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The first time a newcomer works with a blowtorch, it can be scary, but all you are doing is applying heat in a controlled way. Practice with a couple of scraps of copper or brass, so if you mess up, it’s not a big deal. Use some fine-grained sandpaper to smooth and shine the parts you are going to join, since solder won’t flow over oxidation or oil. Position the parts on a fireproof surface, and make sure they are touching, with no space between them. Put a small piece of solder right at the joint, not to one side. Practice the movement of your hands before you turn on the torch, so that the flame moves smoothly and not in jerky little jumps.
With the torch lit, your aim is to heat the metal, not the solder. Move the flame back and forth across both parts until they both heat up. You don’t need to wait until anything is red hot, just until the color changes slightly. When the parts are hot enough, the solder will melt and run like it’s being sucked into the joint by a magnet. A common error is to follow the solder around the joint with the flame, resulting in a series of solder balls that won’t flow. If this happens, wait until everything cools, clean it, and try again, this time applying heat more widely and softly.
Another common error is applying too much heat. Too much heat can burn the flux, oxidise the surface, or melt parts of the metal before the joint is made. If the metal goes dull grey and the solder won’t flow, it’s likely the surface has become contaminated. If this happens, douse the work in water, clean it with a brush, and apply more flux before continuing. The most useful lesson here is to learn to see these signs, rather than to memorise a rule, as the right amount of heat will vary from one alloy to the next.
Practice for a quarter of an hour a day, connecting strips of scrap into squares, triangles, and so forth. Practice making the same joint repeatedly during a session. Allow the joint to cool, inspect it in good light, and attempt to break it apart with pliers. A good joint will not budge, but a bad one will pull apart cleanly, showing you whether or not the solder actually flowed. You learn far more from this than you ever can watching someone else for an equivalent amount of time.
With time, the torch ceases to be an intimidating aspect of the process and becomes more of an extension of your body. You begin to anticipate the sound of the flame, the color change in the metal, and the surprise of the flowing solder. You relax as the procedure becomes routine. Once you can accomplish a decent joint, you’re ready to move on to more complex constructions. That first good joint is not only a technical achievement, but also an indication that you can actually form the metal into something.