sweat solder silver copper silver layers

[Sadiethecat]

Hi all,
I am attempting to solder a very small piece of silver onto a copper piece which has been soldered onto a larger thicker silver piece. My very small piece for one is floating away from the desired position, how do you keep it stable? Is it possible to damage the silver underneath in order to get the copper hot enough to take the solder of the small silver piece on top?

[Dennis]

The small piece to be sweated on can be gently kept in place with the tips of tweezers, a soldering probe or similar object.
To avoid damaging the base, work in semi darkness which will disclose any excessive hot spots.

Generally when soldering, it is best to plan ahead, so that you don't incrementally increase the bulk with each stage, but preferably end up joining two more equal pieces.

This avoids having to heat a larger piece too fiercely to bring it upto soldering temperature and avoids accidentally melting a much smaller piece. Dennis.

[Goldsmith]

As Dennis says you can hold the piece in place, or you can make and use soldering clamps, I now use titanium strips to make soldering clamps, but in the early days I used steel clamps or stainless steel strips.

This type of clamp sounds like the type of clamp you might need.

9399

These are some other shapes I make for various jobs. The titanium strips are available in the UK from here;http://tamizan.co.uk/knew-concept-saws/
9400

James