I want to attach to the end of a jigsaw blade a 1/4” steel rod. The rod will be 4” log and have at one end a 1/2” slot where the blade will be inserted and welded. I don’t want to invest on any type of welding machine but I do have a propane torch I use on plumbing copper pipes.
I read that Nickel-Silver welding rods can be used at home for various small tasks. If that will do the job how much cleaning / heating do I apply to complete my job?
Can the solder I use on plumbing pipes be used here?
Is the NS3 Nickel-Silver Flux coated rods a better choice?
Plumbing solder is probably way too soft, and has too low of a melting point. You likely want a bronze alloy.
What you want to do is called brazing. Not welding. And you want the thinnest flux coated brazing filler rod you can get. 1/16" or 3/32" usually. You get both parts cherry hot and then remove the flame as you braze the parts together, adding additional heat as needed.
Depending on what solder and flux you already have you might be able to use it. It won't be the best but it might work. It just depends on what you have. Consider getting a cylinder of map gas for your torch. It burns at a hotter temperature and will give you more, stronger brazing options.
Thanks for the help Pilot Dane, the labels on the solder spool I have are gone so I don’t know what it is but I use this solder to fix plumbing piping in the house years ago and I will say the diameter of the solder is about 20 gauge. Also I’m unable to buy a map gas cylinder because in my area we are in a 4 weeks lock down so when the time comes I will use my propane cylinder (I hope I have enough of it).
I follow the following video to build a jigsaw/ scrollsaw combo. It’s a fun project and good to keep busy during the lockdown. I also attach a picture from this video which shows what I will try to put together. On one end you have the jigsaw blade which when is attached to the jigsaw will drive the scrollsaw blade on the other end
"NS3 Nickel-Silver Flux coated rod" are silver brazing rods.
They would fasten the saw blade to a metal rod but there are a few things you need to know.
Firstly there are soft solders available that have a small silver content and melt at a lower temperature than silver brazing.
These types of solder are a bit stronger than normal lead free plumbing solder but their main advantage is that the soldered joints will not tarnish.
Soft solder with a silver content will not be strong enough for your project.
If you try to silver braze with a small torch you would have to somehow clamp the two pieces so that what is holding it all together does not remove heat from the joint.
Silver brazing also works quite well if you can add heat to the joint quickly to reduce flux degradation and oxidation.
The metal pieces need to be spotlessly clean and if you can get some paste flux you can pre-coat the pieces and help the flux that comes on the rod.
Thanks for the info GregH. I plan to have the slot as tight as possible so the parts will not move during brazing and I will have them spotlessly clean.
I know that Amazon delivers during the lockdown we have but there is a large choice of brazing rods available and I don’t know which one to select. Is it possible to give me a number/type to order the solders which you suggest? Map cylinders, been a hazardous material, are not delivered by anyone as far as I know so I will have to use my propane cylinder..
Ya.
Unfortunately true Mapp gas is no longer made and it's substitute is not quite as hot.
What is more important than using Mapp gas is to have a good propane torch that has swirl combustion and a fairly concentrated flame.
Even though silver solder is a braze it will flow into a joint much like soft solder.
It does not behave like brazing with bronze rod there you can get a definite filet,
One thing you would need to do is if you overheat it and the silver doesn't flow you will have to take it apart, clean the he#5 out of it and try again.
Again, applying silver solder paste flux before using a flux coated rod will help.
I looked on Amazume and they have a lot of product labeled silver bearing solder which is soft solder with a bit of silver.
For a braze you would need in the range of 45% silver content rod/wire. Like this:
Thanks GregH for your time. I found these items at Amazon and I think I’m ok now to start building my new project. When I complete the braze I will post a picture but it may take some time to do so.
I was looking in my shop to find the material I need to start the new project and I found this solder and paste. The solder has no number to ID what it is, just says Silver and its about 0.11” OD and much stiffer than regular solder for copper piping. Somehow I believe its what I should use. Am I right?
You must be right Tolyn because the only way for me to have it must have been when I was soldering copper piping years ago. I was thinking since it says Silver and before we were talking here about silver solder perhaps this is the same but I was wrong.
While waiting for my Amazon order to arrive I decided to try joining my parts with what I have. I clean properly the parts with steel wool, apply flux as needed and heated the parts with my torch. I was able to get the parts red hot but applying the solder did not stick (just goes over the joint and drips down). My parts consist of a jigsaw blade which most likely is tooling steel and the 1” long 3/8” steel rod. Is it possible to braze or solder these two dissimilar metals or perhaps I need another type of weld?
I knew this will happen Pilot Dane and I will use a new blade when its redone including a new rod
In post #5 above I included a picture of this guy welding what I want to do. Out of curiosity what do you call this welding method?
Reading on the web I understand it is difficult to weld tooling steel with mild steel and so I think my best bet is to have this work done outside. Since there are no welding shops in my area I will ask at local car repair shops, these places most likely will have some welding equipment and be able to do it.
Thanks Pilot Dane, good to know. It looks so easy, the guy on the video just touched the part 2-3 times and it was done! BUT you must know what your doing.
Yes, the tiniest little bumps with the welder won't put much heat into the metal. The weld spots are back far enough from the end that where the temper of the blade is killed it's supported by the other piece. Also, you can protect the blade and retain it's hardness by wrapping it in a very wet rag to keep it cool.
aloha everyone, i have a lincoln weld pak 140 and when removing the gun to change a spool i somehow broke the wire and it is now stuck in the wire feed inside the welder. there is about 4” coming out of the outgoing guide and 4-5” before the incoming guide.
it was feeding fine before i broke the wire. the wire in the gun was easily removed but this foot long piece is stuck in the wire feed. it is fluxcore .035 NR 211 MP wire.
i have tried removing the wire by releasing tension arm and pivot arm and pulling in both directions. i didnt want to reconnect gun in case the wire would get stuck in filler tube.
any ideas/suggestions/comments would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance
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