structural:summarization
Applications

Soldering is used in plumbing, electronics, and metalwork from flashing to jewelry and musical instruments.

Soldering provides reasonably permanent but reversible connections between copper pipes in plumbing systems as well as joints in sheet metal objects such as food cans, roof flashing, rain gutters and automobile radiators.

Jewelry components, machine tools and some refrigeration and plumbing components are often assembled and repaired by the higher temperature silver soldering process. Small mechanical parts are often soldered or brazed as well. Soldering is also used to join lead came and copper foil in stained glass work.

Electronic soldering connects electrical wiring to devices, and electronic components to printed circuit boards. Electronic connections may be hand-soldered with a soldering iron. Automated methods such as wave soldering or use of ovens can make many joints on a complex circuit board in one operation, vastly reducing production cost of electronic devices.

Musical instruments, especially brass and woodwind instruments, use a combination of soldering and brazing in their assembly. Brass bodies are often soldered together, while keywork and braces are most often brazed.