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Instructions

Candleholder Instuctions

  1. Put the bottom piece on your work board, and surround it on half the sides with either flat popsicle sticks or flat 3mm glass strips. Sit the candleholder on top of the strips. Brush flux on the inside bottom seams, and solder together. Turn the candleholder on its side and position between two solid objects (ie. rolls of solder) with a inner seam against the workboard. Flux and solder the inside seam, and then rotate the candleholder to do the next side. Repeat until all inner seams are done.
  2. Position the candleholder so that an outer seam in now up on top and perfectly horizontal. Make a quick pass using 50/50 solder and melt it into the gap betwen the foiled side panels. This solder line does not have to look good, you just want to fill up the gap with the 50/50 solder. Rotate the piece, doing one side at a time until you get back to the first seam you did. Switch back to 60/40 solder and now carefully solder a nice seam. The 50/50 solder will act as a barrier to prevent the 60/40 from melting through between the side pieces and splattering on the inside bottom of the candleholder.
  3. Now do the same procedure from above to the bottom edges of the candleholder. You may need to tilt the candleholder upside-down between your solid objects to maintain a horizontal seam. Once that is finished, inspect the corner joints and touch up with solder as required.
  4. Sit the candleholder back up in its proper position and brush flux liberally across the copper foil along the top sides. Tin them with a small amount of 60/40 solder, making sure you get all sides of the foil covered with solder.
  5. Brush a small amount of flux across the tinned top, and now use 50/50 solder applied in small drops to the upper edge of the copper foil. You may need to be moving the candleholder around again to maintain a horizontal plane so the 50/50 solder will set evenly. Check all of the top solder joints once finished and touch up as necessary.
  6. Wash thoroughly, dry, rub solder lines with fine steel wool, spray with Kwik-Clean, dry, patina if desired, and then polish.
  7. Put small felt pads on the bottom corners after you are all finished to prevent any scratching.

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