Ok, so I'm trying to join a few bits of hammered brass together using silver easy solder. The metal is clean (acid bath followed by isopropyl alcohol), plenty of flux in all the right places. the solder is fluxed and positioned, the whole piece is gently warmed then the join site heated. the flux bubbles etc, the metal gets hot to the point of glowing pink. but no movement from the solder. one piece has balled up, the other has not even melted. none of the solder has actually gone anywhere. By this point I am steadily becoming more and more frustrated and grumpy. have applied the same technique to silver a few times before, sometimes it works, sometimes does exactly the same thing. and the same technique applied to silver without the alcohol clean produced the same mixed results as with it.

close up of texture on brass

800mm x 800mm

The seven individual leaves are 18GA C260 Brass from www.onlinemetals.com, the leaf stems are Lowes Brass picture hanging wire, and the branch is Lowes Copper common house hold ground wire. I have around 150 hrs in it with the soldering being the most tedious part.