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Build Better Joints Through Welding and Brazing Processes
Admin • Mar 07, 2022
Two of the processes that industrial artisans and manufacturers use to build strong joints for their products are welding and brazing. Welded metal joints tend to be stronger than brazed metal joints because of the temperature of the heat source and the type of filler used to join the joints together. There are many different types of welding processes as well as brazing processes.
Welded joints use a fusion, or a high heat, process to weld two pieces of metal together. Brazed joints use a capillary process to fuse together two pieces of metal. Both processes
make
joints strong. Both use filler material like silver to fuse metal together.
But
it's the heat and adherence of that filler material that makes the difference in joint strength.
Welding Strength Two popular, but very different types of welding are electric arc welding and plasma torch welding. Electric arc welding uses 10,000-degree temperatures to join two base pieces of metal together, while the more specialized plasma torch welding process can surpass that temperature by 40,000 degrees, welding at an extremely high temperature of 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Both processes use high heat which literally melts the base metal, creating a liquid weld pool that, after cooling, solidifies into one permanent joint. Its joint strength comes not only from the high weld temperatures but also from the precision arcs that allow pinpoint accuracy.
Brazing Strength Although durable, brazing creates less strong joints than welding. Brazing is only as strong as the filler material that holds the two pieces of metal together. The filler used to braze a joint acts like an adhesive, keeping the metals from separating. This works by a process called capillary action. Metal is rarely smooth, especially at the edges after it’s been cut to size. There are little cuts and grooves, and brazing channels melted filler into all those tiny gaps in the metal. After the metal cools, the joint strengthens.
Welding Filler You don't necessarily need filler for the welding process. Filler is only used when welding base materials are dissimilar. Sometimes the chemistry of each piece of metal is so different that simply welding them won't create a strong joint. Therefore the welder has to make a choice of filler based on the chemistry of that metal being welded. It should correlate or match up. The more it matches up, the stronger the joint.
Welding Strength Two popular, but very different types of welding are electric arc welding and plasma torch welding. Electric arc welding uses 10,000-degree temperatures to join two base pieces of metal together, while the more specialized plasma torch welding process can surpass that temperature by 40,000 degrees, welding at an extremely high temperature of 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Both processes use high heat which literally melts the base metal, creating a liquid weld pool that, after cooling, solidifies into one permanent joint. Its joint strength comes not only from the high weld temperatures but also from the precision arcs that allow pinpoint accuracy.
Brazing Strength Although durable, brazing creates less strong joints than welding. Brazing is only as strong as the filler material that holds the two pieces of metal together. The filler used to braze a joint acts like an adhesive, keeping the metals from separating. This works by a process called capillary action. Metal is rarely smooth, especially at the edges after it’s been cut to size. There are little cuts and grooves, and brazing channels melted filler into all those tiny gaps in the metal. After the metal cools, the joint strengthens.
Welding Filler You don't necessarily need filler for the welding process. Filler is only used when welding base materials are dissimilar. Sometimes the chemistry of each piece of metal is so different that simply welding them won't create a strong joint. Therefore the welder has to make a choice of filler based on the chemistry of that metal being welded. It should correlate or match up. The more it matches up, the stronger the joint.
Brazing Filler
One common filler used in the brazing process is silver. Silver can
join together
both iron metal and non-iron metal. The temperatures used to braze a joint is much less than what
is used
to weld a joint. Keeping filler at a melting point above
840 degrees
ensures that capillary action is smooth. The filler also must fit in a gap that ranges from 0.001 to 0.005 inches. Anything larger than that and no amount of filler will strengthen the joint.
Whether you choose welding or brazing depends on whether you need pinpoint welding precision, the strength of the base metals, and if you need your joint to weigh less. Other factors include
the size of the assembly and whether or not you have a linear assembly area
. Brazing is better for linear joints because the filler material is easier to lay straight and to place between the pieces of base metal.
Welding is better suited to non-linear
joints,
although both work equally well on spot joints. The appearance of the weld or braze is another reason to choose one or the other processes. Brazing is a much cleaner process than welding. Welding tends to show little beaded droplets on the weld line that need to
be cleaned up
. You will have to finish it by hand which takes a bit more skill not to damage the weld.
Sam's Welding Incorporated
works with both large and small jobs. We have 20 years of military welding experience to serve you. Emergencies are no problem. Call or come in and we will help you with your next project.
Most Popular Types of Welding
Are you hiring a welder to get something fabricated or repaired? Sam's Welding Inc. offers the following types of welding in El Cajon: Gas metal arc welding. Perhaps the most popular of them all, this method is also known by its abbreviations GMAW or MIG, for metal inert gas. It’s an average of five times faster than electrical arc methods and includes four material transfer options: spray, pulsed spray, globular and short circuiting. Shielded metal arc welding. A form of stick welding commonly known as SMAW, this process uses electrical current to form an arc between the rod and metals in production. Uses include industrial fabrication such as the construction of iron and steel structures. Gas tungsten arc welding. This method is known as TIG or GTAW and requires the most skill, as heat is continuously regulated by means of a foot pedal. If amperage is set too high, you can end up burning holes in the metal. If it’s too low, the weld won’t flow properly. It’s especially useful for combining thick pieces of stainless steel and ironless metals. Flux-cored arc welding. Unlike MIG and TIG, FCAW keeps contamination out by means of a flux. This process doesn’t require a shielding gas, can be done outdoors and is quite efficient. Working with different positions such as horizontal, vertical and tee joints requires different machine configurations. Serving San Diego, CA Whether you need several hundred pieces or just one, we’re happy to take on the project for you. We are combat veteran owned and have more than two decades of experience handling military projects with success. We serve El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee, and the entire county. We have expertise with the design and fabrication of gates and fences. You’re welcome to walk into our San Diego shop or call us anytime at 619-281-2709 .
Whether you have some new projects lined up to modify and enhance your home or there are some significant repairs that need to be done to some of the metalwork, you want to have a professional metal welder on the job. There are numerous specific instances in which having welding done by a certified military group such as Sam’s Welding Inc. in El Cajon is worth your investment. Perhaps you need a car welder to perform some precise car part welding or you need to ensure the safety of a premises with some security door welding . Of course, not everything that involves metal fabrication or repair is on a large scale. More often than not, welding is needed for smaller things that see use on a daily basis, such as: Staircases Hand railings Gates Fences As far as stairs are concerned, our professionals can help with anything from a new hand railing to a completely new and complex spiral staircase. Even if the work needs to be done outside on fences and gates where the materials need to be more durable, our nearly four decades of experience in the field have given us the knowledge of how to complete jobs in a way that is both aesthetically pleasing and keeps you and your loved ones safe. Serving El Cajon, La Mesa and Santee Metalwork, whether it is basic framing or a more elaborate fence job, has a large impact on our lives every day. Therefore, when the time comes in which you decide to invest in modifications, fabrications, or repairs, you’d better be sure that you have qualified people doing the work. That’s what you’ll get when you call Sam’s Welding at 619-281-2709 . If you live in El Cajon, La Mesa or Santee, ask about our walk-in and mobile services to maximize our availability to you.
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Phone: (619) 281-2709
Address: 4821 UNIVERSITY AVE STE B San Diego, California 92105
Serving The San Diego County: San Diego | El Cajon | La Mesa | Santee
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