Could it be brazed??????

[christhurston]

Hello All,this may well be a dumb question,but in my defence I must confess that I know squat about brazing etc.
I have a Hotchkiss 3pdr round,that for reasons unknown has had a 4mm
hole drilled through the base of the case.This hole is partially in the rim and
partially through the thick portion at the base of the case,it doesn't
penetrate inside the case at all.I have seen pistol rounds drilled in a similar fashion to go on keyrings and suchlike.
Could this hole be filled with braze,and filed flat top and bottom???
As I understand it,brazing rods are themselves brass,and I wonder if the heat necessary would melt the case as well,I fear I'm totally clueless in such matters.

 

[Charlie]

Yes, it could be brazed but you'll end up with heat marks round the brazing unless you aneal it afterwards and of course file marks. Personally i'd leave well be and turn it round soas you can't see the hole!!!

 

[christhurston]

Many thanks,Charlie,it can be done okay,then,without damaging the case
itself.I wasn't at all sure about that,brass items are usually soldered,I think
Heat marks will be unavoidable with this particular case,there's a dent that
I'll need to try and remove,and guess what!!! it's at the front,when the hole is at the back!!!

 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Filling the hole;

why not use a colored epoxy, much neater.
John

 

[christhurston]

Yes,it might end up with something like that,John,but seeking perfection in
my collection,I was thinking that if it could be filled with braze,with a bit of careful filework,you'd never know it had been there!!! That's the theory
anyhow!!!!

 

[2pounder]

brazing

Interesting, not tried brazing cases but you might have a problem with the colour of the brass in the case being different to the brazing alloy as they are likely to be different alloys. might be worth a practice on a case or part of one you don't care too much for. Please keep us informed. 2pr

 

[dano1917]

E-p-o-x-y

I totally agree with the using of epoxy. It is permanent, neat, and can be finish sanded to match perfectly, and there are a number of brass simu. paints out there to match it up. Why heat on this precious old metal if it is not necessary. Thats my 1 squid worth...Dano

 

[ozziammo]

Brazing

Howdy Fellas,

Brazing is possible for patching holes in brass, the problem being that there are many qualities of brass, even within production batches of brass used for cart case manufacture & the brazing rods that you would be using.

When one quality of brass is brazed to another it is very difficult to match the exact colour, one will have more copper or zinc or other additives, no matter how you polish it when the job is finished you will have a slight discolouration.

Still, it can be done, depending how perfect you want it.

Good luck.

Regards Ozzi.

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Rod and Soft Solder method.

I would be tempted to get a small piece of brass rod the right diameter (a nice precise fit) clean both hole and rod with a good quality flux then soft solder the rod into the hole, cut off excess material when cool and carefully file to size with a final polish with some fine emery paper.

I have done this to several of my rounds that were "drilled" to remove the propellant leaving a nasty hole in the case side-the end result is, providing you can match the brass colour pretty good with the ring of solder only detectable if you know what you are looking for !

 

[christhurston]

Well,chaps,opinion is divided on what to do about this 'ole,heat will need to be applied to this case to "hopefully" remove aforementioned dent.That will,itself,have me sailing into uncharted waters,but it is just below the
shoulder of the case,so should be fairly accessible.I could save myself all
this hassle,as I've seen a dent and hole free 3pdr case on a dealers website.The fact that he wants almost as much for it as I paid for a complete round is making me rather reluctant to go down that road with too much haste.What would you do? it would make things a lot easier,right
enough,and would save me getting the blowlamp out!!!!

 

[tigbrand]

braze

Hi Chris, in my experience,you would repair brass using a soft soldering method ,ie, lead/zinc. Silver solder has more strength but a higher melting point. Both brazing and soldering depend on the surface to be joined being clean and hot to allow the solder/braze to key onto the surface. If you try to braze brass with a brass filler rod you will be basically welding it ,as the melt temp of the rod and case are so close.It can be done but i would not reccomend it unless you are very skilled indeed! if you anneal the dent first with a blowtorch(heat to cherry red and leave to cool),you could soft solder a bolt to the dent and hopefully pull it out with some work.It would pay to anneal the case after any work done to prevent the case work hardening,and to give it a nice patina. on for the whole i think chris 42s ideas is best, unless you arent old fashioned then coloured epoxy is the answer.Tig:tinysmile_fatgrin_t