Can you braze very thin steel (or stainless steel) to very thin alloy? If so, what type of filler rod would I require? Cheers
lookoutas,
Mar 5, 3:42pm
Define "alloy"
skin1235,
Mar 5, 3:48pm
steel is okay, stainless which is an alloy not so okay, and which is the alloy you want to braze to,
if the braze will adhere onto both surfaces it will work - and sometimes you have to use the correct flux to achieve the adhereing,
msigg,
Mar 5, 3:49pm
It's the alloy that could be the problem, stainless and steel are all good, what is the alloy. Small gauge brass rod or easy flow
ambo11,
Mar 5, 4:07pm
Okay thin alloy i.e .5mm sheet or less, and same for the steel.
skin1235,
Mar 5, 4:15pm
still doesn't identify the alloy, is that supposed to be ali, as in aluminium stainless is an alloy, so is brass, gunmetal, and bronze
even within the ali section there is several alloys that are not suited to braze, cast ali ( carbs, lawn mower bodies, thermostat hosings, water pump bodies) etc would fall into these alloys
lookoutas,
Mar 5, 4:16pm
You are making us guess.
So my guess is that you know very little about metology, and that's OK - by alloy, are you meaning aluminium?
skin1235,
Mar 5, 4:18pm
don't be thinking stainless is easy to braze - its not, you need the correct flux and absolutely the right temps, too hot and it will never take the braze without pulling it apart and grinding it again
gsimpson,
Mar 5, 4:37pm
Stainless is reasonably easy to braze with easyflo (with correct flux) Technically aluminium is not an alloy as it is a pure metal. whereas steel is an alloy of iron.
lookoutas,
Mar 5, 4:49pm
That's right, but unadvised people often refer to Aluminium as Alloy. OP needs to elaborate.
A material made of copper and brass is an alloy. Solder is an alloy of lead & tin. The percentages of which dictate it's melting point and strength.
msigg,
Mar 5, 4:49pm
Yes to both skin1235 and gsimpson, good flux, spotless surface, keep heat to minimum.
mohaka,
Mar 5, 5:16pm
Brass is a alloy of the elements copper& zinc.Bronze,copper & tin. Actually aluminum is technically also an alloy in most cases,very seldom is pure aluminum used for anything.
lookoutas,
Mar 5, 5:28pm
That's right mo - most metals these days are an alloy. Mainly done to manipulate strength.
Oh - and the shower steam has just rinsed out the dust. It's metalology I meant - King Country lingo should let me get away with metology eh bj.
Come-on OP. You need to define what this alloy is, otherwise you will learn nothing. You might have better luck tying it together with all that string.
poppy62,
Mar 5, 5:45pm
It's actually Metallurgy. Metalogy is a 5 disc CD by judas Priest. So NO1 the King Country should run you outta town.
ambo11,
Mar 5, 5:47pm
Sorry been out, plain thin sheet alloy, closest thing I can match it to is light bulb fitting alloy,very thin. and normal mild steel very thin, i.e panel steel or thinner. No, I don't know anything about metals sorry, realise they could be completely incompatible to braze though. How about steel to steel, again very thin. what rod would you use for that? Cheers
poppy62,
Mar 5, 5:49pm
Ambo. Easyflow rod is the best to use, will braze cast iron, steel,copper, brass bronze, tungsten, stainless steel, but it will not braze aluminium or zinc or a combination of these two.,
lookoutas,
Mar 5, 5:51pm
But that's what's so good about this. We all can learn something. Thank you.
Running me out would leave bj to hold the fort all by himself.
See OP - I'm big enough. Sorry - can't help you any more at this stage.
ambo11,
Mar 5, 5:52pm
Cheers Poppy, good to know that, will look up that. Thanks
purple666,
Mar 5, 5:52pm
If you are talking about butt welding then a fine steel rod will do the trick.
That's for steel to steel
lookoutas,
Mar 5, 6:15pm
You were back while I was answering poppy & taking a phone call.
Have you tried a test braze? What poppy sez re Easyflow, is what you need to try for a test. It would definitely work steel to steel.
Going back to #10, which is also an option.
It does really come back to what you are doing. Using heat on flat thin gauge panels can be disastrous. If there's shape involved, then not so bad.
ambo11,
Mar 5, 6:23pm
No havent tried a test braze as yet, glueing not an option. yep the pieces have shape, and minor warpage is fine. will try the easyflow. Cheers
mohaka,
Mar 5, 6:30pm
So what's the metals to be "joined" steel to stainless,if its thin i would be using a mig.Brazing is weaker and silfos even more.
lookoutas,
Mar 5, 6:53pm
But all that is only relevant if we knew what ambo is up to. The ultimate would be a TIG, but if we only have access to certain equipment, then that is the limiting factor. ambo has gas, so brazing/easyflow/silfos, (strong to weak) are the options. Abilities also come into it.
mrfxit,
Mar 5, 7:22pm
HELL YES, personal abilities are far far more important then what you are using to weld with & too.
With thin to thick metals, it's very much in the "angle of the dangle". Correct heat Flame length Flame type (oxy/ acet neutral or + - %) Correct flame angle Correct line speed of welding.
It's not an easy trade to learn but once done is hard to forget. Oh & Please don't stab your self in the leg with the hot wire tip or pick up the wrong end.
OR stab your self in the leg with the torch :-( (Squashed under a car welding up an exhaust pipe & turning /sliding over to get the other side
skin1235,
Mar 5, 9:10pm
brazing is not the same thing as soldering, easyflo is a solder joint not a brazed joint I'm still not sure just what 'light fitting alloy" actually is, if it is aluminum then you will find very few methods to join it with a non aluminum alloy that will prove robust the biggest issue will be that ali is solid right up to joining term and then turns liquid far too easily and far too much of it turns to liquid
most alloys ( other than ali) melt at 1200 degrees while solders melt at 600, braze melts at about 800 so fairly easy to make a sandwich between to high melt articles with a low melt solder braze ali melts at 610, extremely close to a decent solder and way before braze, plus whenn ali melts you don't just lose a small drip from the edge, the melt will take out 20mm chuncks
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