From: Snag_one@msn.com   
      
   On 2/20/2026 1:19 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:   
   > On 2/17/2026 8:52 PM, Snag wrote:   
   >>    I'm going to try my hand at brazing new carbide on some chipped and   
   >> worn boring bars for my mill . I have 3 choices for heat source , O/A   
   >> , TIG , or my induction heater . I also have a couple of choices for   
   >> braze filler , phosphor bronze TIG filler , regular brazing rod , and   
   >> silver solder if I can find mine . I also have some brass wire ,   
   >> composition unknown and a few sticks of silphos , though I don't know   
   >> if that will stick to steel . I also have both borax and regular   
   >> brazing flux .   
   >>   
   >>   The plan is to heat and remove the old/broken insert , apply flux   
   >> and a thin piece of brazing filler topped with a new carbide piece ,   
   >> and heat to brazing temp . After watching a couple of youtube videos   
   >> it looks like I may need to hold the new carbide in place as it heats/   
   >> cools , I'll probably use a piece of SS TIG filler for that .   
   >>   
   >>    I just realized that I can replace the carbide teeth on the face   
   >> mill that came with my milling machine . I tried to sharpen the   
   >> cutters on the lathe , turned out less than optimum . If I do that   
   >> I'll use the indexing device I built for sharpening end mills to   
   >> sharpen them . Might try that to even them up , might turn out I don't   
   >> need to replace them right away .   
   >>   
   >>   Thoughts on heat source and filler selections ?   
   >   
   >   
   > A quick read tells me silver solder 45% silver or higher is considered   
   > "best".   
   >   
   > Silfos (typically 15) is for copper to copper or copper to bronze.  I   
   > have a couple pieces I used for soldering copper tube on an AC unit.   
   > Silfos is nice for copper as it is supposed to be self fluxing, making   
   > out of position work easier in theory.  In reality I only got good   
   > joints on the bench.   
   >   
   > Brass can work, but it doesn't stick to the carbide as well as silver.   
   >   
   > I have a small section of 45% silver solder around somewhere and I can   
   > tell you it was expensive.  I bought it at the a local welding store,   
   > the better one, that doesn't usually gouge me.  It was NOT good enough   
   > for repairing band saw blades.  But there should be no flex in your   
   > carbide to steel connection.  If you want it you know how to reach me,   
   > to remind me of your address.  (If I can find it.)   
   >   
   > There are light fluxes and dark fluxes, and I think those with boron   
   > (black brazing flux) is best, but borax might be a poor man's   
   > alternative.  They use borax at forging temperatures afterall, (and for   
   > some heat treating operations) so it probably won't burn off.   
   >   
   > Some I recalled, some I got from an old This Old Tony Video, and some I   
   > double checked using Goggle's AI search function.   
   >   
   >   
   >   
      
      I have some silver solder I bought expressly for repairing/making   
   bandsaw blades . Haven't seen it in several years ... I'll look into   
   getting some more (*wallet gonna take a hit) as well as some black flux   
   . There's no rush , this is one of those "one of these days when I get a   
   wild hare" projects .   
      OK just ordered some 47% silver solder (old stuff with cadmium) and   
   some black flux . Bet y'all a nickel the solver solder I already have   
   shows up before the stuff I just ordered arrives ... the damn flux cost   
   twice what the silver solder (10 feet of .016/26 ga wire) cost , but I'd   
   bet it's more than a lifetime supply for me in both cases .   
      *I don't worry too much about cost these days . My wants/needs are   
   simple and for the most part well under a hundred bucks . About the only   
   thing I run past the wife (got one of the rare "good ones") is guns or   
   tools over a couple hundred .   
   --   
   Snag   
      I appreciated foreign cultures more   
   when they stayed foreign ...   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)