What is Soldering?
It’s the process of heating (with a gas torch) a (usually) thin stick of amalgam (a blend of metals, depending on your need) to melt it onto another piece of (usually) like metal to (usually) form a seal or bridge a gap, because the cooling molten silver-y substance quickly hardens back into a firm metal. You’ll need safety goggles and should only work outdoors, hair back, following serious safety guidelines — soldering kits may be available in large craft stores or local hobby shops. They often offer a short class in the basics.
Soldering joins two pieces of metal, such as electrical wires, by melting them together with another metal to form a strong, chemical bond. Many people use soldering in their field, from electrical engineering and plumbing to jewelry and crafts. In a delicate procedure, a special material, called solder, flows over two pre-heated pieces and attaches them through a process similar to welding or brazing. Soldering is tricky and intimidating in practice, but easy to understand in theory. Basic supplies include a soldering iron, which is a prong of metal that heats to a specific temperature through electricity, like a regular iron. The solder, or soldering wire, often an alloy of aluminum and lead, needs a lower melting point than the metal you’re joining. Finally, you need a cleaning resin called flux that ensures the joining pieces are incredibly clean. Flux removes all the oxides on the surface of the metal that would interfere with the molecular bonding, allowing the solder to flow int
Video Transcript What Is Soldering? The question is, what is soldering? So I’ve decided instead of telling you, I’m just going to show you, and I’ll kind of talk about it, as I go through the process. I’ve got a ring here, that was broken, right across the top, so the first thing I’m going to do, is I’m going to take this ring, and I’m going to dip it in boric acid and alcohol, and light it. That boric acid just keeps the metal from tarnishing, as we do some work. Next, I’m going to take flux, and I’m going to put flux across the joint, which helps the solder flow. Then, I’m going to take a little piece of solder, and basically what soldering is, is taking and joining, two pieces of metal together, using a binder material, and the binder is solder, so I’m going to heat my solder up, and pick it up, on something called a solder pick, and in order to make this work, now I’m going to heat this ring up, because for this solder to flow, this ring is going to need to be about 1300 degrees, a
Soldering, in layman terms, is merely gluing things together with melted metal. It is the process of amalgamating metals to provide a good electrical connection. It is not difficult, though it does take a little practice to get the hang of it. Having the right tool for the job is also very important. Tools needed The basic soldering technique is using a soldering iron and a solder. The soldering iron, is simply a tool that supplies enough heat to melt the solder. Soldering iron comes either with variable temperature or no temperature control. Solder is an alloy of two metals, with a relatively low melting point, that will flow onto the surface of other metals creating a low-resistance electrical connection. It is generally tin and lead and is usually identified by its tin/lead composition. If you look at a solder roll, you will usually find numbers like 40/60, 50/50, or 60/40. These are ratios of tin/lead, as percentages. Solder with a higher tin content melts at a lower temperature. S
