Brazing?

[MattC9]

I recently stumbled on a welding technique called brazing. I read up on it and it sound perfect for people who don't have the time, money, or resources to weld and it sounds just right for what were doing.

But does any one here have any experience with brazing? And if you do what have been your experiences with it?

[MrForbes]

Brazing what, with what?

I have tried just a little bit of aluminum brazing, it's interesting, challenging, and could be helpful for robotics, but TIG welding is really much more suitable. I'd rather use rivets or bolts than braze an aluminum frame together. (btw if you are not familiar with aluminum brazing rod, search for it on the internet and see how it works. It's neat stuff.)

Brazing steel is not very helpful for most robotics stuff, since MIG welding is so easy and fast and affordable.

Brazing seems to be most useful for doing certain specialized repairs, such as when restoring an old old car.

[sanddrag]

It has its applications, but I couldn't see an FRC robot being one of them. It's also a very slow and difficult process. FRC stuff is much more suited to TIG welding. If I didn't have access to a TIG welder, I'd rivet or bolt it over brazing it.

[Mike8519]

We braze some smaller parts on the robot when required, but never the frame.

[jamie_1930]

I don't think brazing would be strong enough for a frame, and I've always found brazing to be a messy ordeal. I would always prefer to MIG weld, but if you don't have that equipment I would think you might be able to try oxy acetylene weld.

I would think if you have the equipment to braze, I've always used an oxy acetylene torch, you should easily be able to oxy acetylene weld the frame. Although I've never oxy welded myself, I know it is doable with aluminum. At most I think you would just need a different tip for the torch.

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by jamie_1930

Although I've never oxy welded myself, I know it is doable with aluminum. At most I think you would just need a different tip for the torch.

There's more to it than that. You can braze aluminum with special rod using a MAPP torch. Torch welding aluminum (where you actually melt the base metal) requires a special flux, and significant skill.

[DonRotolo]

Welding is when you fuse parts together by melting them.
Brazing uses a different material to join parts. It is also known as "Hard Soldering", while the lead-tin based solder (like that used for electronics) is called "Soft solder". Brazing rods for steel are often made of brass.

Brazing is a lot stronger than soft solder, but far weaker than welding. Aluminum brazing is very challenging to do well, while steel is very easy for a beginner to master. Steel can be brazed with a MAPP or Acetlyene torch, but propane is not hot enough. In school we had a natural gas torch that added compressed air to make the flame very hot, and used that for brazing.

There are adhesives that exceed the strength of brazing in aluminum.