[ddmckee54]

Sta-Brite SBSK silver bearing solder, now I'm beginning to understand why you didn't have problems with the zinc burning off from the galvanizing. SBSK is a silver bearing soft solder, it melts at 430 degrees F.
(I'm editing this message now because the rest of the message got clipped off after the 430. A word to the wise... DO NOT try to use the degrees symbol, ALT + 248, in any messages on this forum. It sees that combination and deletes everything from there on.)

The low melting point explains why you didn't have trouble with the zinc burning off. It also explains how you could use wood to clamp the parts together, 430 degrees is below the ignition point of wood. I'll bet the wood was still well charred from the torch though. Maybe you could wrap the wood with the heat resistant tape they use on exhaust headers on 1:1 scale cars? You can get a 2"x100' roll for about $40USD.

You could probably use a Weller 200/260W soldering gun with that solder on the 26 gauge, there's not a lot of mass there to heat up. I was given one of those guns about 30 years ago, I haven't used it much, but now I might need to do some experimenting with it.

Thanks for the explanation,
Don