Brass Welding vs Brazing

[Richard.]

Tig brazing set up is the same as any other usage with a tig.
Torch to negative, argon gas, can be done in both DC with silicon bronze or AC with aluminium bronze. Don't get the part too hot the idea is not to melt the work piece but to melt the filler which is difficult because the melting points are very close.
My personal preference is with a pedal and a slightly longer arc length. Good extraction is key.

 

[Shox Dr]

I've found using a tungsten one size up, with a rounded end, or an old AC balled end
The arc is less focused

 

[Agroshield]

Welding is not my main subject so i tend to stick to Jody with welding tips and tricks as although a bit too American he appears to know his stuff.

Please don't let Mr Pig put you off the channel altogether. The other fellow (Bob, the ex-pipeliner) is very good.

As someone else said, FieldRes is excellent. Another one I've recently discovered is Brent Harkness (Brent with an 'n'). He is refreshingly understated.

 

[Rrunnach]

DC TIG, thoriated electrode negative, ground to a sharp point, same as if I were prepping to weld S/S. Yes, thin strips cut from parent sheet, pure argon used.

HTH.

 

[davidjohnperry]

I follow Fieldres via instagram, have for years. He has about 60 tickets from anything in Aluminium to Zirconium, duplex, inconel alloys different processes etc. The guy really knows his stuff and has spent a lot of money getting to the stage he is at. He recently tallied it up at over $50k in training and materials.

I've met the man he is truly a skilled young man and he has got some great welding machines

 

[ronan]

I've never been asked to weld brass, but have welded plenty of stainless, mild, cast iron, copper etc etc, but never brass. We were told at tech that you cannot weld brass, as if you strike an arc on it, the zinc in the brass turns to gas and leaves a horrible mess. The fumes aren't too good either.

Anytime i tried messing around with brass tigging, it was a mess.

 

[hotrodder]

Talking about the weldability of "Brass" is fairly meaningless without talking about specific alloys as there's soooooo many different flavours of the stuff

Something like CZ101 brass sheet is fine to weld or braze with oxy fuel or TIG as it's mostly copper with ~10% Zn
CZ108 (common for sheet and round tube) is pretty good to weld/braze/solder with oxy fuel but not so nice with TIG etc as there's a chunk more Zn in it (about 36%) to volatise but still a LOT nicer than some other brasses... go and buy some brass angle (or some round/hex/flat rod or bar) from pretty much anywhere and they'll almost certainly sell you either CZ121 or CZ130. Both are free machining flavours with even more zinc + some lead to further mess with weldability from both a practical and health POV

 

[Rrunnach]

I couldn't say what sheet matl spec was at that time, I know job was for fancy cladding for island units for Jenners, Edinburgh. I vividly recall it not too easy to weld, bubbles and spits, with lots of zinc paratroopers flying around. Final finish was paramount, I do not recall porosity issues? Manu'd shapes were complex, which made tig the way to go.

I suppose in a way, it is horses for courses, so many factors, to factor in.

 

[ronan]

with lots of zinc paratroopers flying around.

Aren't the fumes off burning zinc a health hazard ? I absolutely hate the smell of it i know that much.

p.s :

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/assets/US/EN/interactive/welding-safety/data/FACT-25.pdf

 

[Rrunnach]

All welding fume is a health hazard, some more so than others. Which is why I always hammer this fact home to my charges. When we have these discussions regarding fume hazards, it is surprising how not a lot has changed, in some instances.

 

[ronan]

All welding fume is a health hazard, some more so than others. Which is why I always hammer this fact home to my charges. When we have these discussions regarding fume hazards, it is surprising how not a lot has changed, in some instances.

I didn't recognise you with the new avatar. Yes i suppose you are correct, but i have found over the years, people welding, or attempting to weld pot metal, zinc or anything galvanised, is especially nasty.

 

[Rrunnach]

It is only nasty if one does not take appropriate safety measures, which of course, you will know this. Not saying it is easy to highlight this if employed by a company, all one can is make apprentices aware of the hazards. Incidentally, I have also spoke with employers over the many years regarding the subject of hazardous fume, some listen and, improve systems, many don't, which in this day and age, is sad.

 

[Tigman]

Ive had a few Brass jobs , yes the zinc does make a mess just like welding galv , but I had a bit of success with it , colour match not been an issue yet ! DC with sharp tip , if you do touch down you get a brass plated Tip

 

[hotrodder]

All welding fume is a health hazard, some more so than others. Which is why I always hammer this fact home to my charges. When we have these discussions regarding fume hazards, it is surprising how not a lot has changed, in some instances.

^^ This. Zinc / metal fume fever is one of the common ones that most people have heard of and it's more obvious what with all the white soot floating about. Hexavalent chromium from stainless... potentially way, way nastier but tends to get mentioned/worried about less, probably as there's no immediate symptoms like galv flu? Less fume with TIG as no metal is (supposed to be at least!) transferred across the arc, more of deal when MIG or stick welding stainless. Especially the later
Ozone is a byproduct of all leccy welding and is none to healthy, aluminium and especially MIG aluminium produce the most as it's related to UV from the arc

 

[Rrunnach]

Ozone from mig al/al welding is brutal. The toxic stench is very obvious.

 

[DAPPH]

Lads ,
Thanks for all the info wrt TIGGING brass ,
It looks like I will be making an elephants trunk suction pipe out of concertina aluminium extractor ducting & 110 mm waste pipe & using a 240 volt suction extractor fan for when I'm playing on my new work bench , once this recently dissected ( right arm ) biracial artery heals up in about five to seven weeks ) .

 

[Rrunnach]

Look at designing a welding bench that extracts from bottom of bench (slatted) fume are normally more heavy than air, which points to the obvious.

 

[DAPPH]

Thanks ,
I'm thinking more along the lines of laying the open suction end of the trunk on the bench close to the area being TIGGED , as my bench top is a nice 120 x 780 plate of cold rolled 10 mm MS .

 

[Richard.]

Look at designing a welding bench that extracts from bottom of bench (slatted) fume are normally more heavy than air, which points to the obvious.

Yes this is a much better way of extraction as its less likely to be extracted past your face and also less likely to start sucking your argon shield away.

 

[DennisCA]

I wouldn't believe that egotistical waste of skin if he claimed the sky is blue. I can't face watching the vid but unless he specifically mentions the alloy of "brass" he's working with it's even more meaningless than the utter nonsense usually leaving his cakehole... some brasses are weldable, others not so much and some are truely horrible

I think I stumbled onto that last night? Got some silicon bronze rods and wanted to try and join a brass bushing to a piece of steel but the brass just kept developing loads and loads of black smoke and got all charred and nothing would stick to it. I ground it and the steel clean before starting of course. Laying beads with it on low amps wasn't terribly difficult, though it turned out matte looking.