'Escape From Alcatraz' - Clint Eastwood Film - You CAN solder with matches - Silver (Dimes) Boosts Regular Solder

There are several posts online debunking the welding or soldering of the spoon to the clippers, or whatever that utensil is, in Clint Eastwood's excellent film, 'Escape From Alcatraz'. However, it is possible to solder low-melt filler metals such as lead and tin with fairly little heat and SMALL AMOUNTS OF SILVER OR SILVER FLAKES added to the lead or tin create a solder commonly known as 'silver-bearing solder' which is not exactly a silver solder, but is still a low-melt solder generally used for jobs like repairing and/or assembling gutters, repairing and bonding other basic metal things.

Silver-bearing solder generally has greater holding power than basic old lead or tin plumbing solder and is very popular nowadays with shops, handymen, repairmen, hobbyists, installers, etc., and the list goes on. The small amount of silver adds a brighter luster and enhances the bond strength of the joint.

If applied correctly to a clean surface with some flux compound like common laundry borax, even low-melt 'silver-bearing solder' can have a fairly strong psi (pounds per square inch, etc.) holding factor. If you apply some 'silver-bearing solder' to a piece of cleaned, degreased steel, for example, you may have to grind it off to remove it! It won't easily separate.

If you click on the pic of the metal work solder at bernzomatic's website:

http://www.bernzomatic.com/item.html?id=68

you will see at the bottom right a melting temperature (melt temp) of 430 degrees. That's Farenheit. It lists this solder wire ideal for applications such as sheet metal, tin gutters and auto care, so that means if you can use it on some auto parts of metal it is probably definitely a pretty good bonding agent for metals.

Some matches are listed as having temperatures of above 450 F degrees and tin melts at around ​449.47 °F (505.08 K ​(231.93 °C), so enough matches could likely have provided enough heat to, at least, solder the joint. The tin cans of that era probably did not have coated linings in them as they do in present day tin cans and plenty of such cans might have been available from mess hall trash cans. Plenty of other sources of tin might have been there also, such as in heating and ventilation ductwork, and the list goes on.

If the Alcatraz inmate(s) who may have soldered or welded that spoon knew a way to fan the flames a bit in the can it might have created more of a micro-blast furnace, enhancing the heat factor even more.

Also, whereas dynamic metal joint applications are more demanding than static joints and whereas low temp melt solder is more for static joints, it might be possible to encase in solder the joint area of the two pieces being joined together for a better hold which might overcome the vibrational wear and tear of using the fixture as a drill bit!

So the bottom line is; depending on what other, if any, filler metals were used in conjunction with the dime(s) to bond the spoon to the clippers, and, depending on how much of a micro-blast furnace effect could be created with the tin can it might, indeed, be possible to solder metals together using matches. Therefore I don't see that the storyline is debunked. One is only able to see, generally, what Clint Eastwood's character is doing in that scene where the soldering or brazing takes place.

Also see:
Solder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder

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Alcatraz: a Destination of History, Legends and Ghosts

http://www.tourismontheedge.com/places/alcatraz-a-destination-of-history-legends-and-ghosts.html

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: Dragonwyck - FULL MOVIE - Gene Tierney - Memorable Cast - Lots
: of Talent - Comment

: If good, noted and capable actors help to create a great film
: production and if you enjoy viewing such films then this
: one's for you. Not only is the leading role portrayed by
: Gene Tierney, but Vincent Price, Walter Huston, Glenn
: Langan are here, too, with Anne Revere, Spring Byington (
: The Enchanted Cottage), Connie Marshall, Henry Morgan (
: Col. Potter of 'Mash' fame), Jessica Tandy ( Driving Miss
: Daisy, The Birds, September Affair, etc.) and Trudy
: Marshall.

: All in all - a truly loaded cast of memorable players!

: The story? Watch out when those distant cousins come to call!

: Thanks to YouTuber - Donald Marhefka

: http://youtu.be/VY3oethtcMQ

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