Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hence why i used the inverted commas around the word purge.
Probably should have used the word displace instead.

But then why are we talking about welding, this is a brazing thread.
Either way it should work.

Silly question: some say silver Brazing/Soldering is as strong as welding...

Now I am not convinced, BUT I have skills (like using a welder to cut steel - don't ask :angry-banghead: its genetic) so I am going to play with Silver Soldering/Brazing by brazing a 2" SS ferrule onto a fir extinguisher as a funky storage device, but would it be strong enough to use in building a modular boiler/still or not?

I understand that welding is stronger, but is it necessary? :think:

Would you glue a bookcase together without nails or screws or dowels?

Similar concept really.
Brazing is just metal glue.
You can get quite a good join with silver brazing as long as your joint is designed correctly ie not a butt-join.

Thanx that makes sense (even to me)!

hillzabilly wrote:No different to any of the others,citric bath,scrub with scrubbies another citric bath,then sak run and your away.And it will do stainless to stainless.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

Hi Hillz, just a quick one please.

I'm putting together bits for a Gin head basket, rather than hassle my boily mate, is it possible to tack these SS elbows to my 4" end cap, just making a little handle for the top? There will be practically no weight or stress, it's just a handle for changing botanicals mid run.
Would soft solder do or I've got a stick of 15% silver brazing rod, and 2%. Have used a LPG torch for everything so far.

Cheers,

Chocko

Using those fittings is a waste ta me ,I used 6-8mm stainless bar in a ''u'' shape,I would just be patient until you have some other bits for welding,otherwise I would go with the 15% brazeing rods but you may struggle ta get the lpg torch up to temp,cannot comment on soft solder as I have never used it on stainless.I use a couple of caps with handles,one on top of my assembled plates for storage and transport,and another on the packed section for the same reasons,with seals I would use the silicone ones over the black EPDM as they stick and can be hard to remove .cheers hillzabilly ;-)

hillzabilly wrote:Using those fittings is a waste ta me ,I used 6-8mm stainless bar in a ''u'' shape,I would just be patient until you have some other bits for welding,otherwise I would go with the 15% brazeing rods but you may struggle ta get the lpg torch up to temp,cannot comment on soft solder as I have never used it on stainless.I use a couple of caps with handles,one on top of my assembled plates for storage and transport,and another on the packed section for the same reasons,with seals I would use the silicone ones over the black EPDM as they stick and can be hard to remove .cheers hillzabilly ;-)

Thanks for that, I'll see if I can find some rod.!

Chocko

Another option would be a stainless drawer handle or knob like https://handlehouse.com.au/our-products ... l-handles/ may work and be cheap.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

hillzabilly wrote:Another option would be a stainless drawer handle or knob like https://handlehouse.com.au/our-products ... l-handles/ may work and be cheap.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

Good idea, I'll see what I can find.

Chocko

The handle or knob could be another material as its not in the vapour path,but use stainless screws washers and a silicone seal(silicone washer under the stainless washer) to retain it,if not welding or brazeing it on.cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:

hillzabilly wrote:The handle or knob could be another material as its not in the vapour path,but use stainless screws washers and a silicone seal(silicone washer under the stainless washer) to retain it,if not welding or brazeing it on.cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks Hillz,

I've done this, all 316SS with washer cut from a food grade silicone sheet. Looks the goods I reckon!

Chocko

Good easy diy solution :handgestures-thumbupleft:

That will doozy just fine I am thinkin.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

I read a lot of older threads... and sometimes, a piece of info goes by without much response

scythe wrote:Would you glue a bookcase together without nails or screws or dowels?

Similar concept really.
Brazing is just metal glue.
You can get quite a good join with silver brazing as long as your joint is designed correctly ie not a butt-join.

I've done some woodwork, and I consider myself purely amateur.
But I can say without a doubt, a properly glued joint is stronger than a joint with nails/screws. and dowels appear to help a bit for alignment, but overall strength? not so much. they just move the torque to other areas of wood, and it is that area that is weaker than the glued joint.


Now, Question:
how much joint is required for a certain amount of strength?
ie// for a butt joint, how much thickness is required for a soldered joint to be as strong as the pipe itself?
how about for hard/silver solder?
Brazing?

I believe in welding, if done well, the weld is stronger than the pipe, probably due to annealing

perhaps the same phenomena in copper and solder? I do know copper starts to soften at rather low temps.

For brazing 50mm copper pipe will a Bernzomatic ts8000 generate enough heat for a successful job or would a oxy/mapp torch be required. Just thinking because of the length of pipe a lot of heat absorbtion would be happening.

Anyone purchased one of the clone torches ts8000 from ebay they look identical except for the trade name.

Thanks

Any Map torch will do the job, I doubt the brand will make much difference beyond longevity - provided the orifice is the similar size, its the gas itself that matters most. Gas used = Torque (what gets done), Handpiece used = Horsepower (how fast you do it)

It will be mich easier if you pre heat the large bit first, a gas bbq with a plate removed is good for that, or just use the map

As copper is such a good heat sink when soldering it is good advise to warm the whole secion as the heat will wick it's way in both both directions so once the whole part is warmed concentrating on the heat on the soldering part will do the job everytime nicely.
MAPP gas is purely a trade name for LPG and nothing more and it one needs needs more heat just add some oxy to the mix.

And make sure everything is clean before fluxing, dirty areas will not take well forming oxides under things.

Thanks Ruddy, made me go and read...

So they stopped making the good MAPP 15 years ago, it burned nearly 1000c hotter than the yellow bottles currently sold (they are 1950-2000ish), the new stuff dose burn a small amount hotter in temp, varies by brand, but the thing they bang on about is the 10% extra btu/energy in the flame, the old mapp was 25% higher again in btu, not proportional to the temp at all, isn't physics fun?

Where dose that leave us amateur soldering plebs? Dunno, but im going to dig my unused aldi map torch out and see how it stacks up against a lpg torch as soon as the opportunity presents (don't hold your breath folks lols).

Adding oxy is the best answer, but it pushes the cost out for most here who are really only wanting to build a still or so.

My brazing setup, the oxygen generator also doubles as an aerator for my wash when I first pitch the yeast