Silver Soldering

[Don Orr]

Looking to the brain trust here for some help/advice on silver soldering-actually brazing I believe. I have some JW Harris filler and flux that I have used before but not for quite a while. The flux-Stay Silv White-has gotten somewhat dry and I want to know if there is some way to reconstitute it back to a useable paste. I read through the SDS info on their site but it does not indicate any kind of solvent or diluent or carrier to keep it soft enough to spread. Does anyone know if I can just mix some with a little water to soften it or would something else work or is it just not worth it ? I'm joining HSS to mild steel for small hollowing tools for turning ornament globes.Thanks.

[Tom Stenzel]

I've used water to soften up the flux that came with Allstate 101 and it worked OK. Never used Stay Silv White but at the Practical Machinist forum you will find people who have used water with it and all went well. If you have lots of minerals in your water you might want to use distilled water.

-Tom

[Don Orr]

Excellent-thank you very much. Sounds like it's worth a try.

[Scott T Smith]

I've used water to reconstitute Stay Silv White successfully. You have to mix it a lot or it will but chunky. It is a good flux for silver brazing.

[Shawn Pixley]

It should reconstitute well with water.

[Don Orr]

Thanks everyone!

[Don Orr]

I dug a little of the flux out of the jar-it is still a little soft-into a separate container and added a little water and mixed it til was about like toothpaste and everything worked quite well. Thanks again for all the excellent advice. Hollowing Tools.jpg