Proper soldering of bronze at home


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To solder bronze at home, you should first acquire the necessary tools and materials, such as:

  • gas-burner;
  • crucible;
  • boric acid;
  • silver;
  • copper;
  • borax;
  • asbestos base.


Scheme of bronze submerged arc welding.

Ordinary tin-lead solder is not suitable for the job. It will leave distinct marks on the parts, and it is also ineffective. Bronze soldering can be destroyed after just a few hours of use. It is very important to make a really correct solder that is suitable for bronze and brass. It can be made using two materials - copper and silver.

Moreover, it is very important to maintain proportions. To work you will need 1 part copper and 2 parts silver. They must be melted using a gas burner, after placing the materials in the crucible. It is important to ensure that the alloy is uniform. Next, the crucible is placed in cold water. The result is a homogeneous solidified alloy. Next, you need to flatten it to form a thin cake that can be conveniently processed with a file. The result should be a crumb of alloy. This will be used as solder.

How to soften brass?

brass

too soft.
of brass
be corrected by cold hardening. I recommend selecting the desired hardness by adjusting the holding time during annealing and its temperature - you need a Rockwell ball hardness tester (HRB).

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Technological process of metal soldering

Tin bronzes can be soldered with lead-tin, silver and copper-zinc solders. Soldering high-tin bronzes with copper-zinc solders is undesirable due to the close melting point.

Soldering of tin bronzes can be done in any way: with a soldering iron, gas-flame torches, contact heating, TV heating. hours, in salt baths, in ovens with a controlled atmosphere; in this case, the product should be heated gradually, since at high heating rates the base metal is prone to red brittleness.

Soldering can be done with tin-lead solders using fluxes based on zinc chloride with the addition of hydrochloric acid. For high-temperature soldering, copper-zinc and silver solders are used using fluxes based on boric acid with the addition of metal chloride and fluoride salts.

Lead bronzes can be soldered with solders with fluxes that are used for soldering tin bronzes. In this case, the soldering areas must be fluxed more thoroughly, since the lead oxides formed on the surface prevent the solder from flowing into the gap.

Aluminum bronzes are distinguished among copper alloys by their high mechanical properties, and therefore they are widely used in mechanical engineering.

In industry, both double alloys of copper and aluminum (simple bronzes) and more complex bronzes with the addition of manganese, iron, nickel and other elements are used.

An oxide film forms on the surface of aluminum and silicon bronze, which is difficult to remove using conventional fluxes. The product must be treated in hydrofluoric or hydrofluoric acid before soldering.

When soldering with tin-lead solders, active fluxes with a high content of hydrochloric acid are used. It is recommended to pre-clean and flux the surface of aluminum bronze with a mixture of boric acid and metal chloride salts. Manganese bronzes should be soldered using phosphoric acid.

Aluminum bronzes should be soldered using rapid heating methods to avoid oxidation and the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds in the weld. The introduction of nickel into solders increases the ductility and strength of aluminum bronze joints. The increase in ductility is probably due to the formation of the aluminum-nickel intermetallic compound, which prevents the formation of aluminum oxides.

For high-temperature soldering of aluminum bronzes with silver and copper-zinc solders, fluxes No. 200 and 284 are unsuitable, since they do not dissolve oxides on their surface. For successful soldering, sodium fluoride (10-20%) or aluminum soldering flux (up to 50%) must be added to these fluxes.

High-temperature soldering of manganese bronzes is carried out using fluxes containing fluoroborates and alkali metal fluorides.

When high-temperature soldering of bronzes, due to their redness, one should pay attention to the design of the fixing devices and ensure that they do not interfere with the expansion of parts when heated and, therefore, do not create stresses in them that can cause cracking during the soldering process.

Beryllium bronzes are much more difficult to solder than other copper alloys; they should be soldered immediately after mechanical stripping with silver solders with a flux containing fluoride salts.

Copper-nickel alloys can be soldered using any method and solder, including pure copper. Copper soldering in a controlled atmosphere furnace must be performed at high heating rates, since during prolonged soldering the base metal dissolves in the solder and the strength of the weld decreases significantly.

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Some types of solders


Cadmium solders when soldering copper and steel require certain skills to work with them. Because the manufacturability of these materials is lower than that of previous ones.

It should be noted that such a connection is heat-resistant (up to +350 ℃), but not cold-resistant. In addition, a cadmium alloy joint will not be very strong.

Zinc solder materials are rarely used for soldering copper because the metal itself quickly dissolves into the solder material. This weakens the joint, hence the low tensile strength - up to 15 MPa.

Zinc solders alloyed with silver or copper also have low fluidity. Although these materials are doped with cadmium or tin, they have good fluidity, but the strength of the compound itself decreases greatly.

Copper-phosphorus grades with the addition of silver are a good option for soldering. The connection can withstand high loads, up to 300 MPa, and temperatures up to +800 ℃. But solder metal bonded to copper is not ductile. This means that it has low bending strength.

Silver solder materials have proven themselves well in high-temperature copper soldering conditions. True, they show their qualities if soldering is carried out with acetylene or in special furnaces where corrosive fluxes are used.

Solders with a high silver content are used in the process of joining copper blanks in a vacuum or when heated with argon. If the process is carried out under pressure, then either foil (silver) or silver coating is used for the connection.

Solder materials with a high copper content and a low silver content are used rarely and in exceptional cases. Because it is a refractory alloy that requires high heating temperature.

As for pure lead solders, the connections made with them are not strong enough, but they have high ductility. For example, such joints after soldering can be bent up to an angle of 130°, and in tension they can withstand up to 140 MPa.

Flux preparation: features


Soldering iron design.

Now you need to prepare your own flux, which will be used for soldering. Regular rosin will not work in this case. It will not be able to melt refractory powder. For these purposes, you will need a much more powerful mixture. To prepare, you will need 20 grams of borax powder and 20 grams of boric acid. You will have to mix the ingredients in a special container. Glass can be used since it does not interact with these components. Pour the mixture with a glass of water. The result is an excellent flux that is ideal for soldering bronze.

Specifics of working with brass

The brass solders themselves outwardly resemble an ordinary wire rod made from special refractory alloys.

Provided you master all the features of the process of joining metals, as well as having the appropriate consumables, mastering the technique of brass soldering at home is a completely doable task.

In a domestic environment, a conventional gas burner powered by a propane cylinder can be used for these purposes. You won't be able to melt brass material with a soldering iron.

However, before starting work, you should carefully study all the features of the brass soldering process.

The specificity of soldering is the need to use a consumable material whose melting point is slightly lower than the same indicator for the metal products being joined.

If this condition is met, which is mandatory for the formation of a reliable permanent connection, anyone will be able to solder metals of dissimilar structures.

During the work process, soldering solder, cut to the state of small chips, is poured into the gap between the workpieces. And only after this it will be possible to start heating using a gas burner (in its absence, you can use a blowtorch).

It is not allowed to confuse metal soldering with a welding process similar in technique, in which both jointed workpieces are subject to melting.

A schematic representation of the technological process, in which brass wire is used as a consumable material, can be found in the photo.

A direct consequence of the considered features of soldering with brass or tin solder is the ability to connect small-sized metal parts that will not overheat significantly during processing.

The technologies for soldering steel workpieces are based on the same principle; when working with them, special active additives (fluxes) are added to the brass solder. The latter significantly simplify the process of joining products by increasing the temperature in the working area and better spreading of the melt.

Areas of use

The possibility of soldering with brass ensures a reliable connection of metal products, which determines the limits of application of this technology.

It would be impossible to do without this method of joining parts when producing products in such industries as:

  • electronic manufacturing;
  • assembly of refrigeration and heat exchange equipment (in this case, brass solder is used when soldering thin copper tubes);
  • production of special cutting tools (cutters and attachments for them).

In the electronics industry, brass solders can be used to solder components of complex circuits and connect them to metal conductors.

In addition, brass solders are widely used when it is necessary to join metal workpieces of different thicknesses, as well as when carrying out tinning operations, which ensure the creation of a reliable protective coating on the metal surface.

Rules for soldering copper parts

The soldering iron is used only for connecting small parts, and the soldering process itself is carried out at a temperature of +350 ℃. Large workpieces, due to their increased thermal conductivity, need to be soldered only with torches.

As for baths and stoves, there are two positions that differ from each other in filler. It could be solder or salt. It should be noted that salts perform two functions: a heating element as a source of temperature, and a flux.

That is, in technologies that use salt furnaces or baths, fluxes are not used.

In principle, regardless of the metal of the workpieces, the joining process itself is the same for all materials. And it is divided into six stages:


  1. cleaning copper blanks mechanically to remove the oxide film;

  2. degreasing;
  3. introducing flux into the soldering zone;
  4. heating zone.
  5. adding solder;
  6. cleaning the joint from flux and solder material.

Bronze soldering is also carried out. The main difference is the required brand of solder and flux. Since bronzes are an alloy of copper, tin and some other elements, choosing a solder is not difficult .

Bronzes also include alloys of copper and cadmium, copper and beryllium, alloys with lead and aluminum. It is necessary to pay attention to the composition of bronze, depending on which the properties of the material change.

How to solder copper wire


At home, you often have to solder copper jewelry. Despite the apparent simplicity of the process, it is actually not simple. Firstly, you need to use a file to process the copper wire so that the connection of its two parts passes along a larger plane. It is imperative to secure the parts to be connected relative to each other so that mixing does not occur during the soldering process.

Liquid flux is added to the joint, after which the joint is heated with a burner. Next, solder is supplied to the heating zone. It is better if these are small pieces that are installed end-to-end with tweezers. You can lay them down before heating the copper wire.

Soldering of edible and non-edible copper is a standardized process based on two documents - GOST 1922249-73 and GOST 16038-80. That is, the norms and rules stipulate specifically how to carry out the work, with what and under what conditions.

Thermal additives (fluxes)

Most often, brass solders are used when it is necessary to join products made from the same material.

Since brass (an alloy of zinc and copper in a two to three ratio) belongs to the category of refractory solders, when working with it it is impossible to do without special additives - fluxes.

A competent choice of active materials when working with brass products not only allows you to obtain a fairly strong connection, but also significantly simplifies the work process itself.

Among other things, the solder seams obtained when working with flux have a completely finished and aesthetic appearance and do not require additional editing.

To obtain the required result, conventional compositions based on alcohol and rosin are not suitable, as they cannot dissolve the film of oxides that is always present on brass products.

That is why when soldering brass, more active types of flux additives prepared on the basis of zinc chloride should be used. The list of existing modifications of zinc chloride fluxes and their areas of application can be found in the corresponding table.

The most common names of flux components also include such well-known active additives as borax and its derivatives (potassium fluoroborate, for example).

When working with borax and other fluxes, the content of active components in the soldering zone should not exceed 5 percent, which is quite sufficient for good fluidity of brass solder and high-quality filling of existing gaps.

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