"Practice Lugs" for Brazing

[Eric B]

Anyone know where I can get some "Practice Lugs" for learning brazing?
Or can anyone recommend a good material to start with without ruining
lugs or tubing? I am looking to get started and don't want to spend a
lot on lugs and tubing to just practice with. Does Henry James sell
seconds?

Eric

[Alex Wetmore]

From: Eric B [ebran...@gmail.com]

> Anyone know where I can get some "Practice Lugs" for learning brazing?

Nova Cycles sells a cheap set of stamped lugs that can be used for learning. Richard Sachs has sold practice lugs in the past, but I don't know if he still has them. The came in both stainless and regular and were nice investment cast lugs with complex enough shorelines to provide good practice.

> Or can anyone recommend a good material to start with without ruining
> lugs or tubing?

You can do a lot of practice with two sizes of tubing, one that is 0.058" larger than the first (so 1" x 0.035 and 1.125" x 0.058" for instance). The smaller size mimics a frame tube, the larger mimics a lug. Just make sleeves and practice drawing the brass through, and then you can start to carve the sleeves up to practice more difficult shorelines (and your lug carving skills).

Aircraft Spruce, Online Metals, and Wicks Aircraft are all good sources of 4130 tubing in bike-like sizes. 0.035" is very close to .9mm, which is the wall thickness of the thick end of most steel tubing that isn't heat treated, so it is a good size to practice with. 0.058" works for the sleeve because 1+0.058+0.058 = 1.116, leaving a 9 thousanths gap (a bit more than a slip fit) with the next size up of 1.125".

alex

[TIM.N...@comcast.net]

Eric, Go to Nova Cycle Supply They have an inexpensive stamped lug set and their own brand of tubing is well priced. Also Ceeway.com has a whole beginners tube and lug set at a good price and shipping from England is not too expensive and its fast. I just got a complete MAX set with fork parts 3 days after ordering.
Tim
www.lighthousecycles.com

Tim Neenan  tim.n...@comcast.net

[Brandon Ives]

Bon't bother with practice lugs unless you can get them for $3 a piece. get some 1.125" diameter 0.035" wall tubing and some more 1.25"x0.058" and cut some rings from the larger stuff and pretend it's a lug. If you can flow from one side of a 3" piece to the other without cooking the joint you'll have no problems with lugs.
best,
Brandon Ives
Springfield, MO

[Eric Doswell]

Check out Aircraft Spruce or Wicks Aircraft (plenty of other places too) for 4130 tubing in the sizes Brandon mentioned. It's usually 3-4ish dollars a foot, and it'll make lots of practice lug type joints. You can also get a feel for mitering higher (though 4130 is on the low end of tubing strength compared to frame tubing) strength steels.
E

Don't blame me, it's that dang auto-correct I swear.

----- Reply message -----
From: "Brandon Ives" <ivyc...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 22, 2011 12:59
Subject: [Frame] "Practice Lugs" for Brazing

[Eric B]

Thanks for the replies all. I am going to order some tubing and get to
it. Next question. Where do I get silver and flux? Can I get it from
my local weld shop? Do I buy if from a frame supplier?

Thanks again for the info,
Eric

> > Eric- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Pete Ruckelshaus]

I have bought 56% "Safety Silv" and brown flux from my local welding supply that work fine, but I think once my current stock runs out I'm going to give the CycleDesigns USA stuff a try.  You definitely want 56% for lugs, unless it is Cadmium-bearing, and you'd get 45% of that stuff.  However, the Cadmium stuff is very dangerous if you overheat it to oxidation, the fumes are very toxic.

[Wissahickon Cyclery]

Learn how to braze with brass for lugs because once you can flow brass the silver will make more sense.  The filler is less the issue and the heat control is more the issue.  Brass flows just as nice as silver if the heat is good.  Plus brass is cheap and also deals better with crappy preparation of the metal. 

That and read the archives of the old list.  That question has been beaten to a pulp over the years.

-Drew

ps- Alex can you add a link to the old archives at the bottom of every e-mail?  That would be great.

--
Drew Guldalian
Wissahickon Cyclery
7837 Germantown Ave Phila,PA 19118
www.wiss-cycles.com
www.engincycles.com

[Alex Wetmore]

From: Wissahickon Cyclery [wissc...@gmail.com]

> ps- Alex can you add a link to the old archives at the bottom of every e-mail? That would be great.

Woops, I thought it was there. I've added it back and this is the test message to see if it works.

alex

[Hank Folson]

Henry James Bicycles has what you need. Our Price List is on our entry page at http://henryjames.com/price10.pdf
Also check out http://henryjames.com/techinfo.pdf
We have no practice lugs available.