Brazing Holes In Sheet Metal

Brazing is a technique for joining pieces of metal together by filling the join between the two metal pieces with a molten intermediary metal.

Brazing holes in sheet metal.

If you are going to weld on thin sheet metal such as car body parts then you re going to have holes to weld from time to time. Then clean the surfaces using soapy water or a. Brazing is a quick and inexpensive alternative to welding. Holes in thin metal can be filled with plugs.

This may be due to burning through the thin sheet metal welding molding holes fabrication or other reasons needed. And for personal projects and small production runs brazing is much more cost effective. A convenient method of preplacing filler metal is by using a brazing sheet an aluminum alloy base metal coated on one or both sides. Brazing is distinguished from welding because it uses an intermediary material usually a copper zinc alloy to join the two metal pieces rather than melting the pieces.

Brazing is also much easier then welding it s a lot like using a glue gun. Position the metal as desired. Heat treatable or core alloys composed mainly of manganese or magnesium are also used. Perhaps a simple rivet or sheet metal screw can be secured in the hole.

Using lineman s pliers the plug is cut to shape slowly snipping into a circle. A third method of applying brazing filler metal is to use a paste mixture of flux and filler metal powder. If the hole needs to contain a liquid a rubber washer can go on the sheet metal screw to render it water tight. The equipment in this project can be bought for as little as 30 dollars.

Heat the joint where the two pieces of metal will meet. Regardless of the reason you will have holes that need welded shut. Brazed metal can also be stronger then welds. Steps use the wire brush or emery cloth to scuff the surface of the metal.

For thicker sheet metal an old copper penny might be a quick source of material.