Soldering metal
Remember these earings that Leslie, from my jewelry class was making? The next step is to join the brass and copper pieces togther, by soldering.
When metal is soldered, it is heated to almost its melting point.
Solder is an alloy that melts at a lower temperature than the metals you are trying to join together. In this case, we are talking about brass and copper. When the solder melts, it flows between the two pieces and bonds, thus joining them together when the piece cools down.
The first step is to paint on the flux. Flux is a chemical that forms a coating to prevent oxidation. The flux will create a glossy coating that lets you know that it’s time to stop applying heat.
Here we have solder in wire form. It is being snipped into very small pieces.
Next, we apply heat with a propane torch. Can you see the small piece of solder, at the bottom left of the top piece we are trying to attach?
After we are done applying heat, the piece gets thown into a chemical bath, to clean it up. This bath is known as the pickle. The pickle used here is simply white vinegar.
Here is the finished piece. It is all joined together, and is ready for a final cleaning to get rid of the remaining fire scale.
