Showman's Pitch Catches Editor's Eye

Showman's Pitch Catches Editor's Eye WELDERS/TORCHES Welders/Torches 31-6-14 There's something for everybody at most big farm shows but the showmen are what I enjoy most. You know. The guys with the gadgets none of us can live without. I recently stopped to listen to a pitch for a fluxless brazing rod. The showman said it could mend broken toys, patch a tear in a pop can, or fix bashed thread on a bolt, all with a torch and his fluxless brazing rods. Buy a package of 25 for $59.95, and you could save thousands of dollars. Think how happy you can make your kids, your wife, your dad or mother! With a torch, and these aluminum repair rods, you can do almost anything! Of course like any good showman, he can fill your brain with numbers while bedazzling your eye with skill. Joints made with his fluxless rods have a tensile strength of 45,000 psi, handle an impact of 43 lbs., and have a shear strength of 31,000 psi. Before I know it, I'm saying "Give me a package. I'm sold." Do they really work? I take my package home to try. Of course that means I have to get a new bottle of propane for my torch. I can't find the torch head, so I have to get one of those, too. I rip a hole in a galvanized funnel just to see if I can fix it. First lesson learned. There's a fine line between heating galvanized metal up enough to patch it and melting a hole in it. It seems to melt at the same temperature as the rods. A few more tries and I have the hole patchedàwith a great big glob of slag. Copper pipe doesn't melt so fast so I try that. Last year I used lengths of copper pipe for plant stakes. A nail driven through left a pair of opposing holes, which I used as seats for hog rings. The copper didn't look bad in the garden, and twine tied through the hog rings held up the plants. I figured with my fluxless brazing rods, I could make them look even better. This time I used a chisel to slice the copper pipe open enough for a closed hog ring or washer to set in. All I had to do was heat them up and set a rod against the two hot surfaces. As it melted, the ring or washer would be "welded" in place. Lesson 2. The metal has to be really hot so the rod melts on contact. If the rod gets too close to the fire first, the pore structure of the metal must be open for the rod material to adhere. Lesson 3. You need a steady hand to hold the torch with one hand and the rod with the other. Needless to say, laying a bead with the rod isn't as easy as it looks. My problems with the rods were mine. They actually seem to work very well. The directions that come with them are clear and warn against most of the mistakes I made. I was very impressed with the strength of the welds I completed. Will I use them again? Whenever I get the chance, and whenever my hand is steady. Most of all, I can't wait for my next farm show so I can watch the fluxless brazing rod showman showing me how easy it is to do what he does. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mid-AM Marketing, 3144 Hwy. 159, Nortonville, Kansas 66060 (ph 913 886-2747; fax 913 886-2747; www.mid-ammarketing.net).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.