How To Soldering Copper Sheet Metal

Bradford sheet metal joining copper sheet metal and soldering.

How to soldering copper sheet metal.

While soldering is useful for many purposes it has limitations. This third metal or solder must melt at a lower temperature than the metal being soldered and be able to adhere to the surfaces being joined. Copper brass bronze nickel and tin are all metals that can be soldered at soldering iron and propane torch temperatures 400 800f and use solders and fluxes. Because the galvanized metal is designed to be resistant to outside harm soldering pieces of steel that have been galvanized can pose a problem if done improperly.

It makes use of a material known as solder which tends to melt when placed on a hot surface. Solder is an alloy that melts at a low temperature and therefore as compared to welding soldering requires less heat. Tradesmen often use brazing or welding instead to create stronger joins between the metals. Only etch the area where solder is wanted or you will end up with an ugly mess of a job.

Place the 2 pieces of copper brass you want to solder on a hard surface. Make sure that you add some flux to the area to be soldered. The etching process makes the solder flow and. N ot all metals can be soldered easily.

In the soldering process heat is applied to the copper joint where the pipe and fitting meet and the gap between the joint is filled with molten metal. In this case i m soldering a copper reducer to a piece of copper pipe. Soldering glues the pieces of metal together by melting a softer metal to act as an adhesive. A copper pipe is one of the most common materials used to distribute water throughout the home and copper pipes are typically joined to one another using flux and solder.

Soldering works by capillary action the solder is drawn into the joint by the heat and flux. Usually a solder is composed of 99 tin however it might also contain other metals like zinc copper and silver.