RichardF

I could not find a category where my question really fit, but this seemed like the closest fit. I would be happy to repost this anywhere else that folks think fits better. I have built a Frosty type burner from plumbing parts, a 1.25 by 1.25 by 3/4" Tee, a nipple, and an coupling. It would not stay lit, at almost any pressure. I tried to contact Frosty directly here and on Facebook, but no response after several days. One of the photos is of a set of three burners that I bought off Amazon. One of them did not work well, so they replaced it. These seem to work OK, unless I crank up the pressure too high. My goal is to build a brazing furnace, so I can braze the top of my copper cowboy hat to the brim. Shrinkage has been a huge problem, but thinking that using a furnace would produce uniform heating. One of the photos show the set of three burners I bought on Amazon. One of them did not work well, so he replaced it. They seem to work OK, but blow out of the pressure is too high. Drag files here to attach, or choose files... Other Media UPLOADED IMAGES image.jpeg 91 kb · Done Insert ×

Thanks to all for your comments.

Frosty: We do know each other from Art Metal. I do not think we have met face to face. I am in Colorado. I mostly TIG weld, but I go kind of slowly.

I am looking for advice here in terms of building a moderately sized brazing furnace. Background: I have working on and off for years to make a copper cowboy hat. This problem has proven to be very challenging. I had hoped to weld the brim on, but shrinkage became a big problem, so I gave up on that approach. In order to braze, I ended up building a three sided furnace with a propane torch to preheat, and using an oxy-actetylene to weld. But brazing had shrinkage problems also I decided to try what I thought would be a simpler project, which was to make a steel top hat by tin-lead soldering the pieces together. with an acetylene-air torch. That turned out to be difficult as well, due to the pieces shifting when they were heated. (See the photo of a top hat, approximately 14 inches by 12 inches by 5 inches.) I decided to make a kind of scale model, and see if I can solve the problem at a smaller scale. I think now that I may have solved the problem by using an oven. The oven produces fairly uniform heat, and I am able to clamp the pieces together. See the photo. I was able to use the kitchen oven for soldering. But my goal is to braze a copper cowboy hat, and I want the color match of silicon bronze, not a silver line of tin at the join. What I am thinking that I need to do is to build a medium sized brazing furnace, propane fueled. Furnace brazing is a standard industrial process. The inside of the furnace would need to be at least 16 inches by 14 inches by 8 inches tall, for a volume of about 1800 cubic inches, or around 1 cubic feet. I would probably build it from the usual white soft insulating fire bricks. So I have some questions. What burners should I use? How many? I made my own burners for my blacksmithing forge, but was disappointed that I could not get it close to welding heat. On the other hand, I do not need welding heat, maybe just build two or three Reil type burners. Or just buy a few burners off of Amazon or wherever. Who makes good burners? What should I do for the roof of the furnace? I could simply use a large plate/sheet of steel, and then put fire bricks on top of it. This would have the advantage that I could easily take it apart, and perhaps reconfigure it at a future date. For a more permanent solution, I could weld wire mesh to a large plate/sheet, and then glue the fire bricks to it. What could I use to bond the bricks to a sheet of metal? Given my situation, a furnace that can be reconfigured for each project is probably the way to go. The clamping arrangement shown in the photo uses 1 inch square tubing, 16 ga wall thickness. This will probably be inadequate at brazing temperatures; Perhaps use 1” by 1/2 inch bar. Richard Ferguson