Re: Edging for a Suncatcher

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: <a href="http://dodgestudio.com/edge_beading.htm">This is a link to the Edge Bead Instructions</a> : : : Am I to understand that you agree with Gary's edge beading instructions to use 50/50 solder because it's "thicker"? : OK, here we go again! : By thicker I mean more viscous. We all know about the famous "pasty range". Well, there is no "now it's paste and now it's not" magic temperature point. As you get the solder cooler and cooler it becomes more and more viscous, (less and less watery). : You need to learn to use this to your advantage, after all, what is your temperature control for? If you can't learn to use it you might as well get a Weller 100 iron. One temperature fits all. (Yeah, I know I know, you can change the tips, but that is not a practical solution). : Through careful control of the heating of your solder, both in terms of iron temperature and contact time, you can get it to stand up quite high. You just need to get it into that part of the pasty range, before is so cool that it looks grainy, but still is thick enough not to run off of your foil like water. : Once you learn to do this, your edge bead can actually become a structural element. If you looked at the illustration on my edge bead instruction, you need to realize that this is drawn pretty much to proportion. There is enough solder there that it can be looked on as "a piece of metal" in its' own right. Sure, in extreme circumstances I might add some galvanized steel wire if I don't feel that the solder alone is a strong enough metal, after all, steel is just stronger than solder, but the need is quite rare and is more a requirement brought on by faulty design. On the other hand, copper wire doesn't bring much to the table. It is easy to solder, but if you really need rigidity, copper can't give it to you. : GaryD : : : :

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