Brazing Small Tabletop Sculptures

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Brazing RG45 Rods, 3/32nd to Copper. I cleaned all of the parts. Using O/A. Some brazes are good, others are falling apart. Need suggestions. Anyone have any ideas?
Reply:I don't know anything about it but pictures will help others help you.GravelThe difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference.
Reply:Hey flyfishbill, what flux are you using?Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:rg45?  They usually give me welding rods when I ask for rg45.  For brazing rod I just ask for flux or non flux coated brazing rods and diameter.  ....unless silver brazing.  Are you sure you got brazing rods.  Copper coated welding rods look similar to bare bronze,  though you would notice the difference if they were side by side.Oh...sorry ...  Carry on..Last edited by tapwelder; 12-13-2014 at 08:05 PM.
Reply:I think it's a wire sculpture he's making using the steel rods and some copper, and he's brazing the joints. The description isn't very clear and is a bit confusing..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I think he's confusing brazing with welding. RG45 is acetylene welding rod where you have to melt the base metal to make it work. Pretty much requires a oxygen acetylene torch to make work right.  Brazing is done with low fuming bronze/brass and needs flux to work. You just heat the metal to red heat and the brass will flow onto the steel like solder.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:I use 3/32 flux brazing rod I will see if I can get some pictures up of some things I made let me know what you think just getting in to it that is brazing . Thank for your feed back I live in nj
Reply:Ok. Now that we're on the same page we can start to some suggestions.   First thing that comes to mind is the cleaning of the piece. If it's not really clean then the brass won't flow and stick to it. Scale, paint, grease, rust, etc. will prevent proper flow of the brass. If it's right the brass will flow out on the hot parts of the metal like soapy water. If it's not clean then it will just sit on top and ball up.   Next is temperature. It must be the right temperature. If you just melt the rod onto the steel then you've not done anything. You must heat the metal to the right temperature and then you'll see the brass flow.   Those are the most important steps. If you get those right then most of the time it will work. There's a few other tricks and nuances but maybe you'll get some insight from the above.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:+1 on the cleaning.Degrease the pieces with 91 to 99% Isopropyl Alcohol (available at your local pharmacy.  The normal 70% is pretty much useless, get the concentrated version).  Then, use a clean, stainless steel brush to get to bright metal.Flux is king, when brazing.  If you are using the regular, low fuming, flux-covered rod, they seem to need more heat to work well than other brazing fillers.  But, basicall, you heat it just until the flux flows, then the metal should flow very soon after that.Also, you don't want a welding (neutral) flame.  You want a very loose, long flame.  Use a tip larger than what you might weld the material with, get your bushy flame to start with, then add just enough oxygen to get rid of the bushy flame.I didn't quite catch which metal you were using...but make sure your brazing filler and flux work with that material.Here are some sample pieces I soldered, brazed & welded with OA at Kent White's class last year...It boils down to CLEAN, the right filler & flux, CLEAN, the right amount of heat, & CLEAN.KevKevin / Machine_Punk from The Aerodrome Studio - Lincoln PowerMIG 210 MP - Meco N Midget w/custom welding station - Vintage Victor 100Current Projects: The Aerodrome Studio
Reply:I cannot get the picture to come up on my forum from my iPad Kevin I see you have a good picture there how did you do it could use some help thank
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Reply:here are the pictures. Anyone have any ideas. Thanks
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Reply:Interesting pieces you're making- great ideas.I would agree: clean, proper flux and temp to make it flow.DB
Reply:Whats up with thoes spark plugs,  LOL...., nice work.
Reply:Merry Christmas I see you like the golf bags and spark plugs people I made still need to lean a lot more about brazing I like to work on selling the things I make when I get better at it .