Hard silver solder, cost 3s. 6d. per oz.
| oz. | dwts. | grs. | |
| Fine silver | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Brass | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 |
Hard silver solder, same as above.
| oz. | dwts. | grs. | |
| Fine silver | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Brass | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| 1 | 6 | 16 |
Easy silver solder, cost 3s. 2d. per oz.
| oz. | dwts. | grs. | |
| Fine silver | 0 | 13 | 8 |
| Brass | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 |
Easy silver solder, same as above.
| oz. | dwts. | grs. | |
| Fine silver | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Brass | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 1 | 10 | 0 |
The silver solders here given are not such as we can confidently recommend to the general silversmith, having proved them to be very unsatisfactory in certain classes of work. For example, the first solder, except in the case of plain strong work, would be far too infusible to be generally used by the silversmith; the second, although much more fusible, cannot safely be applied to very fine and delicate wire-work, because the brass in its composition is so uncertain: unless specially prepared by the silversmith, it probably, if purchased from the metal warehouses, contains lead; the latter is injurious, and in process of soldering it burns and eats away, much resembling the application of burnt sawdust to the work. No really effective work can be produced when the above symptoms present themselves. The same remarks apply to No. 3, which is the most fusible, and when free from lead or other base metal it may be classed as a tolerably fair common solder. In the preparation of the solders to which we are alluding, it is preferable to employ, instead of the brass, a composition consisting of a mixture of copper and zinc, in the proportion of two parts of copper to one part of zinc; the operator then knows of what the solder is composed, and if it should turn out bad he will partly know the cause, and be able to supply a remedy.