Silicon bronze, is this normal?

admin

Having managed to find some silicon bronze rods in the local market I spent a couple of hours experimenting with it.My problem is the "weld" looks too dirty but having never used (or seen someone else using it) this thing I do not know if this is normal.I tried both AC and DC- and prefer DC-.Here are some beads on some scrap plate before cleaning themWelding by Taz00, on Flickrand here after brushing themWelding by Taz00, on FlickrDoes this look normal?
Reply:no tig expert by any means but the top welds look like they need more gas coverage and the bottom one's while better look on the cold side.i.u.o.e. # 15queens, ny and sunny fla
Reply:They are the same welds, the top are before wire brushing.As far as the fact they look cold, silicon bronze is tig brazing and not welding.Gas was 8-10lpm (17-21cfh) with a No8 cup, which would be the flow I would use with steel.I do not know if silicon bronze requires more or less though.I could see the dirt floating in the weld puddle so I do not think it was insufficient gas coverage
Reply:Pretty much normal in my experience with silicone bronze.
Reply:Originally Posted by taz00They are the same welds, the top are before wire brushing.As far as the fact they look cold, silicon bronze is tig brazing and not welding.Gas was 8-10lpm (17-21cfh) with a No8 cup, which would be the flow I would use with steel.I do not know if silicon bronze requires more or less though.I could see the dirt floating in the weld puddle so I do not think it was insufficient gas coverage
Reply:Please do not take my answer the wrong way. I did not mean to imply you did not know about sil/br.I was using 100A and was going slow enough, any slower (or higher amps) I would be melting the base metal.Your welds look cleaner than mine, what was your gas flow?
Reply:Mine have looked the same;  you can get slightly better looking beads if you scotchbrite the rods before hand and give them a quick wipedown 1st on WeldingWeb to have a scrolling sig! HTP Invertig 400HTP Invertig 221HTP ProPulse 300HTP ProPulse 200 x2HTP ProPulse 220MTSHTP Inverarc 200TLP HTP Microcut 875SC
Reply:Originally Posted by taz00Please do not take my answer the wrong way. I did not mean to imply you did not know about sil/br.I was using 100A and was going slow enough, any slower (or higher amps) I would be melting the base metal.Your welds look cleaner than mine, what was your gas flow?
Reply:I don't think you actually want to puddle the metal
Reply:Originally Posted by motolife313I don't think you actually want to puddle the metal
Reply:Nice Mike.I also found out you can melt both metals without any apparent cracking at least but I would have to hit my books to check for any unwanted phases etc and it is getting late here.Could you tell me if the first pic is as is or after brushing?
Reply:Originally Posted by weldermikeIt all depends moto. If you are joining disimilar metals that can be welded you can puddle both base metals and start welding. But if you are joining disimalar metals that cannot be welded together then they have to be brazed. Im only talking about si bronze for the thread, so no gutteral kick punching flashlight beating attacks from you guys  . Melt base and add filler=weld, melt filler only on the base metal=braze. I felt like messing around and chiming in so i just did these for a quick example. First pic si bronze braze, second pic si bronze weld. Tig, but im sure we are all on topic with that.You can see the noticeable differance in bead profile and color. Hope i explained it well.
Reply:Originally Posted by taz00Nice Mike.I also found out you can melt both metals without any apparent cracking at least but I would have to hit my books to check for any unwanted phases etc and it is getting late here.Could you tell me if the first pic is as is or after brushing?
Reply:Thanks mate.I started this thread after seeing this thinking it was Tig brazed.Now I have found this on youtube and it seems the were oxy-acet brazed.The dude's goooooooooooood!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply:Can you tig braze steel to aluminum?
Reply:Originally Posted by motolife313Can you tig braze steel to aluminum?
Reply:Originally Posted by motolife313Can you tig braze steel to aluminum?
Reply:You can't weld aluminum alloys and copper alloys together because they form brittle intermediate alloys, meaning it will always crack.JohnA few weldersA lot of hammersA whole lot of C-clamps
Reply:If you are messing around with Si-bronze you should try welding with it on AC. It takes a lot of practice to make it look good but comes out nice and clean compared to DCMiller Dynasty 200Millermatic 211Instagram?.... find me @ WELD_MEDIC
Reply:Jody has come out with a video on silicon bronze.His welds at the start of the video look really shiny compared to mine so I will bust out the big cup and up the gas flow and see if it helps.
Reply:@ DocwelderI stand corrected, your comment on gas coverage was spot on.One small piece of dirt managed to find its way on the outlet of my regulator limiting gas flow, when I checked with my portable flowmeter it was showing 5lpm when the gauge was reading 15lpm.So I busted out my monster nozzle and set gas flow at an actual 20lpm and here are the results. The beads are as welded without any cleaning or brushing.Welding by Taz00, on FlickrWelding by Taz00, on Flickrthen just for fun I tried capping a 2" pipe in the 6G position with this stuff It did not go well Welding by Taz00, on FlickrWelding by Taz00, on Flickr