Wanted: Pfaff 595 needle plate

[Uwe]

In my experience welding can be very tricky and requires rather expensive gear. You don't really want to melt the part, which will definitely affect its hardness or any tempering. Personally I found it much easier to do silver soldering. 

I made some custom binder parts a while ago and used silver solder to connect the pieces. The best silver solder option I've come across on this side of the pond is called Stay Brite silver solder and the Stay Clean flux liquid. I bought mine at the local heating and refrigeration supply store. I don't know if this brand is available in Europe. The nice thing about this particular silver solder is that it melts at a comparatively low 430˚F (221˚C), which is well below the temperature that would affect hardness or tempering treatments of any metal part you're repairing. 

Practice on some other parts first. Clean the parts to be repaired with some acetone, then hold the part in a metal clamp and put the broken part in place. Heat the whole thing up with a cheap torch like a propane torch for making plumbing repairs. Drip some flux liquid on the cracks and heat it to just above the melting point of the silver solder. Remove the flame and touch the silver solder wire to the cracks. The hot metal part should melt the silver solder as it touches and suck it into the crack by capillary action.

Sounds like a good candidate for a demo video.

Edited January 7, 2017 by Uwe

[gottaknow]

If it were me, I'd braze it using an 000 tip. Much stronger than silver solder, less heat required than welding. No matter the repair method, it will need to be re-hardened as the heat will anneal it. Have fun!

Regards, Eric