07-03-2005, 03:52 PM
Sure thing Jef- and I mean the small knob-like piece at the very bottom tip; a 'finial' is the term for a similar type of object at the top of something like a stair banister, or columns in piece of furniture- but I'm not sure if it's the proper term for this part of a sword scabbard. And yes, I usually reduce the diameter of the top end of the knob/finial a little so that it fits inside the hole formed by the gutters; if one were to try to just place it against the ends of the gutters and solder it (a simple butt joint), obviously it wouldn't be nearly so strong.
Oh, and it can be helpful to bind pieces to be soldered with thin steel wire (NOT galvanized)- it won't draw off heat the way pliars etc. will. Placing an object on a stee wire mesh so you can heat it from below if necessary is good too. And with specific reference to solid objects like the knob/finial at the bottom of a chape, you should heat it from the bottom- it takes the longest to reach soldering temperature and the contact it makes with the gutter sides will be enough to heat them. If you wire everything properly, you can actually solder the gutters together and to the knob/finial all at once.
Vale
Matt
Oh, and it can be helpful to bind pieces to be soldered with thin steel wire (NOT galvanized)- it won't draw off heat the way pliars etc. will. Placing an object on a stee wire mesh so you can heat it from below if necessary is good too. And with specific reference to solid objects like the knob/finial at the bottom of a chape, you should heat it from the bottom- it takes the longest to reach soldering temperature and the contact it makes with the gutter sides will be enough to heat them. If you wire everything properly, you can actually solder the gutters together and to the knob/finial all at once.
Vale
Matt
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