Soldered Guards

[TAH]

Hi Steve,

Last night, I was, again, admiring one of your knives and was focusing on the soldered guard. George Herron also does this step, but some knifemakers do not. What is the main purpose for the solder? Strength or aesthetics or both? Is the solder pure silver?Regardless, you do a beautiful job at it!

Best,
Tom

[Steve]

It's just what I do, I guess.

Looks are definitely one of the reasons, although many prefer the "solderless" joint.

It melts at a low temperature, 430?F, so does not affect the temper of the blade.

It seals the front of the guard. It makes for a strong joint, however getting the solder to flow completely through the joint with SS knives is almost impossible, unless you go with the paste solder, which I find harder to get to flow smoothly. I use both types.

It is not pure silver, it has only 5% silver and will not tarnish, as the silver solders do. It's used in the SS food utensil and dairy equipment industry.

Somewhere on this forum is a long discussion of soldering, if anyone has time to look it up. Unfortunately, I can't at the moment.

[TAH]

Thanks Steve.