pot Metal soldering

 Pot Metal Soldering

The best solder for joining pot metal with solder is a fairly simple procedure – pretty much anyone can do it. However the price point has been far from entry level by any means. And unfortunately in order to obtain these pot metal soldering kits, you must purchase a $50+ solder/flux bundle to do a $10 repair.

Until now there has been only a couple of suppliers of these “leading” pot metal solder and flux products, but I’m going to show you where you can get these products at less than half of these pot metal soldering kits!

Also, I’ll briefly talk about the pro’s and con’s, steps that you will need to take in order to achieve a good solder repair and where to get my recommended alternative pot metal solder that in my experience works better than the leading product.

Soldering pot metal definitely has some invaluable abilities over welding or using some sort of glue; however if we want to get technical, soldering pot metal is still gluing two or more pieces pot meal together. However it is still much stronger than your typical epoxy’s and or super glue’s designed for pot metal repair.

Pot Metal Soldering Pro’s

Anyone with a bit of DIY skills can easily achieve pot metal repair via soldering. The ease of use is the biggest Pro to this method and it’s now even more affordable. If you have a stainless steel wire brush, and or a dremel tool and a small butane or propane torch, you’re ready to go!

Pot Metal Soldering Con’s

Pot metal solder repairs are good for repairs on light use mechanical parts and decor that are not subject to excessive vibration. Unlike welding, solder is still fundamentally a soft material that is adhered to the broken parts by a mechanical bond and with a little vibration, the repair will most definitely fail. It is nowhere close to being as strong as pot metal welding.

Pot Metal Soldering Process

There are a couple of steps you can take to achieve even a better result than the average repair. First you will need to prep the pot metal. This can be achieved by using a die grinder with a single cut rotary file or a stainless steel wire wheel to strip away plating, dead metal and or light corrosion. If you don’t have access to a compressor or air die grinder, you can use a Dremel with a rotary file bit or with a small stainless wire wheel. This will allow you to remove any surface contaminates. The metal absolutely be cleaned and free of these byproducts of the parts to be soldered. Heat parts from the opposite side of which you will ad flux. this will keep the flux from charring before dabbing the solder onto the joint.

Word of caution: Pot metal is very sensitive to heat and if you’re not careful, it’s very easy to ruin your piece. So use heat sparingly!

Pot Metal Solder & Flux

Here’s a zinc based, low temperature solder and ammonium based flux that is used for pot metal soldering and It’s made in America!

• Superior Flux No. 1260
• Oatey Ammonium Chloride flux – We have not tested this product, however it is an ammonium based flux so it should work? We will test this product shortly and post results.
• 85% Tin 15% Zinc Solder
  

These products are all very good quality and can easily be shaped with a file and or sandpaper to achieve the original shape and appearance.

In my opinion, These products are as good as the leading brands of pot metal solder. what’s more their price points are far more affordable than than the starter kits that force you to buy an entire kit when you run out of rod or flux. Pot metal solder and flux can be purchased individually from the above stores so you’re not forced to buy a full kit when you run out of one item or the other.

Again. you can achieve the exact same results with the solder and flux listed above that one can do using any of the leading the leading brands, just cheaper.

I realize there are many questions about pot metal soldering, but I am open to answering any DIY questions about soldering pot metal and hopefully give you advise that works for you.

Now that you know where to get pot metal solder and flux, you might have additional questions about if it would be a viable repair for your project? If that’s the case, please feel free to use this form to submit your questions and I’ll be quick to reply. 🙂