Looks like I'll get a chance to TIG weld some Bronze tomorrow or the next day, all new stuff using strips of the material for a correct color match. This is artwork not structural stuff, and tips from those that have done it. All my previous TIG work has been with aluminum body work.
Did some railing ends for a buddy who does work in nyc in fancy pants designer type apts.Used eutectic...?sp,rod to weld lambs tounge ends to brone and nickel silver railings.They had a few alloys to do it with,they all welded like ****.Verry smoky and you think your not getting pure welds but you are.If i remember right,even ended up with a white fuzz on the outside of the weld.It liked to be welded on the colder side.After a few test pieces we found some real good matches with the parrent metals.Was useing 3/32 2% on a 250 areowave miller with 100% argon at about 165-185 amps on a solid top rail.Wasnt a pleasure to do but i wasnt doing large amounts of it.Hope this helps....................Gary
Might have better luck on one of the welding forums. Whenever I've done Bronze, I just set everything up like I was doing steel.
Gary - sounds like you were burning on br*** - do able but very diff. Lots of Zink in br*** - white & stinky. Bronze welds very nice - like copper - ( LOTSA amps ) using strips of base material is a good idea.
I've had to repair some sand-cast bronze (silicon bronze) headlight grills recently. Using AC it works a lot better to get a clean weld on sand pits. It flows out better too. Joe
I have burned br*** before and its quite pissy.The hand rails were called bronze but i could tell from the color it was not It was a alloy so its quite poss.there was some br*** in the making of it.It wasnt pure bronze for shure,but with the designer it was all about the 'patina'.IK have welded copper before and yes ALOT af amps for shure.My miller 300 was maxed on dc for 3/16 plate.Would helium or a mix be adventagous.Never used a/c for a ferrious metal maybe dc/rp would weld hotter.
Welding bronze is not to bad .Just remember not to leave the heat on the bronze to long it will collapse or pool up .I weld to it all the time Good luck .As fare as br*** goes I pay some one to do that **** I dis like it .My 2 cents
Also have a fan going. The smoke is zinc oxide and can be deadly. If you get poisoned by it, drink lots of plain milk. It offsets the effects and rids the body of the zinc. Don't ask me how I know.
Welded alot of worn fairleads and cutl*** bearings. Br*** and bronze- cast and machined pieces. Cleaning with a stainless wire brush and preheating especially on the big stuff is a must. Tried both ac and dc I prefer dc. Tried some new rod from our vendor dont remember the # wasnt anything to brag about I always just used silicon bronze (everdooer) with straight argon, messy but got the job done. Some came out looking great and some not. Depended on the quality of the casting. Barstock welds great. FEDER
Ha!, I've been there too Does a body good. I think the closest I ever came to blacking out was after welding a bunch of galvanized when I was first an apprentice. Silicon bronze is awesome, I use it for art stuff and to put together ss and copper. But obviously you're on the right track with using the parent metal to match the colors. I haven't really done bronze, but I always had better luck with D/C on copper, using 75/25. Helium may work, give it a shot!
I first leaned TIG from a guy that did nothing but bearings for airplane engines, they would bring him the used bronze ones and he would add a layer of fresh bronze and build them back up (babbit material?). I never did any myself but he did nothing special i could see. 'Course he'd been doing it since the bronze age.
A friend was building pot racks and wanted to do one in bronze and I offered my Tig. As noted above, br*** smokes from the zinc and bronze does not; and you better have a "big" machine to weld with. The heat transfer is unbelievable; we were trying to weld 1/4" strap and had my dial arc HF 300 cranked to the max and still could not make a decent pool.
you might try asking on http://www.metalartistforum.com/ lots of metal type artists on there later jim
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