Need recommendations on brazing basics...

Cadillac said:
Check those tanks you just got. They made be out of date and need recertifications to get filled.
Brazing you’ll need brazing rod,some flux, and a torch. Flux parts get red hot and let the filler rod flow. Make sure your parts are clean,get hi temp flux.
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If you're going to do carbide, black flux works better than white.
 
I own my tanks but when I take them in for refill, they just exchange them. I have asked what happens of I should move and was told that they would just give me a new set of tanks with paperwork. If you buy a set of tanks from someone, ask for the original sales documents or some other proof of ownership. Otherwise they may well be considered leased.
 
I occasionally use brazing (rarely), with supply house rod and silver solder. The supply house rod is called brass, but is actually an alloy of bronze. The flux is borax; it goes on as a powder, heats to a liquid and then turns solid again. That's when it's ready. Mixing in a small amount of water to make a paste cuts out the first stage.

Soldering (soft), silver soldering, and brazing (hard soldering) are basically the same. Get the metal hot enough to melt the "solder" when it's touched. Then flow it on. It is a skill, not a recipe so be prepared to redo things that come out "not quite right". The base metal should be hot, the solder just melts into blobs.

I use Propane and compressed air for the small stuff I do. I have O2 and Acet tanks but they are out of date (bad) so I am waiting to turn them around, "in the shadows".

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This is an interesting subject.
I had a set of O2/acetylene for 20 years, went to fill them and they swapped them out no problem. I know the shop owners. If I had moved? I'd have to start over.
I own all my new equipment. All 5 tanks. I bought the big ones! Same welding outfit I buy all my equipment from.
I have the receipt somewhere but if I ever move I may have a problem.
Interesting subject.
 
Janderso said:
This is an interesting subject.
I had a set of O2/acetylene for 20 years, went to fill them and they swapped them out no problem. I know the shop owners. If I had moved? I'd have to start over.
I own all my new equipment. All 5 tanks. I bought the big ones! Same welding outfit I buy all my equipment from.
I have the receipt somewhere but if I ever move I may have a problem.
Interesting subject.
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I have moved several times across Canada and have never had a problem with getting my tanks refilled.
Asked several about how they track rental vs owned and to a shop they have said that they track who has their rentals and assume that if you are not renting, you own the tanks.
 
I have a dozen or more "customer owned containers". They often go out of hydro in the time it takes to empty them. When you bring a COC back to the supplier, they will charge you for hydro (it's cheap enough) and swap you a full, clean tank for the cost of the gas. Tanks cost a hundred bucks or so if you don't own one or want another. It's not a prohibitive cost, especially compared to leasing. Another good trick for welding gas is to mix your own using a Smith's proportional mixer. You can get them for 75/25 Ar/CO2, variable mixes, and various tri-mixes. That way you can use straight argon for TIG and mix for MIG running only a pure argon and a small CO2 tank. As you can imagine, I don't worry about welding consumables when I'm on a project.

Back on brazing, I'd like to mention that the material matters. Good fluxed brazing rod from a supplier will kick the pants off of borax. Borax works, and has forever, but you really need to pack that stuff into your joints. Fluxed rod flows like solder in comparison to borax and bare rod. Dull red and it sucks the filler in.

Goggles- you can get a number of different types that fit over glasses. Shade #4 for torch work. I like to use a tinted full-face shield myself, since I wear glasses all the time. I like things that say "Jackson" on them much better than I like things that say "China" on them with a false ANSI stamp. Unlike welding hoods, goggles and screens are cheap cheap.
 
Thank you all for the responses. I apologize for not remembering I had posted this.
Life and the Holidays must have gotten in the way.
That or else 'sometimers' has set in. Place your bets on the latter.
 
Setting the torch properly is important too. I use a neutral flame for brazing usually. Also, Another basic is to open the
acetylene valve about a half turn or so and the oxygen valve all the way open to the stop.
 
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I saw a cheap acetylene tank, maybe 100 cf, at a garage sale. It was $5. The seller told me that it may or may not be possible to "recertify" it, since they go through another process than hydrotest. It was cheap enough to give it a try, but I passed and commended him for his honesty. Should I have picked it up? For the heat value, acetylene is way more expensive than propane.
 
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