Solder near glass

[Dells]

I have a Junghans torsion clock in a wood case but with a brass door and the bottom hinge is about to give way, there is no way to remove the bevelled glass , so my question is would it be possible to solder the hinge back on without braking the glass .
Dell

 

[Willie X]

Well a flame will crack your glass much quicker than a soldering iron. Your problem might be getting enough heat from an iron. A soldering gun will be a non starter.

Was the hinge soldered on from the start?
If so, you might have to remove and straighten it to get proper contact.

I would guess that a soldering iron, at a size between 125 and 200 watts will get er done. Let the iron come up to full temp before starting, this can take about 10 minutes. Clean, flux, and lightly tin the contact surfaces and don't add any more solder while applying heat and pressure against the hinge with your soldering iron. You will also need a 'poker' to keep the downward pressure on the hinge, when you lift the soldering iron.

Willie X

 

[Bernhard J.]

Please apologize for the stupid and off topic question, but why is it impossible to remove the glass? What was assembled can in the most cases be dissassembled in my experience.

I would be afraid to solder in the immediate vicinity of a glass. Even more, if it is bevelled and difficult to reproduce.

Would glue not be an acceptable alternative? Proper glues are almost as good as soldering. But, of course, need a minimum area of contact (I cannot see in the photos whether this is not given)

Best regards, Bernhard

 

[Dells]

Thanks Willie X
I have ordered some Thermo gel will give it a try.

Bernhard
The door is soldered or braised together so yes I suppose it would be possible to take it apart but a lot mor heat would be needed to do it, so just soldering the hinge on is the least invasive option, also not enough surface area to glue.
Dell

 

[JTD]

Please apologize for the stupid and off topic question, but why is it impossible to remove the glass? What was assembled can in the most cases be dissassembled in my experience.

I would be afraid to solder in the immediate vicinity of a glass. Even more, if it is bevelled and difficult to reproduce.

Would glue not be an acceptable alternative? Proper glues are almost as good as soldering. But, of course, need a minimum area of contact (I cannot see in the photos whether this is not given)

Best regards, Bernhard

I don't think this is stupid at all. I have been very impressed with modern epoxy-type adhesives, especially as you can now get ones which dry transparent and colourless.

Speaking as one who is not good at soldering, I think that would be worth trying. If it really doesn't work, you can then try soldering.

JTD

 

[Dells]

I don't think this is stupid at all. I have been very impressed with modern epoxy-type adhesives, especially as you can now get ones which dry transparent and colourless.

Speaking as one who is not good at soldering, I think that would be worth trying. If it really doesn't work, you can then try soldering.

JTD

The trouble is that the bit of the hinge that was soldered on is only about 1/16” wide not sure there would be enough to glue satisfactory.
Dell

 

[JTD]

The trouble is that the bit of the hinge that was soldered on is only about 1/16” wide not sure there would be enough to glue satisfactory.
Dell

Yes, that is rather narrow. But these modern glues are pretty amazing and I suppose there is not a great deal of stress on the hinge.

Anyway it was just a thought. I hope all goes well with the soldering.

JTD

 

[gmorse]

Hi Dell,

The door is soldered or braised together...

If that's the case, how was it made in the first place without cracking the glass? Brazing especially would have required very high temperatures.

Could the glass possibly have been inserted like a watch crystal, by heating the brass frame so that it expanded enough for the glass to be manipulated into place, then when it cooled and contracted, holding the glass firmly in place?

Regards,

Graham

 

[Dells]

Hi Dell,


If that's the case, how was it made in the first place without cracking the glass? Brazing especially would have required very high temperatures.

Could the glass possibly have been inserted like a watch crystal, by heating the brass frame so that it expanded enough for the glass to be manipulated into place, then when it cooled and contracted, holding the glass firmly in place?

Regards,

Graham

Yes Graham that is possible but not something I would like to try because the bevelled glass is over 1/4” thick, expensive if I break it.
Dell

 

[Willie X]

What's a "Thermo gell"? Willie X

 

[JimmyOz]

Does your gas torch have an attachment of a soldering iron that screws on to it, you can get a lot of heat if it does without any flame to overheat the other areas.
You could also dissipate the heat if you submerged all but the brass edge in a tank of water.

 

[roughbarked]

There are low melt solders which can also reduce the temperatures required.

 

[Mike Phelan]

If all else fails then you could replace the glass as it seems to be just a plain sheet?

If it was me, I would try unsoldering the hinge and glass bexel then re-solder the hinge and use some epoxy like Superglue for the bezel.

 

[gmorse]

Hi Willie,

What's a "Thermo gell"?

It's a heat-resisting coating that protects areas you don't want to heat, used by jewellers a lot to avoid having to dismantle pieces for repairs.

Regards,

Graham

 

[Willie X]

Heat sinking is problematic with regular low temp soldering. With jewelry making it is commonly used to protect soft stones but 'soldering' in jewelry making is actually brazing. Jewelers use a hot oxy/acetylene or oxy/propane torch to quickly bring the temp up to around 1200°. Many old school jewelers use a potatoe for this purpose ... Willie X

 

[Mike Phelan]

Thermo Gel - Insulating

Thermo Gel significantly reduces the transfer of heat from the working area to surrounding localities and thus has important applications in many soldering, brazing and welding operations. Non -toxic.

Application: Spread Thermo Gel with a thickness 5 to 10mm approx over the area to protect from heat. The amount used depends on the amount of heat applied.

• Ideal for Silver assembly, model making, Printed circuit board
• Isolates the heat so temperature remains the same

Supplied:

• 100g
• 1 kg.

 

[Willie X]

It has water in it, and the water conducts heat until the water disappears ... no magic at all. The brand I used was 'Kool-It'. Been there done that for many years.

On a piece, like the one in question, clamping the piece lightly in a vise with the area to be heated about 2" from the heated area might help. Heat sinking and soft soldering don't play to well together.

My solution is, don't use a heatsink at all. Use a big soldering iron and don't dally around. You should be done in about 3 seconds and the glass won't even know what happened ...

Willie X

 

[shutterbug]

I'll jump in to say that heat by itself won't break glass. You can heat it to 1250° and completely melt it without it breaking. It's the uneven application of heat that stresses it. You could try heating things up with a hair dryer/heat gun first to minimize stress fractures. Don't get in a hurry

 

[RickNB]

Maybe i've bveen doing it wrong, but I have resoldered numerous hinges to a glass bezels with the glass in place using a butane torch. Come to think of it, I have also soldered the brass tabs that hold the glass in place using the same torch.

 

[Swanicyouth]

You can solder near glass no problem. That’s how stained glass is done. You probably don’t need to go higher than 750 degrees. You really have to go out of your way to try to break glass with heat.

 

[Willie X]

I've cracked several glasses using a torch but none using an iron. Willie

 

[JimmyOz]

If there is any stress on the glass it may crack, you don't want to take the chance however slight.

 

[roughbarked]

I've only broken glass with stress. I've also done a lot of stained glass and for this an iron is used.

 

[Dells]

As I hadn’t got an old fashioned soldering iron I used a bit of 10mm copper rod filed 2 flats on it like a screwdriver, heated it with my torch and used it as a soldering iron after tinning it and the door and hinge.
Dell