Preview: Metalworking Techniques, Part 3 – Silver-Brazing & Finishing the Traveler

16 Responses So Far to “Metalworking Techniques, Part 3 – Silver-Brazing & Finishing the Traveler”

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  william biba says:

  Nice video clean metalworking. What is the reason for not threading the washer and screwing it on to the shaft?

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    Erica Moody says:

    Hello William,
    Sorry I’m a bit late in replying, but I feel the brazed joint is far stronger than a threaded connection like this would be. The disc also will likely be more square to the shaft if brazed than threaded onto a hand cut thread. Water tight as well.

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  Fred Rowley says:

  Hi Erica and OCH,
  I’ve really enjoyed and learned so much from these 3 videos. I must say that the quality of OCH videos are excellent – I’ve virtually never watched one without thinking ‘wow – that was sure worth my time.’ But, these three videos to me are exceptional even for OCH. The videography and audio are excellent, of course, but more than that, Erica, your presentation is simple, economical and uncluttered, yet complete and thorough. I love that you include simple details, like explaining why to center punch before drilling a hole, because you do it in a way that exudes confidence in your audience (and without completely annoying the more experienced). Every word you say just seems to say as well – ‘Hey, you can do this.’

  This is just brilliant teaching – I hung on every word. Fantastic work, thank you!

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    Erica Moody says:

    Thank you, Fred! Very nice to hear you were pleased with the series, and OCH in general! Cheers,
    Erica

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  Antonio (Tony) Osse says:

  Hi, great video! Boatbuilding gets better and more interesting every day!! One question: how to choose the silver content of the solder? I find 15%, 25%, 45% and 56% Ag here. For 316 SS and strongest result…. Thanks and best wishes from Brazil,

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    Erica Moody says:

    Hi Tony,
    The higher the silver content the stronger the joint, and the less tolerance for gaps for that strength. For structural joints, I wouldn’t use anything less than 45% silver brazing wire. Another factor is color. At 45% silver, the color of the joint, even if a hairline feature, will be a straw color. The more silver, the more white/silver the color is. Good luck!

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      Antonio (Tony) Osse says:

      Thanks a LOT for your attention.

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  Robert Hauser says:

  Good video, nice presentation makes me want to find a project to solder. Thanks for the information on the correct filter for the respirator. A simple safety thing that seems to get forgotten.

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  William McCaffrey says:

  Good example of brazing. It should be noted that there is a heat block coating that could have been applied to the rod, which would have helped to avoid the heat conduction problem she discussed. I use this when brazing pommels and bolsters onto to knives, because the knife blade has so much more mass than the other parts.

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    Erica Moody says:

    Thank you William – do you have more info on this to share? Great to know what and where to get!

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  Jim Dumser says:

  Great explanation of each step in the process. I enjoyed learning from Erica and thanks OCH for continuing to bring the teaching videos to life.

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  Eric Winter says:

  This is great — it is a delight to see skill at work.

  Does the solder naturally go everywhere you want it to, all the way around the joint? Does the heat draw it?

  My frame of reference is sweating copper pipe fittings, where you heat the outer fitting (the elbow or tee) rather than the pipe so that the heat draws the solder into the inside of the joint. Is it the same with silver solder?

  I have heard that you need to be particular about what you use as solder. What’s the right stuff? Where is silver solder sold?

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    Erica Moody says:

    Hi Eric,
    If evenly heated, the filler wire will be drawn through the joint fully. To be sure it has been pulled thoroughly through, it’s best to add your wire to only one side of the joint, and use the heat to draw it through, but still keeping the whole joint evenly heated, and then you can see it appear on its own – if you add wire on all sides, it’s difficult to know it pulled through instead of just manually globbed on around the perimeter. With sweating of plumbing pipes, the process is much lower temp and a much wider time frame of workability/flow, so I can see your method might be ok for that, but silver brazing is much hotter, and the flow time is extremely short, or rather extremely difficult to hold at the small window of optimum temp, especially getting the whole joint to be at that narrow window of temp at the same time. Therefore it is best to heat the joint evenly, otherwise you risk the filler metal flowing only on one part/surface, not both. As for the type of brazing wire (some would say not technically called a solder, which is a lower temp process), you should get at least a 45% silver brazing wire for any joint requiring a structural goodness. Also suggest getting a safer cadmium free type. And make sure you get the proper flux – for silver brazing, usually a white paste. Good luck!

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      Eric Winter says:

      Erica,

      Thank you very much. That is so clear and helpful.

      Others have said this, but I will repeat it: you really know your stuff, and you know how to explain it.

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  Kaci Cronkhite says:

  Beautiful work, Erica! Such finesse and practicality.<3 Thanks for letting us inside your shop and process. Nice work, OCH! Love, love, love learning with you.

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  Livio Muench says:

  A metal shop to envy. Brings back memories of metalwork classes in high school…oh so long ago. Well thought Erica, I enjoyed your relaxed style and uncomplicated approach. Cheers from Hobart, Tas.