TIG braze or oxy torch?

[Beerhippie]

I need to better secure the handle of this brand:





The brand is brass, while the handle is steel. It seems the extreme heat cycling is destroying the threaded hole of the brand--plus, I need to "rock" it to get a good impression, which ain't helping.

I'm thinking the nut needs to stay on to increase the area of the braze.

Would y'all use the TIG or the oxy acetylene torch? It's been a while--like a decade--since I've done TIG brazing, and that was on cast iron with silphos rod.

 

[txvwnut]

I’d tig braze it as that’s what’s at the ready in my shop but either or will work.

 

[Ggg]

If it gets too hot you’ll end up melting the brazing. Why is the brand made from Brass? Dissimilar metals are preventing you from welding it to the steel handle.

 

[rsanter]

TIG will heat up faster and more controlled in a local area.

TIG will be my preferred

 

[Beerhippie]

If it gets too hot you’ll end up melting the brazing. Why is the brand made from Brass? Dissimilar metals are preventing you from welding it to the steel handle.

Actually, melting the brazing is kind of important to brazing. As to why the brand was made from brass, ask the folks who ordered it and the folks who made it.

I just have to use it and keep it working.

I'm thinking that torch brazing is the way I'll go, as I'll get better wetting and I'm more used to it.

 

[Dagny]

silver solder

 

[Ggg]

Maybe you misunderstood my comment. If its a hot brand, due to the lower melting point of brazing compared to steel/welding when heating it in preparation to brand you could possibly get it hot enough to remelt the brazing and it would flow out of the joint rendering it no longer a secure brazed joint.
If its a cold brand then no problem.

 

[Beerhippie]

Maybe you misunderstood my comment. If its a hot brand, due to the lower melting point of brazing compared to steel/welding when heating it in preparation to brand you could possibly get it hot enough to remelt the brazing and it would flow out of the joint rendering it no longer a secure brazed joint.
If its a cold brand then no problem.

Looks hot to me. But only hot enough to burn wood--so ~500F? Hotter than you'd need for a livestock brand, I reckon.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Press fit with a wide seating collar on the handle shaft?

 

[NUTTSGT]

I've never seen a branding torch like that so I googled it and found this. Would it help if you had two rods and the flame between them ? The flame wouldn't be directly impinging on the fastener point.

 

[Beerhippie]

I've never seen a branding torch like that so I googled it and found this. Would it help if you had two rods and the flame between them ? The flame wouldn't be directly impinging on the fastener point.

The late teens/early twenties C&L model 158A torch is a plumber's torch. It wasn't meant for branding/wood burning, but it works just fine.

As for the design of the brand, I had nothing to do with it. Like so many things, the boss handed it to me and told me to figure something out.

I'm thinking I want to braze the nut to the handle shaft, then a large, thick washer below that, then braze the whole shebang to the brand body, giving the handle a much larger area of bearing and attachment.

 

[Beerhippie]

I got 'er done!





Not only am I not the best welder, but I'm not a great brazer. I got to prove both on this job. I MIG welded the nut, shaft and thick washer together after using a dilute Muriatic acid bath to remove any galvanizing. I cleaned the parts up, then brazed the assembly to the brand. You can see I was flirting with melting the brand! I used my old refrigeration oxy-acetylene torch set to a large, reducing flame. I used fluxed bronze rod which melts about 50 degrees under the melting point of average brass. I Finished up with a flap disk and non-woven blending disk.

It's good enough for me and I think it'll work better than the single, shallow 8mm threaded hole--which had completely stripped out.