Reattach Dutch Unit Plate

ithacaartist · 05-01-2021, 07:12 PM

The temperature at which 50/50 solder melts is below the range that straws small parts, so over-heating enough to damage the finish wouldn't be a big concern. A proper solder joint uses a flux that is acidic--whether paste or fluid--and therein lies the concern about the finish.

Contact cement should do the trick, but you only have one shot at positioning it. Something with a bit more working time might be appropriate. Whatever the choice, its cleanup should also be non-reactive with the finish.

It's a good idea to make sure the surfaces to be mated are dead flat and as clean of old mastic as possible. Clamping the work will also improve success.

MikeP · 05-03-2021, 12:14 PM

Think my Grandfather, WW1 aircraft mechanic and all around skillful man, would have called the original process "sweating."
A version of soldering, I believe.
Somewhere I have a lighter made from a wing wire turnbuckle he made and "sweated" a German buckle crown and a plate with his initials.

05-01-2021, 07:12 PM	#1
ithacaartist Twice a Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Atop the highest hill in Schuyler County NY Posts: 3,401 Thanks: 7,558 Thanked 2,643 Times in 1,393 Posts	The temperature at which 50/50 solder melts is below the range that straws small parts, so over-heating enough to damage the finish wouldn't be a big concern. A proper solder joint uses a flux that is acidic--whether paste or fluid--and therein lies the concern about the finish. Contact cement should do the trick, but you only have one shot at positioning it. Something with a bit more working time might be appropriate. Whatever the choice, its cleanup should also be non-reactive with the finish. It's a good idea to make sure the surfaces to be mated are dead flat and as clean of old mastic as possible. Clamping the work will also improve success. __________________ "... Liberty is the seed and soil, the air and light, the dew and rain of progress, love and joy."-- Robert Greene Ingersoll 1894

05-03-2021, 12:14 PM	#2
MikeP User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: ILL Posts: 686 Thanks: 36 Thanked 452 Times in 198 Posts	Think my Grandfather, WW1 aircraft mechanic and all around skillful man, would have called the original process "sweating." A version of soldering, I believe. Somewhere I have a lighter made from a wing wire turnbuckle he made and "sweated" a German buckle crown and a plate with his initials.