Brass

[Hillbillysmith]

Ever use brass? I don't think brass is weldable b/c of the zinc content; it wants to blow away from the joint (I think). I haven't tried this personally, but want to. I had the idea of inlaying brass in the twisted grooves of a RR spike knife handle. I don't want to bras it b/c of the excessive heat being put onto the knife. I want to TIG weld it, but will it work? Anyone ever done this?

[petersenj20]

Brazing is exactly what you need. Burn a couple of rods in the grooves. You can use a brazing rod with a tig. We used one once on a LARGE babbitt bearing that was cracked.

[irnsrgn]

Tom Stovall does it all the time with TIG, that's how he puts his sign work together, no spatter and poor fit up is ok. He uses silicon bronze I think, I personally have repaired a couple of Brass Bells from Locomotives for RR buffs with silicon bronze and tig, nice color match too.

[irnsrgn]

Brass can be brazed with ordinary bronze rods and an oxy/acet torch. The trick is to heat the brass till what looks like small persperation beads start to form and run on the surface, this is the time to apply the brazing rod using the white fluxed rods or the white oxweld brazing flux in a can.

[Travis Covington]

Borax works realy well.
Travis

[Thomas Dean]

Silicon bronze can be welded with TIG but not the brass, at least not very good. As Irnsrgn said it give a nice color.

[John B]

Many years ago I had to make a curved braas tube handrail for a church, this presented a few problems which as they were solved created more problems. However relevant to this thread, during the process of putting the curve in the tube, as it work hardened, it fractured.
I made enquiries and was told by the "experts" at Britsh Oxygen Co, brass couldn't be welded.
So ignoring this advice (basically 'cos the job had to be done)and working on the principle if it can be cast or made molten, anything can be repaired, and nothing to lose because if it didn't repair it would be scrap.

I cut off a sliver of the tube and straightend it to use as a filler rod. And using oxy acetyline with a carburising flame and borax as a flux, I successfully repaired the area cracked and split.

When it was cleaned off and polished with the rest of the handrail, it was, and still is barely detectable, and it has never been noticed by anyone else, until pointed out to them, and then they have great trouble finding it, and some not finding it, others finding it in the wrong place.

Bronze welding into incised grooves on a steel body and cleaned off gives a great result, just remember it oxidises and will dull with time.

[Hillbillysmith]

I know that you can use silicon bronze rod with TIG and that you can O/A what I want to do. The example I gave wasn't that good, sorry. Here's another; (hopefully it comes out better) can you take a sheet of steel and a sheet of BRASS (not bronze) and run a TIG arc across the seam and make it WELD (not just stick)??

[aametalmaster]

I use to build up brass wear plates for the steelmill with a mig and brass wire and argon gas. But a torch and some brazing rod work just fine...Bob

[Rutterbush]

(((make it WELD (not just stick)??)))

I may be taking this way too literally, but the short answer is NO. If you get the steel hot enough to *weld* the brass will probably be long gone. Brass will adhere to the surface of the steel. Minute scratches and surface blemishes allow the brass a better grip, but it won't weld or mix in a homogeneous blend. That's according to the way I interpret the question.
Like I said, I tend to take some things way too literally.

[arftist]

The easiest way to weld brass is to tig with silicon bronze. Multiple passes with admixturing if strenth is needed. If color match is important, it can be tig welded with "bare brass rod". This is not easy to do, but can certainly be done. The zinc, and also some lead will boil out of the puddle. Multiple passes, vigorous wire brushing, and pretend that you can see the puddle. Manual or auto pulse, and actualy dipping the tunsten into the puddle, just as you floor the current. Pulse hard, touch off, add fill at top of heat, back way off. Know that it works and keep at it till you get it.