The wire you use has good strength for sure.

I had some silver wire a while back, that was used to solder/braze tungsten carbide (carboloy) teeth onto circular saw blades for the 'gang saws' in the lumber mills here. The tensile strength for a 1 mil bond is supposed to be 78,000PSI. I suggest that is shear strength. It was wire, but fairly thick @ 1/8" and square in profile, with the sticks about 8" long. It was the most obnoxious silver I ever used. To that point, I'd been using a wire from a local shop that worked beautifully - just as yours has, but this stuff was horrid - wouldn't flow- had to be rubbed hard onto the steel to get it to work - only owrked if tining both sides and taxed even my mapp gas torch to get it to work. I only work with small parts, soldering shanks on drilles, reparing sights, lock parts, trigger gaurds, that sort of thing. I tossed it all out. Once of the 'machinests' at the mill told me is was $1.00 per inch. I'd been given about $400.00 of the stuff and it's long gone now - in the garbage. I wish I had some to try it again - oh well. Maybe if I talk nicely to the machinest again?

One of the blokes there found an old abondoned weight off the back of a log loader - probably 2,000 to 3,000 pound block of dead soft lead. We have to figure out a way of salvaging it.

sorry- off topic.