Model Forum / General / Models / March 2010

I had tried both methods with only very limited success and lots of
cold soldered joins.  The only time I succeeded in making a strong
welded join was to use silver solder that needs a hot acetylene-air
torch with borax as flux.

I did this recently for a wooden stage coach model. I used an
electronics soldering pencil with a 45w element, a chisel tip, & 63/37
solder. The trick is to make sure the brass  is as clean as possible. I
use sandpaper to clean it, then tin it. Hold the iron on the brass & add
a little solder to the iron where it contacts the wire. This aids in
heat transfer. Then hold the solder where you wish to join the two
pieces. You should never put the iron tip at the joint to be soldered
directly (see crappy depiction below). You might also need heat sinks.
These shunt heat away from areas you might have already soldered, & also
give you something to hold on to.

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