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How To Design And Install Plumbing
The cloth is held under the cleaned surface and the solder is applied with a ladle. Drippings from the pipe are caught on the cloth and placed on the top of the cleaned surface to avoid burning of the pipe. The solder is poured and placed until a substantial amount of it has accumulated on the pipe. It can then be packed by cleaning the outside edges with the cloth, allowing it to remain high at the union of the pipe. By spreading the forefinger and the middle finger, after the edges have been cleaned, the solder can be shaped roughly into a convex form. Wiping of the joint is accomplished by putting pressure on the spread fingers to clean the edges, using the edge of the cloth to make the joint smooth. Some mechanics use two cloths to pack the joint and then use both hands in holding the wiping cloth to complete the joint.
Preparation of the vertical joint is identical with that of the horizontal joint. The wiping process varies to some extent however. The solder is splashed on the cleaned surface, the wiping cloth serving as a means of lifting accumulated solder to the union of the pipe. Once the heat required has been attained the joint is packed, using the cloth first in one hand and then in the other. The top edge must be wiped first, because the joint tends to cool at that point. After this has been done the forefinger and middle finger must be spread and the joint can be wiped in the same manner as is the horizontal one, except that both the hands must be used. A vertical joint requires less heat than does a horizontal one.
The branch joint on waste pipe is wiped in a vertical position. In some instances, however, this practice is impossible. The spigot end of a branch joint is prepared by rasping it diagonally (about 1/4 of an inch should be sufficient) and then tapering the end in the same manner as for the spigot end of a horizontal joint.
A hole about the size of a dime must be made with a tap bore at the point of the branch. The bent end of a turning iron is inserted and the hole is increased in size by raising a shoulder of the lead to receive the spigot end of the pipe. The joint must be soiled in the same manner as is a horizontal joint. It can then be set temporarily to lay out the surface to be cleaned. Usually a 1-inch distance is laid out on the vertical spigot end and 1 inch on both sides of the horizontal piece.
A compass is used to scribe the horizontal portion of the joint and the two half circles are joined by a straight line on the side of the horizontal piece. The spigot end of the pipe and the horizontal piece are then shaved from the outside line to the union of the joint.
