There is silver solder and there is silver solder
Generally in modelling when we talk about Silver solder we mean high melting point silver alloy solder for 'structural' soldering.
Lots of places sell 'silver' solder, but most of of them are talking about lead free solder, soft solder for electrical/electronic work. Not sure why its grown to be known as silver solder as it is a direct replacement for the old lead solder we knew and loved, with a slightly higher melting point. OK, there is silver in it, but its properties are intended to be very similar to the soft lead solder it supposedly replaces. Curiously, for high reliability electronic applications lead solder is preferred.
One of the dictats of soldering is that cleanliness is next to godliness, degrease then sand, and keep the pinkies away from the joint area if at all possible (to avoid skin oils contaminating the joint, not just to prevent burning the pinkies).
One thing I've found usefull is so called 'No Clean' flux. This looks like a thick marker with a fibre tip for applying the flux. Maplins carry this, as do Radionics. Only suitable for low temperature soft solder though.
Chris
