What is the proper technique for copper pipe soldering. I do not see anything about deburring that the IRC code requires. I have seen on a welding site that soldering should be wiped clean to remove residual flux but that the pipe should be sufficiently cooled first otherwise the joint could cool too quickly and cause problems at a much later time.

Rather than typing for 20 minutes I thought I'd share something just pulled from the net, first step is debur. Plumbing Repair Guide: How To Solder Copper Pipes - ACME HOW TO.com If you have never solder before you may be interested in the new approach with elbows and the like already pre-soldered. The solder is inside the elbow in a small groove. You clean the pipe and apply flux, slide to elbow in position and heat. They have all sorts pr pre-soldered fittings.

I would recommend any of these sites -- last one is good videos

Copper in Your Home: Do It Yourself - Soldering School

Soldering Copper Pipe | Tips & Techniques | Reader's Digest

Soldering Copper Pipes Tutorial

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If you want to practice, place the fitting on top of the pipe ofter cutting deburring and fluxing.
Heat the heaviest part. It will take some practice to figure out when you can apply solder, but you can test every so often by touching the solder lightly to the pipe.

You can effectively remove the heat and run the solder around the joint. The solder will flow by capillary action defying gravity. This will show you what your shooting for in terms of technique.

This is not the full set of instructions.