Braze carbide tips onto lathe tooling with copper electrical wire

Does it work ? Watch and find out. Plus the little Sherline lathe gets a workout.
Camera: Nikon L820

[@Steve.Garrison]

Great job! I wouldn't have guessed that ordinary copper wire would bond to carbide. I have done some silver-soldering of carbide saw blade tips - it's frustrating when parts move. I just snip off a short piece of solder rather than touching the joint with the wire, it takes less heat. Like silver, copper wire rapidly conducts heat away from the joint. Subscribed. Cheers!

[@TechGorilla1987]

I was a rock crusher technician for a few years here in the US. We used to use old wire coat hangers to braise thin metals for covers and guards. It worked a treat!

[@JohnBare747]

The old Copper Carbide Caper, good one, nice to know as one can never predict when something like this tip will come in handy one day.

[@iancraig1951]

A well planned video again Rob---and its easy and quick to braze up your own tooling---more power to the hobby machinest..

[@AmateurRedneckWorkshop]

G'day mate. That was the usual inventive Rob for sure. Now we know and just watching has given me ideas. Thanks for the video.

[@tomherd4179]

Good to know about the brazing. I have some carbide that has damaged corners from normal (or abnormal) tool use. But other sides/corners are ok; so by attaching the good side to a tool I believe I can get more use out of them. Thanks for the idea.

[@Xynudu]

Hi Tom, That's how I use up the damaged tips from my tooling. Just toss them in a jar for later. They break up easily when wrapped in a rag and hit with a hammer, to get small pieces (for small tooling). Cheers Rob

[@shawnmrfixitlee6478]

I do this all the time house wire is cheap and works just as well ! Thumb up Rob ..

[@patrickcraig6032]

Rob,thanks for info on the brazing.Will try using copper this week.When I had the Uni-Mat lathe I used the carbide tool bits with good success.High speed and slow feed rate.The motor would bog down if you tied to much of a feed.That is a cool homemade grinder with the connecting rod for a bearing support.

[@Xynudu]

Hi Patrick, My father made that grinder. He was a motor mechanic. Simple idea. Still works a treat. Good luck with the copper. Needs plenty of heat. Cheers rob

[@pg9112471]

I think what you did here is great. But I also think its over kill. I drilled and tapped a hole for a carbide insert on square stock and works beautifully. I also have the ability to change out the good sides of the insert as it wears out. like your vids Rob. Keep up the great work you do.

[@Xynudu]

Hi Pete, I have made indexable carbide tooling with a screw, and that's a no brainer. This video is an experiment to see how well copper bonds with carbide. Moving on from there, I can then use it to make small boring bars and tooling that won't take a screw in the conventional fashion. If you look at the boring bars in my drawer, you will see that the majority are in the above category. Cheers Rob.

[@pg9112471]

I knew I was missing something... Thanks for clearing that up Rob. Hey, how would you feel about a remote control for your sherline. I made one for one of mine and it works great so far. I would also like to share an idea for a machined spinning top. There's a whole group of people consisting of several thousand that are really into them. I think you might like it. You can start by looking up pocket top talk on Facebook. I have a video of my remote control lathe and examples of some tops I've made on my channel. Really like your channel.

[@Xynudu]

Hi Pete, I checked out your videos, interesting. The remote is sort of like manual CNC. Not for me, but thanks for the heads up on it. Your spinning tops look beautifully made. I will check out the link on facebook. Cheers Rob

[@Xynudu]

The hole is only there for a locating pin or screw. Some inserts don't use a hole. It is not required for brazing purposes as the bronze will capillarate/flow between the carbide and the tool base to form the bond. So yes, those inserts would work OK as shown in the video. If you look at fixed tip carbide tipped tooling, you will see that the carbide is held on by a bronze base. Cheers Rob

[@billbaggins]

Interesting as always Rob Shirley is running nice and sweet now. Cheers mate.

[@Xynudu]

He He Shirley, that's a good one. Cheers Rob

[@billbaggins]

Maybe you could make a nice etched brass nameplate for her. Cheers. Bill.

[@barry7608]

loved the vid, good to watch people who know what they are talking about. Just a comment on the gal (zinc) playing a part in your previous vid, it would seem total nonsense to me. The zinc will almost have completely burnt off by the time you had reach brazing temp. No zinc no influence. Love the idea of using copper as an alternative

[@keldsor]

Hi Rob ! I'll surely try that some day in the near future - thx for sharing !

[@Xynudu]

At least it will warm you up a bit Keld :) Cheers Rob

[@keldsor]

xynudu Yeah, I could use that at the moment - we have a damn cool periode here right now ;-(( The shop is waiting ... but one thing that's nice - I have a clean bench over there waiting for me ;-))

[@russbilzing5348]

I used to make copper ingots of the scrap I'd collected and the best method I could find was a carbon arc torch chamber.

[@ChrisB257]

Apart from the need for higher heat input, the bond seems viable for sure. :)

[@mackk123]

i have a bunch of old saw blade teeth from when i tried to make some meat cleavers... ill definitely try this! i am a big fan of your work!

[@Xynudu]

Be aware that the tungsten in most saw blade teeth is generally a lower hardness and more brittle than tungsten for tooling. So they may chip/break. But having said that, give it a go and see how it works. I've never done it, and some feedback would be good. Cheers Rob

[@ke6bnl]

I have used wood saw blades I cut up to .500 width and put in my parting tool for parting steel. has worked really well.

[@keantoken6433]

Perhaps silver solder would have the benefit of requiring less heat so you don't lose all the hardening in your shank? This might be helpful for long boring bars where rigidity is important. Or perhaps use an air hardening steel and adjust the process to create the right hardness?

[@rayfalcone6897]

nice tip Rob,as asual you pulled it out of your bag of tips....

[@myscummyneighbours6065]

I've made lathe tools and grinding wheel dressers (for a living) for 10 years. If you need any help, let me know. Setting up my own home workshop myself atm.

[@coburnlowman]

Glad to know. It's odd that I haven't needed to braze anything in at least 10 plus years. Last week I broke a steel hydraulic line and several other brazing jobs popped up after. I'm glad to know copper wire will work. One thing tho I didn't catch what you're using as flux?. Now will it work for bandsaw blades? We have a band saw mill that occasionally breaks a blade for no reason and we have them piled up and they need welded.

[@Xynudu]

I use Ezi Weld 303 which is a universal Borax based brazing flux. The correct flux makes a huge difference. I've tried brazing band saw blades with very limited success - they need to be electrically welded from my experience. Rob

[@doughenning4899]

I think the one who committed zinc and copper make brass is mistaken ! Copper and Tin ???

[@almapartnership5293]

At the temperatures needed for melting copper the zinc would have long ago evaporated. Molten Zinc has a high vapour pressure which is why its difficult to refine in metallic form and before electrolytic methods were discovered is was made by a condensation process.

[@markspc1]

Good work. It maybe that brazing carbide tip with copper is better than brazing rod because copper is a good heat conductor and will carry the heat away from the cutting edge more efficiently.

[@Xynudu]

Carbide works better the hotter it gets, so a bit of extra heat is a good thing. There is a limit of course and that's why CNC machines run coolant for production runs. Cheers Rob

[@TrojanHorse1959]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@Xynudu]

I tried this in a previous video and failed. This time I used a simple brick hearth as a heat trap, and it made all the difference. Cheers Rob

[@marmac567]

im surprised you shifted carbide with your carborundum stone.. ive always needed to use a diamond..

[@Xynudu]

I use a green stone made to grind carbide.

[@brandontscheschlog]

Great video! What kind of flux did you use? I tried using copper wire yesterday to braze carbide onto steel and I had no luck. I will try again. Maybe I didnt have enought heat and I was worried about getting the carbide too hot

[@Xynudu]

I used EZIWELD 303. Any Borax based flux should work. Cheers Rob

[@meocats]

of course it can use carbide, what do you think swiss lathes making 5mm diameter parts use? crappy ass hss bits?

[@ericjohnson8482]

That grinder with the connecting rod for a bearing holder has me intrigued, can you tell me more about it?

[@Xynudu]

Hi Eric, It was built many years ago by my father, who was a motor mechanic all his life and in the army during WW2. It uses two inverted conrods, with sealed ball races clamped in the bottom ends by the bearing caps, and the gudgeon pin ends clamped by a through bolt. A junked belt drive motor completes the package. It's been used for cutting, grinding, tool sharpening, wire buffing and metal polishing over the years. Great because there's no motor body to get in the way, as with my generic 8" grinder on the bench. I did a video on it way back: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2qtfoV6r82np7s Cheers Rob

[@Bigtwin88]

Nice job...

[@strokedriedrie]

Nice work Rob! By the way do I hear and see it right you straighten the engine so the pulley's are inline no, the noise is a lot less!?

[@Xynudu]

He He. Yes it's all aligned correctly now. It turned out a neat fix Arend. I made up a thin strip (1 mm) of right angle steel which fits in the motor mount arm and squares everything up. The noise is OK now. Cheers Rob

[@mikekrening7327]

Hi Rob, is the magnetic, digital measuring tool you use on this video a homemade tool? If so tell us about it. Thanks Mike

[@Xynudu]

Hi Mike, Yes, it's an original idea I came up with many moons ago. Lots of people have since copied it. I have a blog on it that tells all: users.tpg.com.au/agnet/microdro2.html It's super handy and cheap to make. Cheers Rob

[@nedshead5906]

I've used my arc welder with carbon gouging rods (after peeling off the copper sheath) as an improvised electric arc furnace before, I put one gouging rod in the hand piece and the other in the ground clamp, I wonder if I could put a gouging rod in the hand piece and use it to heat the work and then braze carbide tips with it?, I don't have a gas torch so I might have to try it out

[@Xynudu]

You can only try it and see if it works. That's not something I've had any experience with. Lets know what happens. Cheers Rob

[@KnolltopFarms]

Sounds harry to me, but if you're patient and careful I wager you could pull it off. May be a bit of an overkill, and I imagine the hardest part would be not blowing chunks out of your steel shank, LOL! Please do let us know.

[@meocats]

this would have been useful 10 years ago. nowadays you can get brand new coated inserts off ebay for less than 20usd a pack shipped.

[@justincomisk]

Very cool. Are the new Sherline mini lathes still good?

[@Xynudu]

It seems so, judging by the comments and what people do with them. I've never used one. Rob

[@MakinSumthinFromNuthin]

Rob, having an extremely hard time on mobile device hearing you lately...I know you are soft spoken but had to wear earphones to hear you on this vid using an iPad. maybe its my end....dunno

[@Xynudu]

When I play that video, my volume control on the desktop PC is at 50%, which is where I usually try to set the video. It varies with the PC/device . My I5 Asus laptop has the volume up full on all YT videos (not just mine). I always wear headphones with YT as it's clearer than those poxy speakers most PC's have. If I go louder when shooting the video, the camera can easily over modulate and distort the sound. Can't do much about it except get a camera with a mic jack, which I will do one day. Cheers Rob

[@MakinSumthinFromNuthin]

Ohh, its no problem, I always get around an issue. Just thought I would mention it in case it wasn't a problem on my end. I have an iPad2 from like 2008...a total POS for viewing my favorite channels. Cheers, MSFN

[@ARCSTREAMS]

you should have left it like that at 6:10 and not played more with it,you ended up moving it out of position

[@ke6bnl]

I might have missed it but what flux are you using, silver solder, or brazing flux??

[@Xynudu]

Hi Ed, Brazing flux - Eziweld 303. This is a pink Borax based flux. Cheers Rob

[@ke6bnl]

Seem like it is only listed in Australian item, wonder if brazing flux will work mostly Borax. Not a real issue I have always want to try to try tig welding copper with copper and I will just have to throw in a test of copper braze with my brazing compound. thanks ED

[@leonardpearlman4017]

Silver solder with Nickel is the standard thing, and black flux. If you were going to buy something. Ordinary silver solder seems to work pretty well for bandsaws, someone mentioned that earlier. Like "Easy Flo". You don't need very much.

[@Zakamooza]

might sound like a stupid question, but can you not weld it ?

[@Xynudu]

No.

[@turbotonic27]

why is that ?

[@Xynudu]

You need to have an induction welder - which is a production piece of equipment beyond most home workshops. Rob