brazing hearth

HI all,

been looking at the brazing question on the forum.......

wouldn't mind some sort of hearth for myself.......

are there any kind of heat bricks that I can get without the major expence of buying new and the shipping ?.......would the heat bricks from a storage heater do?.......it's only for occaisional use.......

idea's please.......ta clogs

See

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The ones Neil mentioned in that thread from Cup Alloys work for me. Light enough to put up on a shelf when not being used, try that with old heater bricks which are not what you need as they absorb heat not bounce it back and insulate.

Yes, Jason is dead right about the 'Cup Alloys' kit....MUCH better than fire-brick in just about every way......also get a piece of the 'blanket' as it makes initial heating vastly more efficient.

..........You can buy fire-bricks quite cheaply from 'Wilkinsons' super market chain (Wilko's) but it's not in the same league as the Cup-Alloys stuff.

Yes, I purchased a set at the Midland Show (as CuP had a show deal) - so saved a few pennies towards the cost of some 455 low temp silver solder I also needed. It's nice and light and could be used 'as is' but I think I will make a frame to hold all the bits together. It may be a bit small for some larger work but will be fine for most of what I do...

Previously however, I've just used a ceramic blanket (also from CuP) in an old BBQ tray. This also works very well and is not too expensive (my first one was about £6). I also have a tin (baked beans one will do) with the top half 'side' cut away and stuffed/lined with bits of ceramic blanket - which is very handy for small brass assemblies (boiler fittings mainly) when silver soldering them. The ceramic does seem to go 'brittle' after a few uses (so hard to re-shape) but still functions well. So for occasional use on small parts - ceramic blanket is a useful & economic solution and just needs an appropriate 'container' to keep it in place....

Regards,

IanT

When my Cannon Gas Miser expired years ago, the Radiants were saved for just this purpose and have been used to good effect. The "slats" were removed from them and the dimples on the back face ideal for supporting lumps to be Silver Soldered. Though these had long gone with the demise of said Gas Miser but my recently fitted Flavel gas fire has similar units fitted.

Regards Ian.

heat bricks from a storage heater are fine if you are just soldering small stuff but a disaster for bigger stuff - they absorb heat instead of reflecting it so you spend a lot of energy heating them up. Set from CUP as suggested, I use vermiculite bbq board, still absorbs some heat but not a lot, bullet proof in terms of temp resistance. Availible ont bay at £10 each

See my comment on ...

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George.

I used an old BBQ and put some aerated building blocks on it, works well for me. they are easy to cut to make any special shapes/sizes.

Broken bits also useful for filling up empty spaces.

Having said that I will get round one day to buying some 'proper' blocks.

Bill D.

Crowhurst Engineering, in Hythe, Kent, used to do brazing hearths, (two sizes from memory).

The bricks that come with the hearth are very good.

Howard

there is a clue in the words

. some of you won't have a problem with heating in a few years time - go to church this Sunday.