Oops!!! Maybe??

[lptools]

Hello, All. I left these in the tumbler too long, thinking they were steel, with a coating of dark crud. Tuns out it was tarnish, and what I am guessing is brass , came to a high polish. These are Mohr's Patent Tubing clamps, for lab use. Does it make sense that these are made of brass? Definitely non-magnetic, could they be plated? I would think that brass is not strong enough for a spring clamp, even this small? Regards, Lou

[kwoswalt99]

Probably phosphor bronze.

[lptools]

Hello, Thanks for the info!!  I thought that I had written down the patent info somewhere, hoping that would shed some light, but I have no idea where that is. Regards, Lou

[lptools]

Hello, ksowalt99. I am going to try to repair the one in the photo with the missing pad. The replacement that I have is brass, and recommendations for soldering brass to bronze? Thanks, Lou

[p_toad]

regular silver solder should work fine unless you are into brazing.

[lptools]

Hello, p_toad. I will give it a try. Thanks, Lou

[Chillylulu]

Technically, silver soldering is a mis-nomer. It has to do with the temperature.   Above 842ºF it is brazing. Silver solders melt at between 1050ºF and 1550ºF.

So, even though we say "silver soldeing" it is a brazing operation.

I have 4 different silver alloys for soldering silver. (Brazing!) They cost a couple dollars a gram.

Additionally I have what I would call silver solder - it is an alloy with silver in it.  It runs around $80 a pound. It is used on copper and brass/ bronze fittings. I think it is a phospher bronze silver rod. About 15% silver.

If you want to match the bronze somewhat, use some yellow brass rod.  Just clean the joins, make sure the fit is tight, flux with borax, cut some thin pallions of brass and heat the join until the brass pallions flow. 

Red brass has a higher melting point, thats why I mentioned yellow brass. It is still hotter than the silver solders.

If you want Lou, I can send you a piece of the silver solder to play with. It finishes to a yellow brass color when cleaned up.

Chilly

[lptools]

Hello, Chilly. I went ahead and used my go-to rosin core solder. When I snapped the pin from the tack, it left a small raised area, I reamed that out to fit the rod on the clamp. Not pretty, but strong, kind of matches the way the other clamps were assembled. Thanks for your input, Lou