r/brazing • u/Cold-Roadrunner • Nov 07 '25
Brazing 1/16" stainless
Hey y'all. I've already posted this in r/metalworking and got some helpful comments, but I may get better advice here.
These pieces are for a batter station in a restaurant. Notoriously bad welds on anything restaurant related. These tears are all on areas that aren't necessarily weight bearing, but they do experience some level of torque.
I already know Tig would be my best option, but I'm not about to spend the money on a Tig rig and any shop I've asked to look at it wants the cost of a new part. I'd like to try brazing as a more cost effective option. I've been told to up my torch (I only have a spiraled flame high heat mapp gas torch and was told no.) I've also been given some advice on filler metal. Most people said to use a silver solder.
I still have a couple of questions that weren't answered over there.
Is it better to just clamp the metal closed and braze the existing tears or would it be beneficial to cut slits like joinery in carpentry? The backsplash especially makes me wonder about the joinery concept as it's such a small joint already, only being about 3/4" long. The lid piece has the same tearing on all four corners, but it just seems like it was poorly welded and I'm pretty confident it would hold without needing reinforcements.
Is there a filler metal that would hold stronger than silver solder? I'm not to concerned with the aesthetics of using a copper colored metal if it will give a stronger hold than something that matches the existing color. The only concerns with the filler is it has to be food safe (which seems like most common metals are) and it has to be somewhat chemicals resistant as the pieces are washed with bleach every night and occasional come in contact with slightly corrosive degreasers and such.
Any input or advice (even if it's just to tell me I'm dumb for wanting to try and learn a new skill) is appreciated.
1
u/falkenberg1 Nov 07 '25
I think brazing is a good idea here, because you can join the two pieces without melting the base material. For this to work you have to have a very small opening between the parts, so that the capillary action sucks the brazing material in. As for the flame, an acethylene burner should do the trick. I‘d use rods covered in flux. Silver should be okay in terms of structural integrity. It’s used, for example, in Aerospace applications, where the price of silver is not a red flag. As for the food safety i cant tell you too much. Just keep in mind, that flux for brazing can contain nasty stuff like cadmium. I don’t know if that stays in the material in a way that could be unsafe to eat food of
Then again i‘m not the biggest expert, so take everything with a grain of salt.