Silver solders or brazing alloys and their use.
Peter G. Johns. (2006) Silver solders or brazing alloys and their use. UK Patent No. GB2408269 - granted 22/2/2006..
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The UK has hallmarking laws that govern the minimum amount of silver that must be present in solders for joining sterling silver. The minimum quantity is set at 65% silver. Many other countries allow solders with lower silver content of 55%. Higher silver solders usually have higher melting and working temperatures, which require higher levels of skill to use and can cause distortion and deep firestain in the piece being soldered: this can lead to increased and expensive finishing costs. Lower silver content solders offer lower melting and working temperatures, however a disadvantage is a decrease in the whiteness of the solder, which causes solder seams to become clearly visible on finished pieces, thus limiting the creative scope of the designer/maker.
Silver solders for jewellery and silverware have remained the same for at least 75 years. The challenge of this research was to provide solders that:
- conform to UK hallmarking laws
- are easy to use, with low temperature flow properties that are normally found in the lower silver content solder alloys
- have a good white colour to match the colour of Argentium Silver
- have good tarnish resistant properties
The patent granted from this research and the commercial alloys produced by Stern-Leach in the USA derived from over 40 individual solder alloys, made and tested at Middlesex University. A range of paste solders has also been developed for furnace soldering operations.
Current work is being conducted with designer/makers in best utilising these new solders.
|Research Areas:||A. > School of Art and Design|
|Depositing User:||Repository team|
|Date Deposited:||26 Nov 2008 13:29|
|Last Modified:||27 Jan 2016 11:54|
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