Pannier Tank wrote:Some very nice examples of the Society's Lever Frame in this thread.
I would appreciate some advice on the best technique in laminting the 3 piece Lever Handles and advice on solders / fluxes to use etc.
Hi David,
I built the lever frame and wrote the article that was carried in MRJ 225. This is what I said in the article when I reached the lamination stage:
"Next comes assembling the levers, laminated from three layers of nickel silver. Not only are there two different components, but they are handed as well, so care must be taken to fit them together the correct way round. The tip in the instructions of using scraps of wire to align them works very well, and meant that I spotted the one layer that I had placed back-to-front on the fifth and final lever just before I applied the solder!
My initial thought on reading the instructions and realising that I would be soldering three quite thick layers of nickel silver together was that I would need to be using a Resistance Soldering Unit, cranked up to a fairly heavy duty setting. However I chose to follow the guidance given, soldering around the edges with a conventional iron, With the aid of plenty of flux, capillary action did indeed draw solder between the layers and make up a very strong lever. I should mention that the entire assembly was completed using only 179° solder and a 50W iron set to 375° temperature."
The whole article was written from the perspective of identifying the little tricks and tips that weren't obvious from the (already comprehensive) instructions. You may find it useful if you can track down a copy. You'll find pieces in there from a number of Society members, including both our past and present New Member Support Officers
HTH
Flymo