Silver soldering a bicycle frame boss - GIF

[Altair]

Silver soldering a bicycle water bottle boss.




Previously:

Selective soldering machine - GIF
Micro laser soldering - video
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...723#post136802

[McDesign]

Satisfying to see!

[Beserkleyboy]

Yup...but a bit heavy on the flux! We used to do it without the escutcheon plate for water bottle mounts and brake cable standoffs. Surprisingly, never had a failure! Cheers
Jim 30 yr expat cyclist and amateur frame maker in AUS

[McDesign]

Back in school, I made some weird, crude ones for fun -
Starting with this one when I was 13 -

Then various recumbents -







Fun times!

Forrest in Atlanta

[Rikk]

That is one thing I've never done. Welded, brazed, soldered, but never silver solder. Pretty neat how the solder wicked into every edge with only two small applications. I need to try this sometime.

[thehomeengineer]

Can someone please let me know what he used to clean after soldering to remove flux. I normally dip in a acid bath but in the video he seems to wipe with a cloth and it is perfectly clean. The flux is normally like glass and very difficult to clean.
many thanks.
The Home Engineer

[Beserkleyboy]

Yep, it flows like water at the exact right temp, which must be controlled, too hot, flux burns and no wetting. Here's a couple of links for further info on the process.
We used to use 40% silver content filer rod, and the process was 'Silver Brazing'. The lower temp 'Silver Soldering', which I believe is misrepresented in the OP, uses a filler rod (or more often a coil like other 'solders' with only about 20% silver. It would not have sufficient strength for the bike frame usage. The 40% is very expensive, thankfully you don't need much. You can use Oxy Acetylene with a slightly carburizing flame to keep heat down or Air Acetylene. The working temps for 40% silver are around 1200-1400F.

https://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/...x-removal.aspx
https://www.fusion-inc.com/brazing/silver-brazing/

Cheers,
Jim

[Gadgeteer]

Back in school, I made some weird, crude ones for fun -
Starting with this one when I was 13 -

Forrest in Atlanta

I get it... front wheel drive, 'cause you wanted to save the fenders.

[McDesign]

Great story about that bike - called "Moby Dick".

It was originally purchased by my great aunt, in Asheville, NC, in the thirties when she was a teenager (she later played in the women's baseball league during WW2 - like in the movie A League of their Own).

Anyway - my dad, born in '37, learned to ride a bike on it - barely able to touch the pedals. Granddad would take him and his three brothers and three other bikes to the top of Mount Mitchell (6684' high), and they would coast down on the Blue Ridge Parkway, burning out the coaster brakes each time - but granddad had an automotive shop, so it was quick to reline the brake cylinder with truck lining scraps.

Around 1950, dad mounted an (outdoor gasoline-powered) washing machine motor on it, on the handlebars, driving the front wheel with a roller.

We got the bike, sans motor, from granddad in the '70s, and fixed it up and it was dad's normal bike again for bike rides with the family in GA. When I was thirteen or fourteen, maybe 76-77, I put my old 2 hp B&S go-kart motor on it in the pic you see above.

Now, I believe it's gone to a cousin who has restored it for his kids - in the foreseeable future, it will; reach its own "Century".

Forrest in Atlanta

[Gadgeteer]

Agreed, Forrest, a great bike story. Thanks for sharing.

Photo is of one of the bents I built a few years ago. Brazed the joints with OA. After knees were replaced I could no longer pedal for more than a few yards, so I added a 34cc friction drive engine to the rear.