Tight solder joint

[thehomeengineer]

Hi All
I am starting to build the water tank for my 3” scale Foden steam wagon. This will be soft soldered and riveted. When riveted there is no gap for the solder to capillary into the joint. So to overcome this issue I cut grooves in the mating part to allow the solder to run into the joint. Normally I would simply use a file to cut the groove but recently I was given a rusty Adept hand operated shaper which I resorted so thought I would use it to cut these grooves. This was far easier than filling and certainly a lot quicker. The photos below show the process and result.

Cutting across the rivet holes so a water tight seal can be achieved as well as creating a stronger joint.

These angles will be used to support the plates for the internal baffles.

Completed angles ready for soldering. Flux is placed between the joint before riveting.

As can be seen the solder has flowed through the joint and therefore around the rivets.

Just requires cleaning ready to solder too the side plates of the tank

I also use this method for silver soldering so the solder can capillary freely through the joints.

Thank you for viewing

The Home Engineer