Can titanium be soldered to brass?

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

I'm making some Christmas trinkets and will want to fix some titanium bits onto 1/16 brass stems.

The Information Superhighway wasn't encouraging when I tried looking up soldering titanium – in fact it looks as if jewellers are using the stuff for clamps precisely because of its solder-resisting capability.

Does anybody have any more hopeful tales to tell, or should I just reach for the Araldite?

Edited By Mick B1 on 27/09/2017 19:19:33

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

It's a bit like aluminium. It resists corrosion because it's a very active metal that reacts with atmospheric oxygen to produce a tough oxide on its surface. This isn't a good recipe for soldering.

Edited By Mark Rand on 28/09/2017 01:39:39

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Is it absolutely necessary that this must be titanium?

Michael W

[Keith HaleParticipant @keithhale68713]

one for gluing!

Keith

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Posted by Michael-w on 28/09/2017 03:05:27:

Is it absolutely necessary that this must be titanium?

Michael W

 

I've already made the bits, and the family like the iridescent blue oxide coat you can get by heating.

Well, 297 views and 3 replies (for which thanks), all negative – looks like it's Glue Time! 😀

Edited By Mick B1 on 28/09/2017 08:26:20

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

If you blue it, how will you solder it as you have to get rid of the oxide(the blue, and the invisible), and if you manage to solder it, how do you get it blue without melting the solder. Maybe mechanical fixing.

Ian S C

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Posted by Ian S C on 28/09/2017 10:43:26:

If you blue it, how will you solder it as you have to get rid of the oxide(the blue, and the invisible), and if you manage to solder it, how do you get it blue without melting the solder. Maybe mechanical fixing.

Ian S C

My cunning plan was to blue it first, then open up the hole I was gonna solder the 1/16" brass into to expose bare metal. Soldering temperature wouldn't be enough to affect the blue.

But I tried it on a bit of scrap titanium and a half-inch of the brass rod, and couldn't make it work. I wondered if there was some miraculous flux available that would get the titanium to tin.

[David Standing 1Participant @davidstanding1]

Posted by Mick B1 on 28/09/2017 10:58:55:

Posted by Ian S C on 28/09/2017 10:43:26:

If you blue it, how will you solder it as you have to get rid of the oxide(the blue, and the invisible), and if you manage to solder it, how do you get it blue without melting the solder. Maybe mechanical fixing.

Ian S C

My cunning plan was to blue it first, then open up the hole I was gonna solder the 1/16" brass into to expose bare metal. Soldering temperature wouldn't be enough to affect the blue.

But I tried it on a bit of scrap titanium and a half-inch of the brass rod, and couldn't make it work. I wondered if there was some miraculous flux available that would get the titanium to tin.

Unobtinium

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

Have you tried the old trick for soldering aluminium ? Scratch the joint with a stainless wire to expose the bare metal ? I don't have any titanium lying about to try.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Mick B1

Let's try a different question:

Must the other bits be Brass ?

The reason I ask is; I think Titanium can be 'resistance welded'

MichaelG.

[Brian Sweeting 2Participant @briansweeting2]

A quick and short answer is NO.

Certainly not in the average shed.

Some general examples of the methods and problems given here…. **LINK**

[Trevor Drabble 1Participant @trevordrabble1]

Further informationon brazing options here at Johnson Matthey – Brazing Filler Metals – Ti-Flo Filler Metals.

Trevor .

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 28/09/2017 12:00:28:

[ … ]

The reason I ask is; I think Titanium can be 'resistance welded'

.

Yes, it evidently can … see here: **LINK**

MichaelG.

.

P.S. for Rocket Scientists, and others with the enthusiasm glance at 236 pages:

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/633247.pdf

 

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 28/09/2017 19:07:30

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 28/09/2017 19:00:39:

P.S. for Rocket Scientists, and others with the enthusiasm glance at 236 pages:

**LINK**

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 28/09/2017 19:07:30

Yeah, thanks for the research, but rocket science is getting to be the issue. Some of the other bits are PB102, which is why I was hoping to use solder to attach them as well as the titanium bits. I've got butane torches and multicore solder, and I think we're getting a long way outside the scope of those.

There's a possibility of mechanical attachment if I make extra threaded holes for titchy grubscrews inside some of the bits where they won't be seen. But there's a leaf made of titanium foil to attach too, and I can't see an alternative to glue for that.

[Stuart BridgerParticipant @stuartbridger82290]

Another blast from the past. It seems that most of my posts here are reminiscing about my apprenticeship. I did a 3 months stint in the aircraft laboratories at Brooklands. I was helping out on a research project that was investigating a new surface treatment for preparation before bonding titanium. Mostly I was doing the grunt work of filing the edges of two test pieces that had been bonded. The objective being to have a clean surface so that you could see the progression of disbonding when a wedge was driven between the two and the sample subjected to a steam cabinet. We went through files in very quick order.

I would think a epoxy glue should do the job after making sure the join is thoroughly clean and degreased.

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

Mick B1 I have sent a P M just thought it may interest you.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

I don't know if this would work on Titanium, it does on aluminium: put a drop of oil on the spot you want to solder(tin/lead), scrape the aluminium, then apply the soldering iron, rub it back and forth until the surface is hot enough to melt the solder. This is a good method for soldering earth wires to radio chassis, who the heck has aluminium chassis on radios these days.

Me on little single valve regen set.

Ian S C

[Nick HulmeParticipant @nickhulme30114]

I've used a spot welding machine to resistance Silver Solder 3mm Stainless Steel pivot pins onto Stainless Steel parts and I've used the same machine to weld Titanium threaded inserts onto 1mm Titanium sheet so I wonder if it might be possible to use one of the filler alloys (http://www.jm-metaljoining.com/products/ti-flo) listed for titanium for resistance brazing in conjunction with the correct flux?

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Thanks a lot for your thoughts, folks – if I'd had something more serious to make I'd've probably taken more of them up.

In the end, the only soldered joint was the brass stem to the PB102 loop for the chain to go through – it's a sort of acorn/leaf pendant:-

If it's liked by the family, I might make more of them.

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

GJ

Michael W

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Cool.

Reminds me of an art exhibition inculding coloured titanium slips I saw back in the 80s and had completely forgotten about.

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 03/10/2017 13:35:10:

Cool.

Reminds me of an art exhibition inculding coloured titanium slips I saw back in the 80s and had completely forgotten about.

Ah. I always suspected I was so last century .

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Not quite 'Trustee from the toolroom' but heading in that direction.

Edited By Mark Rand on 03/10/2017 17:13:36

[Jon CameronParticipant @joncameron26580]

Posted by Mick B1 on 03/10/2017 11:13:28:

Thanks a lot for your thoughts, folks – if I'd had something more serious to make I'd've probably taken more of them up.

In the end, the only soldered joint was the brass stem to the PB102 loop for the chain to go through – it's a sort of acorn/leaf pendant:-

If it's liked by the family, I might make more of them.

Thanks for this, my partner said to me about a month back, if I could make anything pretty on the lathe. I think I'll be showing her this, a nice example of pretty things made in the lathe.

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