jarrett Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 (edited) This is my first post. Just as I am finishing up my first blade. Have been interested in this trade for years and finally jumped in. Have had some issues but most can be fixed with iimproving my technique. When I silver soldered my guard (brass onto 5160 steel) two things happened. The fit needed to be better because I've got some voids. I'll improve that next time. My issue is the use of the acid flux. After the the baking soda water bath and extended rinsing, I had some flash rusting. I want to find an acid free flux to use when Soldering so I can avoid this and prevent any future acid rusting because of inexperience soldering technique. I plan to use a pressed fit in the future to avoid the voids. Any suggestions on the flux? Edited February 3, 2009 by jarrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian.pierson Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Jarrett, I have never soldered brass to steel but in the past I did Silver work. I always used straight borax for the flux. It is what I also use for forge welding. Heat slow and let it dry out, I used a flux the consistency of oatmeal for Silver work but it can be thinner. I don't think it should be a problem but thought I would throw it out. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 AHH soldering a guard to a blade is usually done with a very low temp solder like stay-brite which only has a couple of precentage points of silver in it and the balance is generally tin. This melts at a much lower temp that "hard solders" used in silver work and borax will not be a good flux. However a rosen flux like is used for electronic soldering may work for you. OTOH the flash rusting may be a function of the heat applied too. I have always used the zinc chloride fluxes myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarrett Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 Thanks for the information. I've searched around the net and talked to a few local knife makers. I have the advantage of living in an area rich with quality blade smiths. Several Masters blade smiths. In the future I'll use a pressed fit and a joint bond like JB Weld. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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