Office of Steam Logo_1

Author Topic: Resistance soldering  (Read 124 times)

jerseysteam

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 233
  • Location: The Garden State
Resistance soldering
« on: April 13, 2019, 09:45:18 am »
Swift Sixteen (https://www.swiftsixteen.co.uk/) has some nice bodywork kits for live steam locomotives. They consist of brass sheet pieces, wire, tubing etc. that need to be flux-soldered. I've been conducting some research on resistance soldering and think this may be a good way to build such a kit due to the concentrated and rapid application of heat as well as very quick cooling after joining pieces. I've been looking at the Micro-mark basic kit (https://www.micromark.com/Micro-Make-Complete-Resistance-Soldering-Set), which includes this unit (https://www.micromark.com/Resistance-Soldering-Unit).

I'd be interested in any advice/opinions re: this particular method of building a brass kits, choice of equipment etc. I know that American Beauty produces more substantial (and expensive) resistance soldering gear, but I wonder if this might be overkill.

The Swift Sixteen kit instructions seem pretty straight-forward and I'm assuming that I would need to practice quite a bit on scrap pieces (which is part of the adventure) before attempting to build a kit.

Thanks!
Dave

Dr.Rev.DelmarMacReady

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 603
  • Location: Birmingham, AL U.S.A
Re: Resistance soldering
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2019, 01:39:16 pm »
I have been looking into resistance soldering for rail joints. I've looked at the Micromark ones, they seem as good as any. I decided I'd rather build one when the time comes. I originally saw a how-to in an 80s Garden Railways mag. It is very simple, and the most expensive bit is the power supply. I'm planning to use an old battery maintenance charger, with a sewing machine foot pedal for a switch. You should be able to find a how to video on the web. If not message me and I will try to locate the mag and scan it for you.
Bennydaheeb

jkbixby

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 999
  • Location: Gahanna, Ohio
Re: Resistance soldering
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2019, 06:10:56 pm »
I've an American Beauty that I picked up on Ebay but only use it for handrails when building boat models - it works well but I'm sure the Micromark unit would also.
Regards,
Larry