Horseshoe joining help

Silver Soldering might work just fine but I don't know if a standard propane torch would be hot enough to do the job. Real easy to find out and it won't cost you an arm and a leg any welding shop or jewelery supply can sell you silver solder and flux.

L Burdick wrote: (clip) Or does it really need an acetylene torch (which I do have)?(clip) and would probably be too yellow for an unpainted finished product. ^^^^^^^^^^^ If you have oxy-acetylene, why not use it? As far as the color of the braze metal, against the gray color of the horseshoes, if the work is neatly done, it can be attractive as a part of the art-piece. To prove to the viewer that you meant it that way, you could even add some extra braze metal in other places, or polish it to show you are proud of it.

Thanks! I forgot the rule: If someone gives you lemons, make lemonade.

- Larry

Your oxy/acetylene torch is way more desireable for this project. With oxy/acetylene, when you apply the flame the steel will be ready to braze in a moment or two. The flame burns somewhere in the range of 3600 degrees F.

But with a regular propane torch, I am not even sure if you could get the horshoe to brazing tempature--the flame is a) way cooler (around 1350 degrees F) and b) delivers way fewer BTUs. Part of the difference is in the heat of the flame and the other part is in the greater volume of burning gas that the oxy/acetylene set delivers.

Try the propane torch first, as an experiment and you'll see it takes a LONG time to just get the horshoe warm and even longer to make even a tiny edge red hot. Then, try your gas welding torch. You'll be convinced right away.

I would not shy away from brazing the horeshoes together--the joints will not be very noticiable and you'll get a very good result.

Another option is to weld with your torch. Your welding supplier will provide some mild steel gas welding rod.

Good wishes, David Todtman

Oh man. I do go shooting my mouth off sometimes. I just did some looking up and need to offer corrections:

--standard propane torch: 2500 degrees F.

--oxy/acetylene flame: 5500+ F. Sorry, David

How hot does a turbotorch get? Peter

If you have oxy acetylene, then gas weld them. It's a new skill to learn, but it's nothing especially hard. It's also a very relaxing form of welding. It's slow, and there's not a damned thing you can do to speed it up, so just sit back and let it go at its own pace. I don't gas weld much, but I do enjoy it when I do some.

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

Hey Larry, While brazing certainly works for joining horseshoes, I prefer a MIG welder. One reason is that it only takes two hands. Brazing technique takes three. :} Plus it is very fast and clean. Check out some of the horseshoe figures I built on my site.

Those pics are really cool. They should have gone into the "What's the coolest thing you ever made-anybody have project ideas for me?" thread.

The horseshoes represent quite a bit of thermal mass - requiring quite a bit of localized heat. To reduce the financial investment, start with the OA torch and 1 lb. of small diameter mild steel welding rod. It will be slow, but it should work where appearance is an issue.

Brazing/soldering are for lap joints. Horseshoe art is typically butt joints with insufficient overlap for brazing.

The MIG alternative is MUCH faster than OA to complete a joint.