http://www.handyharmancanada.com/TheBrazingBook/bbook.htm
Lots of info on brazing materials.
Other manufacturers of brazing materials will have Handy and Harmon equivalent alloys
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[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Hi all,
I would like to get some of your thoughts on what kind of silver solder "brazing silver" I should be looking to have on hand for the construction of my "American project" locomotive.
In particular I would like to know if two solders with different flow characteristics and melting points are preferred for building boilers over a single solder. Some of the books mention using a high melting point solder for the early work and a lower melting point for the later assembly. What is your preferred method and please feel free to give brands and names of the products you like to use. Keep in mind availability in the USA.
Also, I am going to attempt to produce a "built-up" cylinder "casting" for the American. I am wondering if anyone who has made this kind of cylinder assembly can shed some light on the fabrication methods used. Here is what I have in mind. The cylinder blanks will be silver brazed to a saddle. This assembly will have the steam passages milled across the top. A cap will then be soldered to cover the steam passages. The cylinders will be rough bored and the steam ports milled through the cap and into the passages, the passages from cylinder to valve port will be added now as well. The top of the cap also is the face for the valves. The cylinders will be honed and valve faces polished to finish.
The question is. Can I use brazing silver with different melting points to solder the cylinders and later the cap or should I silver braze the cylinders and use a much lower melting point silver solder to attach the cap? If silver braze can be used for this assembly can it be the same as for the boiler. The cylinder material is SAE 954 Aluminum bronze. The valve and piston material will probably be 304 stainless. I will be using O-rings or lubricated acetal for the cylinder rings so the only metal to metal contact is at the valve faces.
I have a lot of experience (albeit 15 years ago) with brazing and soldering (steel, brass and silver), so I am more interested in the technical aspects of this kind of assembly and the products used, than I am in the basic aspect of brazing.
This weekend I am planning to build my brazing table. I picked up some fire bricks and am going to make a steel frame so the table can easily be moved and stored when not in use. This will provide a nice fireproof work surface. I have cut the lower saddle and cylinder blanks. However I think I am going to remake the cylinder blanks a bit longer so that there is a bit of extra length to allow for bell mouthing at the ends if the cylinder bores when they are honed. The cylinders will be faced to length after the honing.
Thanks in advance
Ken Lafayette, CO
