soldering / brazing a lamp shade

[Stephen]

Hello,

Google tells me that the metal part of a lamp shade is called the lamp carrier or gimbal. One of the metal parts of this has snapped. SWMBO has already decided this is an excuse to buy new ones, but I was wondering how easy would it be to solder or braze a repair?

I've done plumbing soldering and electronics soldering but never soldering, brazing, or welding to repair things. Are there any recommended books, youtube videos, web sites, etc to teach me more about this?

Can you use high power (100W?) soldering irons for this purpose or is a blow torch always best?

Thanks, Stephen.

[Mike Barnes]

You don't say where it's broken... my first thought would be a splint and some shrink wrap, if the break was in a suitable place.

[Chris Hogg]

Or even a wire splint with or without some fine wire wound around to hold it in place and then Araldite all over everything...

[Tricky Dicky]

To braze you need to heat the joint in excess of 900C so unless you can dis mantle the shade you are likely to melt/ burn the rest, either way you will burn off any paint finish or oxidise any coating. Silver soldering dependi ng on type will be a few hundred degs. Less but still not a process to do o n an assembled shade. A 100 W iron might do it but depending where the join t is I suspect will produce a weak joint.

Richard

[F Murtz]

Without seeing it it is difficult to diagnose and form a remedy, there could be many ways, that is one of the joys of DIY,sometimes a picture says a thousand words.

[Fredxxx]

Perhaps others can assist here.

I always though brazing vs soldering was determined by temperature. In the US taken to be below 450C is soldering and above is brazing? Other conventions use the melting point of aluminium 610C to be this temperature.

Silver soldering is just another term for brazing just for confusion.

Certainly most copper alloys used for brazing will have high melting points as indeed you suggest.

[tabbypurr]

You dont say where its broken or what the finish is. Soft soldering certainly won't cut it, its very weak. I'd probably opt for epoxy with splints; if its plastic coated that will need removal first.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Depends exactly where the break is, but if there's room I'd clean the break back to bright steel, wrap with copper wire to hold in place, and solder over the whole lot. A 100w iron should be fine for this.

[newshound]

Indeed. Depending on where the break is you are likely to need reinforcement.

Check with a magnet: if not magnetic, it could be brass which is easy to soft-solder and your 100W iron should be fine.

If magnetic, it will be steel (possibly plated) and while that can be soft soldered, more skill and suitable fluxes are required.

Silver soldering gives a stronger joint but needs a gas torch, but can be done with these:

[critcher]

silver solder is as it says an alloy with silver and copper see the following.

notes.pdf

[Fredxxx]

The confusion is having a technique called silver soldering, when all around us call the process brazing.

Even your link's first paragraph is "A matter of terminology" and that "this term (soldering) is incorrect by today's definitions".

[F Murtz]

Where were you when I was being picked on about silver soldering copper pipe? People at the time were waffling about soft silver solder when I meant hard silver solder

[Brian-Gaff]

In the past I've used bit electric irons for mending small gauge material as used in some lampshades. Indeed I soldered in a bit of Galvanised wire to repair one which had been sat on... don't ask...

The main thing is to make sure its actually solderable material, ie not some form of alloy, and clean and tin the points you want to solder first. Then you either need some insulating gloves, asbestos fingers or some form of clamp and see if it works. Nothing ventured etc.

Brian

[Sherman]

replying to Brian-Gaff, Sherman wrote: I understood the question perfectly. It was a simple question. Dave Plowman and Brian -Gaff gave the only advise worth reading or listening to. Although you never suggested you where adverse to removing the damage ring from the shade I would suggest you do so. . Following Brian-Graff advice clean area well. You do suggest you have a soldinding Iron, give it a try first and see if it to your satisfaction. If not decide for your self . if its worth investing with flame ect. I think it would be as I love to experiment and open new possibilities for myself.I Not sure if a soldering iron would damage shade material but suspect a high flame would without removable.first.. .

[John Rumm]

[Tricky Dicky]

The record still stands at a reply to a 15yr. old thread?.

Richard

[Andrew]

I have a 150 watt incandescant bulb that he could borrow. That might get the lampshade hot enough to allow solder to run :-)

[Brian Gaff]

I did point this out at the time, but was ignored so I relented and replied. The problem is as we have discussed here before, for some inexplicable reason the site does not sort by year, only month, however if you do go there, the date of the thread is given as plain as day before the post, so there should be no real reason to miss it, but there are none so blind as the sighted as they see what they expect to see, they see the date and month and their brain skips. We listening to it read aloud hear it all. Brian

[John Rumm]

Its also fairly pointless replying, since the posters never see the replies I would guess. They get "promoted" in their section on "highest rated discussions", then they fall off that list. Actually getting back to an old thread via the normal interface is quite difficult at that point.