According to mj :
Hi Andrew,
I know what you are talking about for the silver solder. I used to get
this stuff for my dad at his radiator repair shop (many years ago). It
came in strips something like 6" long, 1/8" wide and maybe 1/16" or so
thick. Will my little butane torch melt this stuff? What about my
propane mini-torch? Or is this something for an O-X setup?

How big is the mini-torch? The usual propane torch is a bit on
the low side for the silver soldering which I have tried, but replacing
the tank with a tank of MAAP gas makes a big difference.

You may also wish to build a structure of fire brick under and
around the workpiece, so your heat concentrates better.

I am building the hitch for my model trailer. It is going to be about
10 pieces in the area of the size of a quarter.

Hmm ... that is small. See my suggestion below.

I tried milling this
out of a solid chunk of brass, but my experience level is not up to
that task. Too many cuts and angles. I am now going to try to mill the
main pieces out of flat brass and then silver solder the main pieces
together (four pieces). I will then use a soft solder as mentioned for
the detail pieces. If I get some time tonite, I'll post a picture of
the hitch on my website.

Hmm ... I understand that silver solders are available in
various melting points, and that the standard practice is to use the
highest melting point for the first joint, then a lower one for the
next, and so on until complete, so you don't have problems with the
previous joint slipping when you are soldering the next one.

Good Luck,
DoN.
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