35 replies to this topic

[alliancemetalart]

and yes... I will post pics of a successful inlay

I used my plasma cutter to slice some steel and then filled the cuts back in with brazing rod.. sand it all down smooth and voila! inlay.

[Stretch]

Hi Alliance
Here was my first effort at inlay. I cut in a line with a flat chisel and put a piece of copper wire and flattened it out. It didn't fill real good but has possibilities.

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[Spiderwebdesigns]

Sounds like there are some real possibilities with this

When I ever have time I think I will give it a shot.

[Alfredo Alamo]

...waiting for the promised picture[Kewl Pic]

[alliancemetalart]

they're coming.. hold yer horsies!

[alliancemetalart]

shaddap slacker..







the grinding at the end here is pretty rough.. but I just did this quick.. it's not exactly full, not the best brazing job I've ever done   ...but you can see the potential I'm sure.

[ShawnM]

Very cool...thanx for the idea!

[Matt Weber]

What are you using to carve the steel out?

[ShawnM]

Plasma cutter - see first post

[Alfredo Alamo]

Man I do not know if that your idea or not but WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!! Thank you for sharing it with us and yes it has a lot of potencial[Punk]

[Spiderwebdesigns]

Reason #742 to justify a plasma cutter. Now if the money would just stay put for awhile. A busted water pipe in the shower took the fun money (plus a grand) this time.

[Mercury]

Cool idea, endless possibilities! Thanks for sharing-how much u want for that plasma cutter.......

Merc

[Matt Weber]

Plasma cutter - see first post

The reason i asked was it looks like it was machined out.  IE no sign of hand movement.  I'm assumimg it was cut with CNC?

[alliancemetalart]

yep.. my idea.. ..and it happened because I accidentally grabbed the wrong stick!  I was showing a friend how to gas weld and grabbed the brazing rod instead.. ..said what the hell and said it was close to the same thing.. one thing led to another and I discovered it looked really cool..  

the piece I used was cut with my cnc system.. that was another oops/troubleshoot.. I'm not the greatest at brazing.. so if anyone has any tips for that.. hell.. if someone is GREAT at brazing let's do some work together.  I'm not so busy that I can't cut complicated designs for people.. that's what I'm hoping to do anyway.  Use it to make my own stuff, and help other artists accomplish tasks they could never do by hand and make the most excellent metal artwork that can be found.  Lots of artists I know are either in love with it, or they hate it..  Fact is.. I can take hand drawn sketches and turn them into cut paths..  I find it no different than say.. having someone that's a better welder than me do some beads that I don't want messed up.  It's an incredible asset.

I also have the idea of taking two different types of metals and cutting the exact same design.. then splicing them all together again for a solid piece.. ..any ideas on that would be great.. I just thought of it right now.  mix mild steel outlines with stainless steel insides brazed together with that brass color? neat. ..if possible..

[warrent]

Alliance,
First thing you need to do to do a good job of brazing is get rid of the flux that you are using and by some powder flux to dip the rod in. That way the flux will work as you braze not before you braze.

As everything most of our techniques were developed because we tried something different, some times by mistake. Filling a gouge in the metal with brazing rod is nothing new. Maybe the way you make the gouge is unique because of your CNC machine.

[alliancemetalart]

yeah I kinda figured it was nothing new.. but I've never seen it before so I decided to claim it as long as I could ;-)

you got a brand name for a recommended powder flux? I'm only using the stuff I got because it's what they had.. What do you think of pre-fluxed brazing rods? When I was first introduced to brazing we used the powder stuff, and that's what I wanted but they only had that "stay-silv" which I really don't like. the CNC machine does do a nice job cutting.. I like sketching stuff, scanning it, and turning it into a cut path.. I know it seems like cheating, but sometimes it's necessary to get things done quickly while the idea is fresh..

strike while the iron's at the right temperature! ;-)

[warrent]

Andrew,

I do not like flux coated brazing rod.  Too much flux for most work and getting the glass (melted flux) out of pin holes or little cracks is a pain in the butt.  Also if you do not get all of the flux removed the braze will develop what I call salting from the flux.

As far as a good powder flux there a few of them out there.  If your local welding store is like most of them now a days they will not have powder flux in stock.  I still have a supply of flux from 20 years ago that is not available anymore.  What you want to look for is a self releasing flux.  Other words when the metal cools the flux pops off.  I think there was discussion about fluxes in another thread.  

[PTsideshow]

I put this site up berfore, it has a wealth of information on brazing. Sign up and use the on line training aid book that covers everthing about brazing and then some. Be sure to cruise the left side heading and the flux and filler tech sheets and MSDS are all in PDF format.
Brazing and then some

[PTsideshow]

I do agree with Warren about using powder flux, rather than the coated rod. A little goes a long way. You can mix your own with borax powder and water or alky than use a brush to put a little on. The glass slag that results does cause problems with finishing painting, waxing or patinas. And here I always thought it was because I was old school.

[saign charlestein]

I agree with warren as well about using the powdered flux, the stay silv is made for silver solder and not brazing rod so I'd stay away from that as well and the coated rod definately has too much flux on it. I have some and when I used it it was a PIA to get the flux off the piece when finished you can melt it off the rod until you get it down or chip it off to a resonable amount before you start brazing. the shop I go to carries the powder though so I just stick with that. Oh, by the way cool technique[Punk] and   I'll be using that in the future