What can I use to glue brass piping?
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What can I use to glue brass piping?
Will CA-Glue work if I'm gluing part of a brass pipe into another piece? Or do I need to use something like JB Weld?
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en'til Zog
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Depending on the scale, I have frequently used CA glue.
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Umi_Ryuzuki
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If it isn't too large, or structural you can use electrical solder...
I use electrical solder(60/40) all the time for railings...
For uptakes and stacks, where I butt joint angled cuts, I use silver solder and a propane torch.
Ace Hardware Alpha metals silver solder 56% silver(1205° F melting point)
Soldered exhaust uptakes and fire monitors...
Clean up with a wire brush and sand paper..
A wire brush on the dremel will work too.
CA glue works fine, but cut a smaller diameter tube or rod to splice the joint from the inside. Or larger tube if you want to make the joint prominent...
I use electrical solder(60/40) all the time for railings...
For uptakes and stacks, where I butt joint angled cuts, I use silver solder and a propane torch.
Ace Hardware Alpha metals silver solder 56% silver(1205° F melting point)
Soldered exhaust uptakes and fire monitors...
Clean up with a wire brush and sand paper..
A wire brush on the dremel will work too.
CA glue works fine, but cut a smaller diameter tube or rod to splice the joint from the inside. Or larger tube if you want to make the joint prominent...
I solder electrical componets to circut boards all day long at work. Its actualy very easy (but I've got over a decade of experience).
A typical no-clean flux core SN63 electrical solder works fine for brass typicaly used in modeling. You don't want the high melting point silver solder as you risk melting the brass.
Also if you get a glob of solder on your joint, there are ways to fix that. the most common is a solder sucker, typicaly its a squeeze bulb (just reheat the solder until its wet and use the bulb to suck the excess away). Another is solder wick, a ribbon of fine brass mesh that is placed over the offending solder glob and reheated drawing excess solder into the brass mesh. There are also solder pastes that can be applied like paint to contact areas before heating.
Soldering does take practice. When done right it forms a bond with the brass not unlike welding. You will more likely break the brass than the solder joint if done right. If you are useing a jig to hold the pieces in alignment while you solder, then I'd use a soldering iron (you have much more direct control over where you place the heat this way, and won't be risking catching something on fire like you will with a torch). If you arn't useing solder with a flux core (and sometimes even if you are) then you will need some flux. Flux can be dangerious, toxic stuff...as you apply your heat the flux boils away preparing the surface for soldering. It is the flux boiling away that gives off the smoke and smell typicaly associated with soldering. Just heat the joint and after a second or two start feeding the solder to the joint area.
If the joint is hot enough then the solder should quickly reach its "plastic" stage. Typicaly it becomes very soft at this stage turning a dull silver. You want the solder to become "wet", basicly it melts turning a very shiny chrome color in a liquid form thinner than water. At this point surface capilary action draws it into every nook and cranny of the joint almost like it gets sucked into the surface. you can then remove/turn off the heat source and let the parts cool down. The solder will dull slightly but it will be fused with the brass, the edges where the solder meets the brass should be perfectly smooth. This entire process only takes a few seconds on smaller joints.
Your best bet for practiceing is to get a strip/sheet of brass and just try it out. Heat a small area and try to get a small glob of solder to fuse with it. If it globs up like mercury then either there isn't enough flux or (more likely) the brass isn't hot enough. If the solder turns a real dull shade of grey with little puck marks and creators, then the solder got too hot or it was disturbed before it cooled. If you do it right then the solder should have a even silver color, with a very slight hump in the center surrounded by feathered edges into the brass...at that point you won't knock it off even with a chisel.
Good luck
A typical no-clean flux core SN63 electrical solder works fine for brass typicaly used in modeling. You don't want the high melting point silver solder as you risk melting the brass.
Also if you get a glob of solder on your joint, there are ways to fix that. the most common is a solder sucker, typicaly its a squeeze bulb (just reheat the solder until its wet and use the bulb to suck the excess away). Another is solder wick, a ribbon of fine brass mesh that is placed over the offending solder glob and reheated drawing excess solder into the brass mesh. There are also solder pastes that can be applied like paint to contact areas before heating.
Soldering does take practice. When done right it forms a bond with the brass not unlike welding. You will more likely break the brass than the solder joint if done right. If you are useing a jig to hold the pieces in alignment while you solder, then I'd use a soldering iron (you have much more direct control over where you place the heat this way, and won't be risking catching something on fire like you will with a torch). If you arn't useing solder with a flux core (and sometimes even if you are) then you will need some flux. Flux can be dangerious, toxic stuff...as you apply your heat the flux boils away preparing the surface for soldering. It is the flux boiling away that gives off the smoke and smell typicaly associated with soldering. Just heat the joint and after a second or two start feeding the solder to the joint area.
If the joint is hot enough then the solder should quickly reach its "plastic" stage. Typicaly it becomes very soft at this stage turning a dull silver. You want the solder to become "wet", basicly it melts turning a very shiny chrome color in a liquid form thinner than water. At this point surface capilary action draws it into every nook and cranny of the joint almost like it gets sucked into the surface. you can then remove/turn off the heat source and let the parts cool down. The solder will dull slightly but it will be fused with the brass, the edges where the solder meets the brass should be perfectly smooth. This entire process only takes a few seconds on smaller joints.
Your best bet for practiceing is to get a strip/sheet of brass and just try it out. Heat a small area and try to get a small glob of solder to fuse with it. If it globs up like mercury then either there isn't enough flux or (more likely) the brass isn't hot enough. If the solder turns a real dull shade of grey with little puck marks and creators, then the solder got too hot or it was disturbed before it cooled. If you do it right then the solder should have a even silver color, with a very slight hump in the center surrounded by feathered edges into the brass...at that point you won't knock it off even with a chisel.
Good luck