A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c18.s1.2

v1.c18.s1.2

Considered, however, from the standpoint of a chemical student who investigates the subject of ascertaining the amount of metal that is lost in the operations of the goldsmith, the process of soldering is scarcely important enough to receive a separate treatment. The preparation of the solder and its reduction to the condition of small thin bits are embraced in the discussion of melting and hammering; while the loss during the blowing operation, during which the reducing flame of an oil lamp is made to play upon the solder and the parts it is meant to join together, may be supposed to have been treated during the discussion of the subject of loss of gold by volatilisation. The fact that almost all solders contain a little zinc perhaps makes the loss in their case to be much greater than in that of an alloy of gold and copper only. The following three sets of figures give the weight of gold and the weight of solder before the process of soldering and the weight of the article after the operation has been finished :—