Brazing alloys

I have both a cheap mig welder and an oxy-acetylene setup but I dont have the experience nessesary to mig weld stainless, so im thinking silver-brazing is the way to go for most of my planned brewing projects.

I know there are food grade silver alloys mostly listed for use in dental and dairy applications, my question is where can I find this stuff or is it really nessesary? will any Cadmium free silver alloy be acceptable for brewing equipment?

I guess I should also ask about flux, I assume the flux washes off and isnt a concern with food grade uses. most of the fluxes ive seen have fluorides in them is this ok?

I think that I'd braze it, too. I would just use a pre-fluxed stick. You'll be wanting to clean the joint after brazing anyway, so the flux shouldn't be a problem - you dont even clean the inside of a copper pipe after soldering, ya know? I don't think I'd be incredibly concerned with "food grade" rating, either. I'm pretty sure as long as you're using a lead free rod, it shouldn't be a problem.

I've silver-brazed a number of fittings onto stainless steel pots. I can't remember where I got my rods. I actually think it was Sears or one of the box stores, it wasn't at a welding supplies store, but I'm sure they would have it. It was a small packet with 4-6 12" prefluxed (blue) rods. I just used up my last rod so I need to get some more myself

springer said:

http://www.muggyweld.com/silversolder.html

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Holy $h|t! You could just have somebody weld it for the cost of that stuff!

it does seem expensive buy diy isnt always about saving money. plus the cost of all metals are going up, copper, stainless, silver is no exception. when you buy it by the ounce you have to remember that silver is sold by the troy ounce which is more than a normal ounce like what you measure hops in, 12 troy oz = 1 Lbs while 16 normal oz = 1 Lbs.

5 Is Not Enough said:

Holy $h|t! You could just have somebody weld it for the cost of that stuff!

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Yup ....ONE FITTING .



EDIT - What Yuri said I was trying to convey

You could do a lot of brazing with the amount of material supplied in the kits shown at that website. If you're looking at making a lot of equipment, it may wind up being cheaper than having all the work done at a welding shop.

Look for Harris Safety Silv 56% cadmium free silver solder in the 1oz package and get the Stay Silv (white) flux to go with. The flux will wash off after brazing but dissolves slowly, so be patient and use hot water.