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Evenin' all
Got a tinker itch, and was looking at a cool custom pannier rack on the radavist.
I did a lesson (1 hr?) or steel brazing at school, and was thinking i could have a poke at making a little rack for my tourers (just cause i can)
Has anyone used "all in one" aluminium brazing rods?
worth a poke or a complete waste of time?
Waste of time imo , ac/dc tig or nothing at all.
My experience (admittedly a few years ago) was that they are very tricky to use, and that was when I was doing bronze welding/brazing/silversoldering most weeks.
It is very easy to overheat the parts being joined if thin walled even though they are advertsied as'low temp."
As vongassit says, tig is best.
You can download* patterek s old edition frame building book that has a rack builing section i seem to recall. Silver solder and internal sleeves was his suggestion i think.
*free and legally from his own site.
OK - I built a kitcar and I used Technoweld to make a few brackets and some air ducts.
[url= http://www.techno-weld.co.uk/home.html ]Technoweld Site[/url]
I found it's relatively easy to use but you have to be careful not to overheat.
Conversely if the object has enough mass it can be impossible to raise the temperature high enough to braze. Aluminium conducts heat very quickly and a massive object can have large surface area and cool very quickly.
However I like Technoweld and I've used it many, many times 8)