Quenching Silver-soldered Work.
—Many craftsmen object to the cooling of the work by plunging it into water or pickle whilst it is hot; but no damage or cracking of the joint occurs, it is thought, if the work is not plunged when it is red hot or anywhere near red hot. Plunging into a pickle certainly cracks the burnt-in borax, which can be readily removed and the joint examined to better advantage. Many a silver-soldered joint has been passed as quite sound when it has only been the borax that has been stopping the interstices, and only after it has been placed under service for some time does the faulty joint make itself apparent.
Silver-soldering cannot be done on work that has been previously soft-soldered unless the soft-soldered part is first cut away; but, of course, soft-soldering can be readily accomplished after silver-soldering or brazing so long as the work is clean and all burnt borax is first removed.