Does Anyone Braze Anymore ??

[Langanobob]

Never brazed for pay but one of my hobbies is restoring/repairing old machinery. I braze cast iron pretty often with pretty good results. Next on my list is to try TIG brazing. Got some I think it is aluminum bronze rod and looking forward to experimenting with it.

 

[rScotty]

Came across this post while researching brazing....my daily-wear belt buckle is very similar to the one shown but all yellow brass and a bit less detail....bought back in about 1975 in Boulder in or near the Pearl St. Mall at a place called ChuckleBuckle Fantacy....or similar...been on more than 6 to 8 belts in that time....still get lots of comments on it.....wonder if perhaps one of your early pieces?? I left the Rockies after about 40 years and after a bit of wondering now live in Australia.....Tasmania to be exact. Cheers, Rip

Rip, that's amazing. I bet it's one I made back then. Artistic brazing and welding has been a hobby of mine for a long time now. I'll send a PM.
rScotty

 

[Fallon]

Speaking of TIG brazing, can anybody comment on silver soldering with TIG? I need to connect some copper to steel.

I have some rebar I've welded up to reinforce the foundation & anchors that will eventually be buried in concrete for a HAM radio tower. I need to attach some copper to that rebar for grounding. I have the TIG welder, but no acetylene anything. You need to use high temp silver solder or such as normal solder can melt on you in a lightning strike.

I'm trying to figure out if I can get the job done with my TIG welder or need to beg, borrow or buy some acetylene rig. I've got some appropriate silver solder & flux. I assume I'd need to use at least a bit of argon to keep the tungsten clean. Not sure if the flux would help or hurt.

I've cleaned up the rebar well where things will connect up. Haven't done any testing yet on scraps & looking for advice before I get to that step.

 

[Langanobob]

Connecting a copper ground wire to rebar is a common grounding method called a Ufer Ground. All of the Ufer grounds I’ve seen have used grounding clamps to connect the copper wire to the steel. Never seen one brazed on and don’t see the need for it but then if I knew everything...

 

[radios1]

Speaking of TIG brazing, can anybody comment on silver soldering with TIG? I need to connect some copper to steel.

I have some rebar I've welded up to reinforce the foundation & anchors that will eventually be buried in concrete for a HAM radio tower. I need to attach some copper to that rebar for grounding. I have the TIG welder, but no acetylene anything. You need to use high temp silver solder or such as normal solder can melt on you in a lightning strike.

I'm trying to figure out if I can get the job done with my TIG welder or need to beg, borrow or buy some acetylene rig. I've got some appropriate silver solder & flux. I assume I'd need to use at least a bit of argon to keep the tungsten clean. Not sure if the flux would help or hurt.

I've cleaned up the rebar well where things will connect up. Haven't done any testing yet on scraps & looking for advice before I get to that step.

here's some info on that. What are the NEC Requirements for Grounding and Bonding Rebar? - E&S Grounding

 

[Scrambler82]

I have Brazed some projects but remember compared toweling it is like gluing something together.
Depending on the duty level required it works.

I WAS proficient in Brazing and have always wanted to learn TIG... just need the machine to try it out !

The TIG would replace most any Brazing !

 

[rScotty]

Speaking of TIG brazing, can anybody comment on silver soldering with TIG? I need to connect some copper to steel.

I have some rebar I've welded up to reinforce the foundation & anchors that will eventually be buried in concrete for a HAM radio tower. I need to attach some copper to that rebar for grounding. I have the TIG welder, but no acetylene anything. You need to use high temp silver solder or such as normal solder can melt on you in a lightning strike.

I'm trying to figure out if I can get the job done with my TIG welder or need to beg, borrow or buy some acetylene rig. I've got some appropriate silver solder & flux. I assume I'd need to use at least a bit of argon to keep the tungsten clean. Not sure if the flux would help or hurt.

I've cleaned up the rebar well where things will connect up. Haven't done any testing yet on scraps & looking for advice before I get to that step.

I think I'd use a normal grounding clamp .... of the screw clamp type that is commonly used to connect copper ground wire to the grounding rods for household current. Home Depot...I think that would stand a better chance of surviving long enough to pass the high current in a lightning strike. Corrosion and conductivity reduction probably don't mean much to a bolt of lightning that has just jumped a mile through atmosphere.

However, if you prefer to use TIG it won't be a problem. Copper welds to steel fairly well. No solder needed. You may find that using an intermediate bronze or copper rod in your other hand will help the weld. Use the heat of TIG arc just as you would use an acetylene torch, NOT letting the flame or arc ever touch the area you are welding until the weld is done and it is time to add a little heat to the surface to smooth things up.

I've not done large silver solder (silver brazing) joints like you propose, but have silver soldered copper to steel. It's a natural easy joint. If I was dead set on using silver bearing solder like you are suggesting, then I'd clean and prep the joint, coat it with flux and wind the joint with some of the silver soldering wire. Then strike an arc an inch away from the joint and let the heat flow to the joint. That way you get clean heat to do the work. Oh, and have a piece of silver solder in your other hand to stir the joint as the metals begin to flow.

Naturally it makes sense to practice first.
good luck,
rScotty - ex K5EZK

 

[Fallon]

It is in fact for a Ufer ground. I've got a pile of books on towers & general HAM radio related grounding, but they have been a little light on some of the details. In theory you are suppose to be able to dig up & inspect clamped grounds. The only option not requiring periodic inspections is exothermic welding (thermite) from what I've been able to determine. I've got a few 1 shot thermite kits for the ground rods, but they wouldn't have worked for the rebar for the tower base or guy anchors. Clamps would be considerably more convenient, but I've been under the impression it wouldn't be correct for this situation. Sounds like I should probably just try welding it first off on some test pieces & see how that goes. For some reason I was assuming I couldn't weld copper to steel, but I suppose that's otherwise given those thermite kits do it as well now that I think of it.

As far as the jumping across a mile of sky bit... Ya, but you want all that energy to go straight into the ground as directly as possible. Increased resistance from bad joints & what not means it's much more likely to find that easier path to ground through your house & electrical system than the grounds attached to the tower.

 

[mwayne]

Speaking of TIG brazing, can anybody comment on silver soldering with TIG? I need to connect some copper to steel.

I have some rebar I've welded up to reinforce the foundation & anchors that will eventually be buried in concrete for a HAM radio tower. I need to attach some copper to that rebar for grounding. I have the TIG welder, but no acetylene anything. You need to use high temp silver solder or such as normal solder can melt on you in a lightning strike.

I'm trying to figure out if I can get the job done with my TIG welder or need to beg, borrow or buy some acetylene rig. I've got some appropriate silver solder & flux. I assume I'd need to use at least a bit of argon to keep the tungsten clean. Not sure if the flux would help or hurt.

I've cleaned up the rebar well where things will connect up. Haven't done any testing yet on scraps & looking for advice before I get to that step.

For radio towers we always try to use exothermic welding:
nVent ERICO Cadweld Exothermic Connections
We have a couple of guys that have all the molds etc. What you could do is bring your ground rod, copper wire and a carbon steel coupon to an electrical contractor and have him make the exothermic welds in his shop. Then you can weld the coupon to the rebar onsite.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

NFPA 750 is your bible for lightning protection systems. NEC is not applicable.

Ron