

Instead of doing some of the things I should have done yesterday, I used my new (to me) brake and some scrap stainless to build a new scoop. It turned out wonderfully well for a first effort. I used lead-free solder and a 300 watt iron to solder the folds. It flowed like warm butter, sealing and holding it together perfectly. UNTIL I tried to solder the handle on. I had some 316 thin wall stainless tubing, and was using a short piece as a socket to put a wood handle in. That solder would not wet it at all. THe 304 stainless scoop took it nice, but it just beaded up and ran off the tube.

I tried using a torch to get it hotter, but it just ran off faster.

Is there a solder that WILL stick to 316 SS, or do I need to have that tigged or maybe try to find some 304 tubing?

[royalmaple]

Irv-

Do you think you had it too hot? The problem you are describing sounds like some of my first soldering projects when you "think" you need the pipes red hot, which I found out you certainly don't.

Maybe that thin stuff was heating up a lot quicker than the 304?

[maple flats]

My guess is that the gauges were too different and the round shape of the handle didn't transfer the heat as well. Make sure you have proper flux and try heating by concentrating the heat mostly on the handle, as soon as that melts solder go back and forth from handle to back side of scoop and back to handle til both are hot enough and then apply solder to iron and let it flow to join. Another point, did you clean and treat the iron. When I learned to do it from an old tin knocker craftsman he had me file the faces of the iron clean and then apply some sal ammoniac then it held the solder better. With an iron you put the solder on the iron and then heat and transfer to what you are soldering as opposed to the way you solder copper tubing where you heat the copper til it melts and draws the solder. If you knew this it will still help others who do not know.

[Fred Henderson]

Maple Flats, I guess you did learn soldering from an old tin knocker. I thought that I was the only one north of Syracuse that had ever hear of sal ammoniac. Try to find that stuff in block form on the internet. Pretty near impossible to do. I do have a small block of it that I use to tin my irons.

[ibby458]

I did indeed try to solder it like copper pipe. After I cleaned everything, I held the iron on the pipe, and let that transfer the heat to the thinner metal of the scoop. It beaded off the pipe, but stuck wonderfully to the scoop.

Never heard of sal ammoniac, but I do have some liquid flux for stainless. I figured that would work.

Thanks for the solder offer, Fred. I'll try some of that first. If that don't work, I came up with another plan. I can weld a 304 fender washer to the tubing, and solder THAT to the scoop. I got some welding rod that'll weld anything but plastic or wood, and maybe even some of those!

[maple flats]

The Sal Ammoniac is not to flux the SS but to treat the iron, a flux for the iron if you will, you still use the SS rated flux on the SS.
Fred Henderson, try a supplier by the name of Binghamton Hardware for more if you need it, I can get you the phone # or address if needed, or my tin knocker's grandson is running the shop now (grandpa still works a couple of hours up to a full day as needed at 79) and he is a good friend of mine, I could get some for you if needbe. I have no idea of price since he just gave me a stick to use and i returned it after.
Maple Flats

[SteveD]

Here is another source of Sal Ammoniac .... http://www.glassmart.com/salammoniac.asp

Steve