I was in my early teens when I bought a propane torch. I just wanted to burn things, but my father found it useful for more constructive uses, like making a case for drill bits. He always had racing shells in the garage, repairing them for crews in the Pacific Northwest, and the torch came in handy for making replacements for missing stretcher bolts. He’d file a small flat on a brass washer and set it in the slot of a brass machine screw, slip a 1″ length of copper pipe over the screw threads, and solder everything together with paste flux and lead-wire solder. Dad used my propane torch to make this drill-bit case from a short piece of brass tubing. It rattled around in his tool box for nearly a half century and the bottom, soldered with lead, finally fell off. With a new bottom silver-soldered on, it's good for at least another 50 years.
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Phos-copper rods (obviously an alloy of phosphorus and copper), work really well on brass and bronze. I first used it with the old solid oxygen/propane welders that were around 25 or so years ago (may still exist?). That was a terrible technology, as you had to ignite the oxygen pellets (looked like a cylinder of dog poop), which wasn’t always easy, and then had to weld quickly before they burned out. I never understood how they worked, burning chemicals to produce oxygen. Later came one with oxygen cylinders, same size as propane bottles, but they were expensive and the oxygen depleted very rapidly. At least you could shut off the oxygen if you hadn’t already depleted it.
I never tried regular arc welding, but instead bought a Harbor Freight mig welder and taught myself how to use that. It had the option of using flux-core wire, which saved having to buy CO2, argon, helium, or mixed gases, though I think the gases give a cleaner result. I also made a tiny boat stove for my little 21′ Ed Monk Sr. cutter (boat was named PLATERO, if you ever ran across it. A new owner brought it to the Port Townsend show 2 or 3 years ago). I made an extra, and put it into a local used marine gear chandlery (now defunct), and eventually sold it, or rather swapped it for some gold nuggets to an Alaska gold panner. I cut out the plates for another one, but have never assembled it. It was a great little stove, and burned bark that I’d scavenge from beaches as I cruised around. Fir bark makes a great fuel.
Silver solder (the expensive, high-silver content type) works well on stainless also. That is a high heat solder, but Mapp gas works with it.
This reminds me of the first things I made in metal. My metalwork teacher in the technical school I attended was a real time-served craftsman; it was in later life he ventured into teaching. In the short time at the school, I learned a great deal from him, partly because I showed an interest in some of the extracurricular projects he was working on, one of which was an elaborate pewter trophy for the school, which he allowed me to help with. I asked him if I could make a set of bronze pintles for my boat. His reply was “What the devil are pintles?” He wasn’t from a boating background. I explained that they were rudder hangings, so he agreed to show me how to make them providing I came up with an accurate engineering drawing, which, of course, I did. Part of the construction involved brazing; he showed me how to do that and it proved to be an interesting and valuable lesson. Gas welding is something I really enjoy doing, a very patient old timer showed me all the tricks and tips to become proficient at gas welding most metals, including cast iron.
The next items I made were similar to those you’ve shown, old files made into tools to rake out seams, the only difference with those I made, the other end of the file was heated in the forge and bent at right angles, then ground back to make a very effective coarse scraper, a useful dual-use tool. In 1963 while still at school, I made two of them for my brother, who worked in a boatyard. They were put to good use and I still have one of them today.
Hi Chris, great article! You’ve inspired me to make fittings for my sailboat too. I have a question about galvanic corrosion between the bronze, the silver solder, and the rest of the fittings on the boat. Any issues?
I haven’t noticed any corrosion that I believe is caused by the silver solder and the brass and bronze metals. My earliest soldered pieces are all still in good shape. The only galvanic corrosion I noticed is in the canoe rudder, which isn’t soldered, where the aluminum rivets in the brass hinges have been eroded. On the galvanic scale, which ranks metals from noble to base, with gold and platinum being at the top and zinc and magnesium at the bottom, silver solder, Monel, bronze, copper, and brass are close together, so there wouldn’t be a strong galvanic reaction when silver solder and those metals are in contact. Salt water is the electrolytic solution that causes corrosion, so if a boat is not kept in the water, the soldered fittings won’t be continually subject to the electrical cycle. The silver solder, by the way, is higher on the galvanic scale than the metals, so it will be the metal, not the solder that will corrode. I’d guess that since there is a lot more metal in the fittings than solder, whatever corrosion might occur extremely slowly, even if immersed in salt water. I may be out of my depth here, so those with more knowledge are welcome to chime in.
As far as an effect on other fittings, they’re all separated by large expanses of wood, so there wouldn’t be any electrolysis. It would be an issue for a boat with a metal hull, either aluminum or steel, with fittings of dissimilar metals.
Thanks for the nice article. I shall study it, in detail, soon. In the meantime, I went back and re-read your San Juan Solo article. The captions for the photos are awesome!: “… and it should, of course, go without saying that sterling silver is an unnecessary extravagance aboard a small boat. Silver plate is more than adequate.” And: “The spork is, I confess, a silly affectation. I have plenty of room aboard HESPERIA to carry a separate spoon and fork and needn’t put on airs as if I were through-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.” Made my morning brighter 🙂
I too, really enjoyed your soldering/welding stories. I grew up on a family potato farm in Aroostook, Maine, and by age 14, was wielding a 300-amp arc welder doing repairs on machinery,
…….and building a go-cart. I think arc welding is easier, but lacks some of the flexibility of gas welding. Match the type and size of rod to the type and size of metal, and adjust the amperage…….then find that light touch that is required strike an arc without sticking the rod to the metal. Years later I bought a Sears 70-amp welder, which I used during a ground-up restoration of an MGA. Retired now, I build a boat now and then, and buy hardware wherever I find a good price. Once in a while I dust off the welder.