In article ,
Don Foreman wrote:

On Sat, 14 May 2005 12:26:15 -0400, Joseph Gwinn
wrote:

In article .com,
" wrote:

I make spinning tools for a lady who owns a sheep farm. They look like
a long slender top with a 3/32" drill rod shaft and a 1" diameter x
.100 thick brass flywheel to generate the needed inertia to keep it
spinning. These are for spinning cotton fibers.
[snip]

[snip]

If necessary to get the tinned steel rod to fit into the hole, wipe
excess solder off the rod while it's still hot, using a damp paper towel.

Eutectic solder (63 tin, 37 lead) melts at 371 degrees C, the lowest,
and is very shiney. The tin-lead-silver solders are also very nice
looking, strong, and easy to use. In radio work, 2% silver is very
common, and easy to get. Likewise 63-37 eutectic solder.

Joe Gwinn

Adding to Joe's comments: I'd use a tin silver solder like Harris
Staybrite. Though a low temperature solder (430F), it's considerably
stronger than lead-tin solder and it's very fluid when it melts. No
need to pre-tin the rod, but I'd lightly countersink the flywheel on
both sides to provide a fillet area.

I haven't tried silver-bearing solder on steel, but I would suspect that
the pre-tinning is still a good idea, especially as the actual soldering
step is done without touching anything.

I also note that the 63-37 solder melts at 371 degrees F (not C), so it
could be melted in a toaster oven, in a low-tech version of furnace
soldering. My main fear would be that this would heat things too
slowly, causing the flux to boil away before reaching soldering
temperature, so I'd use a small soft-flamed torch.

Joe Gwinn