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Band repair soldering falls into two
categories commonly referred to as soft soldering and silver
(hard) soldering. Soft soldering is by far the more common; typical
examples include posts, key guard or brace feet that are
detached from the instrument body, as well as most anywhere two
pieces of tube join together such as a mouthpiece receiver to a mouthpipe. Silver solder is used
when higher strength is required such as repairing a broken
clarinet or sax key.
Soft soldering is a comparatively low
temperature process and uses a tin / lead alloy in the form of a
solid core wire. We offer two different alloy combinations: 60%
tin / 40% lead and 50% tin / 50% lead. The 60/40 alloy is best
for the majority of repair jobs as it has a slightly lower
working temperature which helps to minimize damage to the
lacquer finish. The 50/50 alloy requires a slightly higher temperature
before it flows and is very useful for repairs that require 'gap'
filling. The flux used with soft solder usually consists of a
solution containing zinc ammonium chloride and we offer two
excellent mixtures. Our Lloyd's
#6 Solder Flux was used in manufacturing for many years by
the Selmer Company and provides good cleaning and
deoxidizing with a minimum of discoloration to the instrument.
For a slightly more aggressive flux we recommend our Johnson's
Soldering Fluid.
Silver or hard soldering
requires a much higher temperature and uses a high silver content
alloy in the form of a solid core wire. We offer two different
alloys: our #3240 with a more yellow appearance for use on
lacquered brass and our #3241 for use on silver or nickel plated
brass, as well as nickel silver. Our 'Stay-Silv' flux
provides excellent joint penetration and adhesion while leaving
a minimum of scale.
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