Glass Cutting - Soldering - Leading - Glass Creation/Selection - Tools
Supplies/Equipment - Puttying - Misc
Soldering:
Solder is used to join the metals surrounding
the glass. It is a combination of tin and lead. Personally I
use 50/50 solder for almost all applications. Other possible
solders would be 60/40 and 63/37. Those have a lower melting
point and would be used when decorative soldering is desired.
Flux is necessary to make the solder stick to the metal. Flux
acts as an anti-oxidant (cleaning the metal and keeping it clean
while heating) and as a wetting agent (breaking down the surface
tension of the solder so it can spread). When soldering lead
I prefer oleic acid flux. This is an oil based flux and therefore
won't dry out too quickly. You can flux an entire panel side
and then solder it. To solder copper foil I use zinc chloride
flux (Novican's Old Master's). It is a water based flux and needs
to be wet to be effective. Therefore, don't flux too far ahead
when using a water based flux.
The soldering iron used to solder must be
of a high enough wattage to readily melt the solder and be able
to reheat fast enough to maintain the necessary melting temperature.
The tip can't be so small it can't maintain the heat and not
so big it covers more area than wanted. For lead soldering I
used a Weller 100w with a 3/8" temperature controlled tip
that maintains a constant 700° F. The lead needs to be clean
and bright to start with. If it's fairly new lead it should be
solderable without further preparation. However, if the lead
is dull and oxidized, you should scrap the lead in the area to
be soldered with the blade of a lead knife. Some recommend brushing
the lead with a wire brush but I don't find that a satisfactory
method. The iron is held over-handed (as you would a bread knife)
in order to get the handle low enough to have the tip flat on
the lead. You will want to press against the lead firmly to transfer
the heat into the lead. The solder is unwound from its roll and
extended between the iron tip and the lead so as to melt a 1/8"
or so piece . In order to heat both pieces of lead you may have
to rock the tip slightly to contact all leads being soldered.
Move the roll of solder away (so it doesn't become attached)
and as soon as the solder melts and spreads, lift the iron straight
up. Avoid "painting" or dragging the iron. The object
is to have a shiny, smooth, slightly rounded solder joint. There
should be no points sticking up from the solder joint. If a solder
joint is not satisfactory you can reflux and resolder. Don't
apply too much solder. It's easier to add more solder than to
remove excess. Return to top:
Soldering foil is ideally done with a smaller
tip. I prefer a 3/16" long taper tip. I use the tip on edge
rather than the flat side in order to minimize the iron's contact
with the glass. Foil heats up very fast and too much heat can
crack the glass so the narrower the iron contact is the lower
the risk. The solder is applied in one of two ways. The quickest
method is to feed solder in on the thicker part of the shiny
tip and let it flow down to the foil. The iron is held firmly
against the foil and pulled along the foil (which has been fluxed)
at the proper rate with the solder being fed at the correct rate
in order to produce a slightly rounded, shiny solder bead. Don't
try and "float" the iron on top of the solder, be firmly
down against the foil. Alternatively, you can do the Bunny-Hop
method. This is easier to control and is done by soldering one
tip-length, lifting the iron and soldering the next tip-length,
barely reheating the section just soldered. Return
to top:
