brazing motorbike petrol tank

[GraemeVW]

Brazing is a fantastic process , I have used it in the past on lots of things , you can reinforce thin steel work , bridge gaps and holes , and put things like less than perfect wings onto less than perfect cars with results that are every bit as good as welds in that application , braze tends to spread the load over a larger area which helps things along too , as your not actually melting the parent metal , if it goes wrong you can just melt it off and have another go , braze flows well too , with practice , plus it will skin and you can then go back and lay braze to braze and build up an area or bridge a gap , its a skill well worth developing , and if you have a heat source , either oxy acet or even oxy prop all you need is a few rods and a tin of flux and your off .
many many things use to be brazed together rather than welded , have a play and see how you go.

I've been considering it recently. The odd job that I could have brazed I've silver soldered instead.
I'll look into bottles at some point I'm sure. I have access to a friend's oxy acetylene so can always have a little play with that.

What is REALY like to play with is hardfacing with gas and satellite rods. Looks fun, and I have at least one job that could do with it.

 

[tom2207]

I've been considering it recently. The odd job that I could have brazed I've silver soldered instead.
I'll look into bottles at some point I'm sure. I have access to a friend's oxy acetylene so can always have a little play with that.

What is REALY like to play with is hardfacing with gas and satellite rods. Looks fun, and I have at least one job that could do with it.

just run them in in stick ,,, or tig it using drill bits as welding wire ,,,, depending on the job of course.

 

[GraemeVW]

just run them in in stick ,,, or tig it using drill bits as welding wire ,,,, depending on the job of course.

For hardfacing?

I have some cam followers that were satellite welded then ground and they have cracked all over. I'd like to 're do them at some point. Getting the rods seems easy, in fact I know someone who has some.
I'll try it one day.
I watched a great American 1950s instructional video on it and it looked like alot of fun!
Bit of a thread derail this though.

Edit, this was the video. Everyone should watch it. It's just nice to watch!

 

[Parm]

It looks like alot is rotten too. Doesn't look like an easy fix no matter what's tried.
I'd give myself 100% chance of cutting the rust out, 90% chance of eventually making the repair panels without an English wheel, then maybe 75-85% chance of welding it without distorting the hell out of it. It give myself a 30% chance of welding it with no pin holes and a 90% chance of being able to fix all the pinholes left.

I assume this is the kind of job where tig would be alot easier, but I haven't got one.

Still, I'm not doing it, luckily!

Based on what everyone sayas about rust. If thats what you can see on the face its likely to be worse underneath.

Anyway i wouldn't want several litres of flammable fuel between the crown jewels when the only thing holding it back is a blob of solder

 

[ronan]

Based on what everyone sayas about rust. If thats what you can see on the face its likely to be worse underneath.

Anyway i wouldn't want several litres of flammable fuel between the crown jewels when the only thing holding it back is a blob of solder

A lot of older petrol and oil tanks were made with soldered joints. Like the Norton below, you can see the soldered "Pie crust" at the bottom of the tank.

 

[Parm]

A lot of older petrol and oil tanks were made with soldered joints. Like the Norton below, you can see the soldered "Pie crust" at the bottom of the tank.

I didnt know that, but i dont really know anything about bikes

 

[mike os]

That’s going to be fun however you decided, for what it’s worth, I would look for a replacement first because that is not likely to end well unless you are a reasonably skilled sheet metal worker