Impact discovers he can't make a lever, sets things on fire instead

[Impactfour]

Well, it looks like Im going to be changing plans. I mocked up some levers but couldn't wrap my head around the engineering aspects. So imma build some brass, not quite sure what yet. But I'll update y'all when I figure that out.

For now here's a photo of the results from learning how to braze

[Cal440]

Well you got a start,what kind of solder are you using?

[Impactfour]

This stuff

[netsurferdude2]

You can do it!

[COB]

Add more fire and hit with rock. That's how I fix things

[netsurferdude2]

And thats why all your guns seem to break down on the field.

[COB]

They don't all break down. Even if they do, I can still throw rocks at you. I'll miss but it will make me feel better.

[BrickHaus]

You can make the lever bud!

[Impactfour]

I still plan on trying to make the lever tigershark eventually. I am struggling with finding a good way to pivot the lever between the plastic body and wood frame. I debated using some aluminum to beef things up, but that ended up making the tray that holds the trigger wider than I could manage with the wood I've got.

If all goes well enough with the brass projects I've got planned I may just build a tigershark body and trigger tray out of brass and go from there. Who knows, I'm not much of a planner!

[BrickHaus]

How wide is your wood? (Not being cute with that) lmao

What's your handle made out of?

[Impactfour]

3" wide, the main issue is the tray I made by chopping down a tigershark frame is pretty dang wide as well. I mocked up a lever and some supporting aluminum with some scrap 1/4" aluminum from work and most of that 3" got ate up pretty quick.

I'm hoping to be back on land at my shop by Friday, so I can spend some time with all the parts in front of me to see if any ideas hit me. Probably whip up some more brass work then if I have the time.

[markdem]

Man, i feel your pain. The amount of material ive wasted. All that effort spent... it sucks

[Heavy_D]

you need the two parts to both be sanded nicely, and very clean, and held together well, when soldering tubes together i use Hay wire twisted tight then apply ample flux to the desired area, I use a Mapp gas torch and heat both parts very well takes a min or two until the solder literally melts just touching it to the tube the then it will flow for you. when its hot enough the solder acts totally different, also if you dont start with sanded and clean parts, the solder doesnt stick or hold

[JeeperCreeper]

Also of you put too much heat on it, the flux will burn and the solder wont stick.

[Impactfour]

Definitely going to clean the piss out of the pieces before my next attempt, just need to snag some rougher sandpaper and I'll be ready to rock

[Trbo323]

Yeah I agree with the rest, those look like cold joins. Basically you melted the solder but the brass wasn't up to a temperature that would allow it to bond

Sent from my motorola edge 2024 using Tapatalk

[Impactfour]

I'm loving all this feedback. It looks like the weather's going to keep me on land next week. Odds are I'll be practicing spool welding and then after work practicing my brazing. I'll probably just melt these two pieces of scrap apart and just keep putting them together til I get better. I'll be sure to post more results up til I get the go ahead to move forward from the experts!

[Impactfour]

So I got some practice brazing today, and I think it went worse than my initial attempts. Which leads me to a few questions:

1) is the flux supposed to be liquid or paste at the begining? I've been keeping it in our work tent and it starts off pretty solid, then bubbles and melts when I apply the heat.

2) how long do you guys apply heat with a map torch beforehand? I'd guess my best attempt came after a little more than a minute of heat being applied to one spot, the brass was a pretty bright red by then.

3) will the overall ambient temperature screw with things? It was somewhere around 30* in the tent I was working in.

[Jordan]

1- the flux is a paste at room temperature. It melts and flows into the seam when heat is applied. I find once it starts to bubble, it's almost ready for solder to be applied.

2- heat evenly - just holding it one one spot will overheat that spot and underheat everything else. You want to "paint" the tubes with the torch along a couple of inches, back and forth. Once the solder starts to flow you can start moving the torch along the seam.

3- ambient temp definitely makes a difference. Soldering in the summer is much easier than in freezing temperatures, in my experience.


You're also likely fighting the solder you're using. Silver solder melts at a much higher temperature than conventional solder, and unless you plan on powdercoating it, not really necessary.

[Jordan]

I ran out to the shop earlier tonight to check, but I couldn't find my non-silver solder.

I know it's solid core, lead free... it might be electronics solder, possibly. I built my first few projects with it, actually.

Now I use it occasionally for projects that are already soldered together- I generally use silver solder now for the higher strength joint it provides and with the lower melting point of the non-silver solder I don't have to worry about things like feednecks falling off when I'm heating stuff up to stick something else on, like a detent nut. 🙂

[Impactfour]

Thanks for the info! I'm just going to keep practicing and experimenting with the scrap pieces I have until it looks right, I figured it can't hurt to mess around with different wolders and fluxes

[Jordan]

Right on! Remember:

[Drcemento]

this is great as I'm about to dig into brazing bigger pieces like this for the first time. my question is.... using map gas and a plumbers torch are best off working in sections rather than trying for the whole joint? and flux after some preheating or first?

[Jordan]

this is great as I'm about to dig into brazing bigger pieces like this for the first time. my question is.... using map gas and a plumbers torch are best off working in sections rather than trying for the whole joint? and flux after some preheating or first?

What do you mean by sections?

I usually start at one end, and slowly work my way to the other... the solder will actually follow the heat, you'll notice it wick along the joint from the initial solder puddle as you carry the heat along.

I usually do a bit of flux on each tube, along the joint, before I clamp everything together - that way there's flux in there for sure - and then re-apply once I've got some heat into the tubes.

I'm definitely no expert but that's what's been working for me so far.

[Impactfour]

I like that idea of applying the flux to both sides before clamping or tying them together, I'd been smearing it down the seam after tying them together with mechanics wire

[Drcemento]

Welp - I jumped in head first this evening.... I'm soooo hooked - I've done my share of copper sweating around the house but never a long butt joint like this with brass. I cannot wait to get that last of my brass order from online metals and dig in. what fun.

key take away? less is more - just like sweating plumbing. less heat than you think, less flux than you think and less solder that you think. pre goop the joint like jordan said. pre- heat the tube not the joint and watch the flux... as soon as it bubbles get the solder in. MAP gas is soooo much better and quicker than propane. Need to find a thinner solder so you can get it down in the crack and not all over the place. also thinking about cutting small chunks and putting them along the joint and melting them in so you have more control...

here's my second go around. time to take it apart and try again!

[Cal440]

Looking good.