Gunsmithing silver brazing

[Platypus]

Gentlemen,

Looking for any tips or tricks I should be aware of before attempting to silver braze a new rilfe front sight onto my Mossberg 590.

Danel

 

[desertrat1979]

Re: silver brazing

Keep the heat even, dont be shy with flux. Also, you dont need to use a lot of solder. If you are good enough you can add a small amout to one area and using the heat of the torch, spread the solder to other areas. Once the solder has melted and starts to flow it will go to the areas with the most heat. Practice on some scrap till you get the hang of it. Also, dont quench the area after you are done. Let it air cool, or it will get brittle from rapid cooling.

 

[LRI]

Re: silver brazing

Clean all your parts well prior.

Heat the part, not the solder. If it's a smaller item, consider preheating everything by tossing it in an oven prior to getting the torch out.

Around .002-.004 gap on all parts so that the solder can draw into the seams via capillary action

Depending on the type of solder you use depends on the amount of heat. Generally when it just starts or right before it turns to a dull, dull cherry red your at the right temp.

 

[BlackOps Tech]

Re: silver brazing

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: C. Dixon</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Clean all your parts well prior.

Heat the part, not the solder

Around .002-.004 gap on all parts so that the solder can draw into the seams via capillary action

Depending on the type of solder you use depends on the amount of heat. Generally when it just starts or right before it turns to a dull, dull cherry red your at the right temp.



</div></div>

+1....Flux is your friend, you don't need as much silver as you might imagine and manage your heat as evenly as possible once the silver starts to flow. I typically apply the silver on one side of the part and "pull" it to full coverage with the heat.
You'll want a nice clean silver line all the way around the part when you're done and clean-up should be very minimal.

 

[WRM]

Re: silver brazing

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: platypus</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gentlemen,

Looking for any tips or tricks I should be aware of before attempting to silver braze a new rilfe front sight onto my Mossberg 590.

Danel </div></div>

Nu-Line Guns told me that you need special fixture to keep the barrel round, or you'll end up with an oval. And then there's the whole re-bluing thing.

I decided that the project was beyond my current capabilities, and had them thread the barrel for tubes while they were at it....

Good luck,

Bill

 

[LRI]

Re: silver brazing

Wellz, Dakota Arms has been soldering front sight bands, wedding bands, and quarter ribs on rifles since the mid 1980's. I can assure you the fixture is no more sophisticated than a shop vise to hold the barrel and a couple clamps to fixture the part.

Dakota's aren't the most accurate rifles in the world, but most do shoot quite well. I'd have a tough time swallowing that its from a barrel bore suddenly turning into a football as a result of sweating a sight band on.

 

[LRI]

Re: silver brazing

Did I say barrels don't warp? No, I did not.

Did I say Nuline is full of shit? No, I did not.

Did you state in the beginning that Nuline is a shotgun company? No, you did not. (nor did I know that they are as I don't fiddle with scatterguns)

So, suffice to say your taking things I said out of context and I should have done more research to ensure we were talking about apples only instead of including oranges.

truce?

 

[cal50]

Re: silver brazing

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: platypus</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gentlemen,

Looking for any tips or tricks I should be aware of before attempting to silver braze a new rilfe front sight onto my Mossberg 590.

Danel </div></div>


Silver solder or silver braze?
If the surface area is adequate the lower temp silver solder might be a better selection. Silver brazing usually takes +1100 Deg.F to flow. Either way use a quality flux and if possible make a jig or something to help align the sight. Simple job just don't rush it.

 

[Spuhr]

Re: silver brazing

I usally hammer out the silver to a thin piece of sheet metal, and put that together with the flux betwen the two parts.
If the solder then flows beutiful areound the gap, you can be pretty sure that it also have filled the gap and not just is around it.

Håkan

 

[RADcustom]

Re: silver brazing

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Spuhr</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I usally hammer out the silver to a thin piece of sheet metal, and put that together with the flux betwen the two parts.
If the solder then flows beutiful areound the gap, you can be pretty sure that it also have filled the gap and not just is around it.

Håkan </div></div>

This is how I did it also, when soldering on front sights.

 

[WRM]

Re: silver brazing

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: C. Dixon</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
truce? </div></div>

Truce.

All I was doing was relaying my experiences with the same project that Daniel asked about (Ghost ring base on 590 barrel), and took your reply as a call of "Bullshit" ("warping is not an issue..."). Since there were several issues that I was ignorant of before I spoke w/Nu-Line about the work involved (strip bluing, fixture/braze, re-blue), I thought Daniel may need to know about these before proceeding. I didn't ask Nu-Line what the "special fixturing" is, it may just be a wedge stuck in the muzzle to keep it round, but I really don't know exactly what they do to alleviate this concern.

Nu-Line did the above described work for me, and also threaded for Win-choke tubes, and I'm very glad that I had it done (I drilled and tapped the receiver myself). In Hindsight, I'd have been better off starting with a ghost ring model 590, but am glad that I proceeded with the project. I've only shot one 3-gun match with it after the work, but with the IC tube and Ghost Ring, there was only one target that I had to hit twice - a big steel popper that I hit low the first shot. In our previous match w/ factory Cyl bore choke, I'd have to hit some of the longer the 4" square steel target shots multiple times before they fell, and that got quite frustrating. IC and GR was Rock-n-Roll!...

Cheers,

Bill

 

[WRM]

Re: silver brazing

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cal50</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Silver solder or silver braze?</div></div>

Because of the temperature required, it's actually brazing ("silver soldering" is a mis-nomer). The strip/sheet method being preferred, assemble/fixture the pieces (barrel, flux, silver braze sheet, flux, sight base) and apply heat until the silver braze melts.

Cheers,

Bill