Brazing here too?

[MeltedEVERYTHING]

Hey guys, found the help on here regarding welding hlemts very useful and really appreciated. Does this community include anyone taht does brazing (copper piping, but not specifically plumbing/fridge/aircon, morer for leisure pleasure project) or any other kind?

If so can you point me at good starting literature or somewhere I can get my head round it before i take it up.

Lot of books, but not much illustrated for idiots - sites? illustrated guides?

Any useful starting points anyone would recommend?

Thansk all

 

[bourbon]

Why do you need to braze copper pipe? soft solder is plenty strong enough

 

[Chubber]

Why do you need to braze copper pipe? soft solder is plenty strong enough

If you're in France for instance, or on a boat mains pressure is considerably higher and 'soudure dure' is 'de rigeur'.

 

[ChaiLatte]

This book is a good introduction:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soldering-Brazing-Workshop-Practice-Tubal/dp/0852428456

There is probably a dodgy pdf copy on the Internet Archive.

You can also use 'soldering' or 'brazing' as a search term on the above site to find many very old textbooks on the subject.

CuP Alloys have a 'help and advice' section of their website which is good.

There is a continuum of hot metal joining methods. It runs roughly soft soldering (electrical, plumbing, natural gas), silver soldering (AC, LPG) and brazing (bicycle frames).

Again, very roughly, soldering is done with lead/tin, silver soldering uses silver as an ingredient, and brazing would use brass/bronze.

As above, if anything is passing through the pipes you are joining that could do harm if it escapes, find out the correct joining method and use it.

 

[MeltedEVERYTHING]

Why do you need to braze copper pipe? soft solder is plenty strong enough

I thought that's how copper was joined.. .ike I said, I'm looking forr starting info. Never done it before.

 

[MeltedEVERYTHING]

ITs more for creative ideas, I have some dark wood and I want to build copper pipe famework to make a set of shelves... steam punk metalwork style minus the wanky goggles and Black velvet miserable goth rubbish... just lloking for info as to strength rerquirements materials to work with, process and equipment needed to build something stable, strong enough to support shelves with but less ugly than polished steel which I can alerady do...

 

[Agent_zed]

Normal soldering will be plenty strong enough. There is a bit of a trick to it. A lot of it comes down to cleaning the surfaces to start with. I normally use wirewool and clean the end of the pipe and the inside of the fitting. For plumbing applications you have to be really careful to ensure you don't leave wire strands as they can get into the solder and rust out eventually causing a leak.

Once it's clean apply flux. Put the two pieces together and heat with a blowtorch. The flux will heat up and start burning off. If you touch the end of the solder to the joint and it starts to melt then it's hot enough. touch the solder in a few places to apply enough to fill the joint then remove the heat and it will be drawn into the joint. This trick is learning how much to apply to get a good solid joint without big drops of solder hanging off the joint.

I'm never quite sure if this is recommended but I get a damp cloth and clean the joint whilst hot. You don't really want to leave unburnt flux on there as it will corrode the copper.

I'm no expert so others might be able to correct my method, but this works for me and my water pipes haven't burst in 10 years so far.

also to note that plumbing solder is lead free. You won't want the electronics solder with flux core either.
I'd also have a fan to draw away fumes from the flux, its not great stuff to breathe in.

I was pretty shocked how much plumbing solder is these days. Last time I bought a roll it was less than £10, a couple of weeks back it cost me £23!

 

[ChaiLatte]

It's more for creative ideas, I have some dark wood and I want to build copper pipe famework to make a set of shelves...

Soft solder would be more than good enough for that. Success or failure will come more from the joint design than the method of gluing it together. Solder will not work in a butt joint. A lap joint (one pipe slipped inside the other) is strong. Solder does not fill gaps well, so fit up of the joint is important. Solder does not like dirt, so hospital clean is where you should aspire.

From a looks point of view, one of these might produce nice looking joints - most standard endfeed plumbing fittings have some stamped writing on them which might detract from the finish:

https://www.plumbers-mate-sales.co....-former-tool-15mm--22mm---65002483-6210-p.asp

Cleanfit (mesh abrasive) is a better 21st century alternative to wire wool. A stainless bottle brush in a cordless drill is a lazy way to do the inside. Leaded solder is not allowed in plumbing fittings, that is the only reason why lead free is used. Leaded solder (60/40) flows much better than the lead free stuff, melts at a lower temperature, and will be easier for you to use (so long as children are not going to lick the finished product). LaCo flux is very good, but you need to wash the item afterwards or in a week it will go green. If the flux burns off, you are too hot. The solder enters the joint by capillary action, and is drawn by the heat so try to heat the 'bottom' of the joint and apply the solder to the 'top'.

It is said that applying correction fluid (tippex) to parts of the item will stop any excess solder you have splashing around from sticking. A neat ring just on the joint, not a solder Niagra Falls, might be important on a sculptural piece.