Ten Reasons to Braze Your Application

July 10, 2017

There are a variety of reliable metal joining methods.  Why choose to braze your application as opposed to any other method of joining?  Evaluating the appropriateness of brazing for your metal joining application requires consideration of the part’s end service requirements, such as corrosion resistance and stress level the part will encounter.  Before you choose brazing, consider the following:

1. Brazing is permanent:  if you may need to disassemble parts in the future, consider mechanical fastening a better choice.
2. Do your base metals have a melting point in excess of 1000°?  Brazing occurs at temperatures between 840°F and 2300°F; base metals need appropriately high melt points.
3. Is your assembly design conducive to brazing?  Faying surfaces must overlap a distance of at least 3x the thickness of the thinnest member being joined (sometimes called the 3T rule), and joint clearances approximately .003 inches or less.  This design will result in the brazed joint being as strong or stronger than the base metals.
4. Brazing is fast and efficient:  complex assemblies can be brazed in less time than it would take to produce a complicated casting or mold.  Furnace brazing and automated banks of torches allow multiple parts to be processed at one time.
5. Brazing is able to join large surface areas using wide brazing strip(s).
6. Brazing is able to minimize stress related distortion in parts.  Heating temperatures are comparatively low, and heat is widely distributed over the joint.
7. Brazing is able to join dissimilar metals easily.  Copper to aluminum, copper to stainless, and carbide to steel are all commonly joined by brazing.
8. Brazing is able to join ceramics to metals.
9. Brazing is able to join base metals with dissimilar thicknesses.
10. Brazing via furnace can maintain very close dimensional tolerances.

Still have questions or are unconvinced that brazing is right for you?  Contact us to discuss your application!