Sculptures & Fumes

[GJM]

Wife is out of town this week and I have aton of time to kill. I would love to learn to braze and start making some scale stuff. Any help would be great.

I have:

mini torch with mappro gas
tube bender
tube cutting
brake line fron autozon
dremel

what else do I need and where can I pick it up here in the Denver area?

Thanks fo any help!

[tklatti]

Did you get the coated or uncoated brakeline? Uncoated is better..If you have coated,sand it,the fumes of the coating burning ,gives you a headache. You get both pieces that are getting brazed red hot. The rod will then flow.Also if you didnt get the fluxcoated rod you will have to add flux to the area. You can check on Youtube for a video on it,that will help.

[chrisjlittle]

Get some good 45 or 56% silver brazing rod and white paste flux, that's what works the best in my experience. You can get both from a welding supply store.

Take your time with fishmouthing your tube, it's gotta be just right to work. The braze doesn't really big fill gaps, it just seems to wick inside the tube and you end up wasting a bunch of braze. Make sure to get all the zinc coating off your brake line, it can do worse than give you a headache if you breathe too much of it.

I usually prefer to work with solid rod over brake line. You don't have to fishmouth rod, it doesn't kink when you bend it with pliers and it's a lot less expensive. Just personal preference.

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by chrisjlittle

Get some good 45 or 56% silver brazing rod and white paste flux, that's what works the best in my experience. You can get both from a welding supply store.

I usually prefer to work with solid rod over brake line. You don't have to fishmouth rod, it doesn't kink when you bend it with pliers and it's a lot less expensive. Just personal preference.

X2
Airgas has safety silv and the flux that you need.

[lwb Sami]

What cha building

[GJM]

Originally Posted by lwb Sami

What cha building

Nothing Yet!

I have found the safety silver. Any suggestions on finding the raw material. the brake line that I have is coated and I would love to not deal with that.

Thanks for the help.

[bmx_ican92]

Sand it! I use the coated stuff and it melts right off.

[team3six]

watch this video
Brazing Video

[Rubbaneck]

Is this the rod that should be used? http://hand-tools.hardwarestore.com/...ds-601234.aspx

I'm a newb too...

[bmx_ican92]

im poor haha i use coat hangers and powder flux!

[GJM]

Thanks for the help guys!

I had a 15 minute break from work today and gave it s shot. Is it really that easy? the brazed joint came out super clean and very strong; I could not break it apart.

The fishmouth trick was the key, thanks Chris.

Again thanks for the help and supply info.

[rcdude3]

Originally Posted by Rubbaneck

Is this the rod that should be used? http://hand-tools.hardwarestore.com/...ds-601234.aspx

I'm a newb too...

This is what i use and it works GREAT!!!
I also have the brenzomatic mapp and oxygen kit...the one that uses the yellow and red bottles together.

[chrisjlittle]

Originally Posted by Rubbaneck

Is this the rod that should be used? http://hand-tools.hardwarestore.com/...ds-601234.aspx

I'm a newb too...

I haven't used that stuff. I use Harris Safety-Silv 45 and Harris Stay Silv flux http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...5X-_-100672835

The harris website says safety-silv is made up of silver, copper and zinc, whereas the bernzomatic stuff is silver and nickel. Looks like the safety silv also has a lower melting point so it may be easier to work with.

Almighty Malach has one of those mapp/oxy torches; it burns through oxy really fast and the regulators are really finicky so it flames out at all the time. I've found straight mapp works fine for me as long as I use a mapp gas torch. Propane tips are somehow different and don't work very well.

[rcdude3]

Originally Posted by chrisjlittle

Almighty Malach has one of those mapp/oxy torches; it burns through oxy really fast and the regulators are really finicky so it flames out at all the time. I've found straight mapp works fine for me as long as I use a mapp gas torch. Propane tips are somehow different and don't work very well.

I does, but once ya get used to it it lasts for a while. It only flames out when you turn on the oxy fast , but other than that its fine and does the job way faster.

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by Rubbaneck

Is this the rod that should be used? http://hand-tools.hardwarestore.com/...ds-601234.aspx

I'm a newb too...

I have used that stuff and it sucks. It has to get way hotter then the safety silv to flow. with a mapp oxy set up you can get the flame hot enough, but in my eyes it is over kill, The safety silv 56 is a little more expensive but really easy to work with.

Originally Posted by rcdude3

This is what i use and it works GREAT!!!
I also have the brenzomatic mapp and oxygen kit...the one that uses the yellow and red bottles together.

I just use the yellow mapp bottles and safety silv and solid rod from home depot, the rod bends better and tigher, plus it is way easier to work with then brake line. Plus its a lot cheaper.

[neoakaj]

Originally Posted by bmx_ican92

im poor haha i use coat hangers and powder flux!

That flux wasnt cheap dude.

[Rubbaneck]

Originally Posted by TURTLE

I have used that stuff and it sucks. It has to get way hotter then the safety silv to flow. with a mapp oxy set up you can get the flame hot enough, but in my eyes it is over kill, The safety silv 56 is a little more expensive but really easy to work with.



I just use the yellow mapp bottles and safety silv and solid rod from home depot, the rod bends better and tigher, plus it is way easier to work with then brake line. Plus its a lot cheaper.

Sweet, thanks guys.

What's a decent price for Silver 56 or 45. I've found some 45 @ 5-troy oz. for around $90. Is this a lot of silver? Should I look for a smaller oz?

Saw the Depot 56 stuff for $35 with the flux but didnt know how much Silver was with it.

[TURTLE]

I always got 4 3' (might have been a little shorter) sticks at airgas for 25.00.
A little bit goes along way though.
Never bought it on a spool...

[chrisjlittle]

Last time I checked 45 was about 20 bucks per T.O. so 90 for a 5 TO spool isn't too bad. And 5 TO is a lot of braze, you probably don't need that much.

[CRF450R]

I use a Mapp torch and Benzomatic bronze flux coated brazing rod.
You can pic it up at Home Depot. It requires a little more heating of the joint. But more heat= better penetration.

I also like working with solid rod and not brakeline.