https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-7fVKnJV4s

-Hudson

His plan is to bolt up the pipe into the engine twice for the repair. The first time was to mark locations and get measurements. From that, he could get close enough to machine the approximate pipe/flange joint connection interface. Then after that machining, he will go back and bolt up a second time to tack weld the flange to the pipe.

Thanks so much for putting these videos up, they're very interesting. Looking forward to seeing how you braze the pieces to together. I have a broken brass Pullman end platform handrail I'd like to fix, I've tried with a couple of bits of scrap brass rod roughly the same size, but I can't get them hot enough (or maybe I'm doing it wrong).

Brazing Brass is a bit tricky. The brazing rod filler material melts at a temperature quite close to Brass. It is easy to melt the brass part you are trying to repair.

Try this;

Practice on some scrap parts first.

Grind/abrade the joint area, oxidation in the joint will make it harder to get the brazing material to stick.

You want to create a "V" shaped groove at the break in the part, the brazing material will replace the original brass.

Fixture your parts to keep them rigid (maybe drill some holes in some steel and bolt the handrail segments in place).

Get some proper small brazing rod with a flux coating;

Search for; "Lincoln-Electric-3-32-in-x-36-in-Low-Fume-Flux-Coated-Brazing-Rod" (or a similar product).

You need at least a Mapp gas/Oxy torch, an Oxy/Acetylene torch is best.

You want a torch tip with a flame that is about 1/4 the size of the part you are fixing, you need to get in close with the flame to heat just a small area of the joint.

Warm the whole area of the joint with the torch to drive out any moisture and preheat the parts some (about 500-700 degrees F, "straw colored", not red - hot).

Apply the flame directly to a small area of the joint, the surface of the part will start to look "wet" (the surface is melting and looks like shiny liquid).

Pull the flame back a bit and apply the brazing rod to this small area, the heat of the liquid on the surface of the part should melt the brazing rod and the torch will help.

Remove the heat and let that little area of the part/filler metal cool and solidify.

Keep working your way around the joint filling it in in small areas.

On the next area you braze you want to melt the base metal and the previous filler metal so you have no voids.

It helps to wire brush the flux from previous passes.

Brazing brass can be done, it just takes patience, do not overheat the part.

I have had good luck reinforcing broken brass parts by drilling the ends of both pieces and inserting a steel pin "halfway" into each piece. The Brazing process sticks to both the brass part and the steel pin. This is a bit tricky.

The brazing filler metal should be as strong as the brass base metal so if you can get a good bond between liquefied metal areas brazing alone should work.

Be careful, brass has a very high heat capacity, once you get a foot long piece of brass hot enough to braze in the middle both ends will be way too hot to touch, and it will take quite a while to cool down enough for safe handling (10-30 minutes).

Resist the urge to throw it in a pail of water, the thermal shock will distort things.

I used to have a "hot" sign that I torched out of steel plate, I would place that right next to the part so I could leave the area and not worry about burning anybody.

Cheers, Kevin

Or use silver solder

Silver solder is another choice. It takes just about the same amount of effort and prep work. A slightly lower temperature is required.

Silver solder is way more expensive to use for a large joint. you could braze a broken handrail with $20 worth of brazing rod. Silver solder for the same repair could run $200.

And silver solder is not as strong as a proper brazed joint. If done properly a brazed joint on brass/bronze/cast iron can be just as strong as the original metal (50-60 kpsi tensile strength). A silver solder joint will not be as strong (20-40 kpsi tensile strength).

Silver solder is best for sealing joints in pipes (like HVAC plumbing) and for small non-structural items like jewelry. I did use it for a small (4 inch x 6 inch) model steam boiler running at 50 psi, worked great. They use Silver solder to seal the pipe joints in jet engines (sometimes).

Most HVAC professionals use brazing on copper tubes for a good permanent structural joint that stands up to vibration.

Cheers, Kevin.