Or to look on the bright side, I discovered another way to NOT do it!

Scenario: Brass trigger guard for an 1860 Army replica revolver that I want to modify and install on my Ruger Blackhawk. The front mounting screw is in a slightly different position so I was trying to braze the old hole closed so I can clean it up and make a new one.

Using a MAP torch I managed to get the brass filler rod to melt and drop a nice glob without any problems, but the surrounding material never puddled nicely to the point that I could get my filler to merge. It melted alright, but never took on that shiny puddled look that molten metal has. Kind of difficult to describe the effect, but it just kinda got pitted and sagged there look all burned.

Do I need to flux even though they are similar metals? Any other tips? Anyone out there take on small jobs like this? (PM me with a quote if you do…)

P.S. What is a good backing material? I don’t want to attach the part to whatever I’m using. I C-clamped it to a chunk of quartz countertop I had, (thinking it mostly rock…) but discovered soon enough that whatever resin they use to bind the quartz chunks together is flammable!

Makes me wonder what the trigger guard is really made of or what the alloy they used.

That's a good point, I wondered too.

I don't braze but you might need more heat, or a different flux.

I'd use a flux with this. I've needed flux for the copper work I've done and brass is mostly copper.

Also, what little brazing I've done was done on a steel welding table. I would try and set this up on a piece of sheet metal or a steel plate over an old counter top.

I believe you need a flux. My jeweler friend recommends boric acid and water. You can obtain boric acid in the form of "Roach Powder" at your local farm or home center. Add acid slowly to an ounce of distilled water until it won't dissolve any more(a saturated solution). Paint the parts with a brush, let dry then heat and solder.

Of course you need flux; I missed that question. Metal oxidizes fast when heated and won't allow it to bond to itself.

I have brazed so much steel over the years, that I probably look like I have Wilsons disease. But brazing brass? I have attempted that and failed so many times that I have just given up. I used the commercial, prefluxed rods and acetylene but like a blind archer I just can't seem to hit the target. The work piece always ended up looking like a crazy, globulated blob with a hideous cancer on the top. I know people do it. And I have seen gears come back from the welding shop with the teeth built back up with a TIG torch, ready for re-machining. But I think brazing brass is one of those old boys club thingys. Like running a Cuttermaster grinder. You need to find someone that's adept at, it standing over you and swatting you on the back of the head to learn it.

Well, that was absofuckinglutely no help at all. But that's my .02¢ anyway.

That trigger quard is probably not brass. Might be pot metal plated. I have welded brass before you probably burned it with too much oxygen.

How did it get to be 10 November in Edmonton, it is the ninth here in Alaska?

quote:

Originally posted by Jon Leary:
That trigger quard is probably not brass. Might be pot metal plated. I have welded brass before you probably burned it with too much oxygen.

How did it get to be 10 November in Edmonton, it is the ninth here in Alaska?

I dunno Jon. I read it as Nov 9, 1:53 PM here in Edmonton. How do you read it as 10 in Alaska? Are you in some kind of funky Russian time zone? Maybe Putin and Trump got into the vodka and changed em. So whats it like, now that you Mercans have a President of the Russian Federation in your back pocket? Thinking of delving into that world domination thingy maybe? he he he




jon leary by Rod Henrickson, on Flickr

This is what I got. Wierd

quote:

speerchucker30x378one of us posted 10 November 2016 00:53Hide PostI have brazed so much steel over the years, that I probably look like I have Wilsons disease. But brazing brass? I have attempted that and failed so many times that I have just given up. I used the commercial, prefluxed rods and acetylene but like a blind archer I just can't seem to hit the target. The work piece always ended up looking like a crazy, globulated blob with a hideous cancer on the top. I know people do it. And I have seen gears come back from the welding shop with the teeth built back up with a TIG torch, ready for re-machining. But I think brazing brass is one of those old boys club thingys. Like running a Cuttermaster grinder. You need to find someone that's adept at, it standing over you and swatting you on the back of the head to learn it.Well, that was absofuckinglutely no help at all. But that's my .02¢ anyway. I'm so old that I can remember when the person behind the computer had an education and knew what they were talking about !Rod Henrickson

That damned Trump is already changing time zones on us! LOL

It's obviously a software glitch. The software probably looks at our ISPs and makes adjustments for the time and date to our location. The fool thing probably thinks Canada is a suburb of Australia or something foolish like that. Rest assured is still the 9th of November here for another 7 hours. No mater what the putor says.

Or maybe you are in some sort of weird, time dilation field and it actually is the tenth here to you! That would mean that there are actually two of me responding to your post. We can just wait and see what the other me has to say and go from there. he he

I think the date stamp issue is a function of the location of the host server. It always jumps ahead early. It's not related to the local date or time of the poster.
(note time shown on the 24 hour clock... I think it is Saaed time, and I think he is in Dubai?)

P.S. Thanks for the responses. It does not appear to be pot metal, and I will try fluxing... Still open to farming this out if there are any takers!

If it's made in China you never know what it is !
Boric acid can be found in drug stores.