Advice on brass

admin

Does anyone have some advice on working with brass?I'm taking TIG this semester but I'll only be starting on mild steel. I've got a project from a friend of mine, and it'll be made by joining 2" sections of 1" dia. x 1/32" thinwall round tube to a 1/8" x 1 1/4" x 24" strip after it's bent in the slip roll. The project is meant to be a crown; the tube is what I'm using to fabricate candle holders and yes you read that last part right. (I never said I was going to wear the thing.)I'm unsure of whether to try to TIG the tube to the strip, or braze it w/ oxy, or just rivet them. If anyone has any advice working with the stuff, I'd appreciate it; I've never worked brass before.
Reply:If its is red brass then you will have to braze, solder or rivet. I use prosphorous bronze to weld admiraltybrass, muntz metal or high brass because it quiets the puddle and reduces the zinc fumes unless I need a color match. If you need a color match then generally an uncoated RBCuZn will work fine. In my opinion, brass exhibits extreme hot shortness. DCEN will works fine, a hand or foot amperage control allows makes life a lot easier.
Reply:what is hot shortness?sounbds like a quick freeze efffect?
Reply:Hot shortness refers to the fact that the metal gets very brittle at high temperatures. Brass is primarily aa alloy of copper and zinc. The zinc which enhanses the copper tensile strength at room temperature will begin to come out of solution before the melting temperature of the brass alloy is reached and because of the high amount of copper the heat is dispersing through the brass quite rapidly I have had brass "cave in" just as I was about ready to start welding. This is why I recommended that a foot on hand amperage control be used.
Reply:Hm, my instructor is telling me that a fusion joint will be a better idea. You see, there's been a slight change in design; the holders will be hexagonal instead of round. I'll be cutting pieces of sheet and bending them to do that, and that's where the fusion weld comes in. Since a 120 deg. corner is still a corner, and this is only 1/32" yellow brass, I've guessed that it shouldn't be a problem. (this isn't a part that's meant to take a lot of abuse.)