# Seeking Advice For Welding/brazing



## karim (May 15, 2016)

So, I'm finding myself needing to do some non-mechanical joining of metal parts for a current project. I've done some welding many years ago in school (Industrial Design), but this is strictly hobby-related, and I need to be able to achieve my ends in my home shop, which is pretty standard residential (wired for 110V).

I normally work with aluminum/brass, but my mini machines (Sherline) can run mild steel just fine, and for this particular project, I can select materials and design the joint interface based on what would be easiest to join. 

My questions: 

Should I be looking into welding gear? Can the HF-level welding setups run on 110V? If so, any particular machines would you folks would recommend I look into?
Would brazing be a better fit for my setup? Can one braze brass/aluminum/steel with a MAPP hand-torch? (I've never done brazing, but I know the basic principals, and have plenty experience with electrical soldering)
Thanks much for any advice or recommendations for where to look for more info.


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## coffmajt (May 15, 2016)

karim said:


> So, I'm finding myself needing to do some non-mechanical joining of metal parts for a current project. I've done some welding many years ago in school (Industrial Design), but this is strictly hobby-related, and I need to be able to achieve my ends in my home shop, which is pretty standard residential (wired for 110V).
> 
> I normally work with aluminum/brass, but my mini machines (Sherline) can run mild steel just fine, and for this particular project, I can select materials and design the joint interface based on what would be easiest to join.
> 
> ...


For steel as long as you stay somewhere close to 1/8 in thick materials then MIG is a great choice and will work on 110 volt service.  While I have done some alumimum MIG with my small machine (Lincoln 135) I find my larger MIG is much better.  I use my OX- ACTylene torch to do both brazing and silver soldering = joining steel with brass or bronze material as well as steel to steel.  While MAPP gas will heat very small, thin parts hot enough to braze or silver solder, it is limited.  Good luck with your ventures == Jack


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## Andre (May 15, 2016)

Aluminum cannot be soldered or brazed, however there are some special aluminum rods you can buy and "braze" aluminum together with. Matthias Wandel did a strength test on aluminum brazed joints and he found them fairly weak, however for small things it will probably work in some cases.


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## David VanNorman (May 15, 2016)

Look up Kent White He is the One to ask about torch welding Aluminum . You can learn from him.


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## karim (May 16, 2016)

Thanks everyone for prompt advice. Have any of you guys had any experience with the "Low Temperature Aluminum Welding Rods" sold at HF? Are they viable, or junk?


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## iron man (Jul 5, 2016)

I use to solder and braze aluminum together Harris made a solder for the air-conditioning world to solder aluminum to aluminum or aluminum to copper. If you kept things clean and follow the directions very close a suitable bond could be achieved.   Before our shop had a suitable machine for Aluminum we use to weld aluminum with a DC TIG on reversed polarity with argon. Helium works better but is very expensive, you must use a large tungsten and it worked good for thin aluminum the Harbor Freight TIG would work and with some practice you can make a nice bead it is not the perfect solution but it can be done. I think Miller still has a video on how to do it if you Google it.


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## karim (Jul 5, 2016)

Thanks.

I wound up trying the HF low-temp aluminum welding rods... they did what I needed to do. I'm sure they suck in comparison to more professional options, but they did what I needed.


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## iron man (Jul 5, 2016)

I am glad that worked for you, nothing is impossible the impossible just takes a little longer. Ray


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