Building a Shotty with soft solder & easy flange
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:49 pm
Here's a bit of a run down how I build a shotgun condenser, I only use soft solder regardless of all the hype about brazing & other methods.
My easy flanges also only consist of the 1/4" flattened ring soldered on, there are other methods but this is the easiest to keep square & a lot less work than the flaring methods being used by some people. Regardless of what method is stronger I have never had my method break, crack or leak & can swing a keg around on one.
First up is to mark up and drill your end plates leaving the piece your going to cut on, this makes clamping and drilling the plates easier than if you cut the discs first.
Next you want to cut the disc out to the inside diameter of the pipe keeping it a fairly firm fit, when you cut you pipe with pipe cutters it leaves a bur on the inside edge that will act as a retainer for you disc.
Now to solder these discs in is a pretty simple task, flux the inside of the tube and drop the disc in then push it down with the handle of your hammer. You want a nice flat surface under it that doesnt soak up the heat so I use a ceramic tile on a paver.
Place 10mm bits of solder around the edge on the inside of the pipe once youve got it fluxed, push the solder against the pipe wall with a brazing rod or something similar until you end up with something looking like this.
Heat the outside of the pipe with a fairly high flame and keep it moving all the way around the pipe, you want the whole area to be soldered hot instead of just holding the torch in one place.
Once your solder is melting & flowing use the torch to steer the flowing solder around the joint, keep the torch moving until the joint is full. If you ended up with a few spots where the solder didnt meet then just flux the joint again while its hot the reheat & the solder will flow & fill any voids.
My easy flanges also only consist of the 1/4" flattened ring soldered on, there are other methods but this is the easiest to keep square & a lot less work than the flaring methods being used by some people. Regardless of what method is stronger I have never had my method break, crack or leak & can swing a keg around on one.
First up is to mark up and drill your end plates leaving the piece your going to cut on, this makes clamping and drilling the plates easier than if you cut the discs first.
Next you want to cut the disc out to the inside diameter of the pipe keeping it a fairly firm fit, when you cut you pipe with pipe cutters it leaves a bur on the inside edge that will act as a retainer for you disc.
Now to solder these discs in is a pretty simple task, flux the inside of the tube and drop the disc in then push it down with the handle of your hammer. You want a nice flat surface under it that doesnt soak up the heat so I use a ceramic tile on a paver.
Place 10mm bits of solder around the edge on the inside of the pipe once youve got it fluxed, push the solder against the pipe wall with a brazing rod or something similar until you end up with something looking like this.
Heat the outside of the pipe with a fairly high flame and keep it moving all the way around the pipe, you want the whole area to be soldered hot instead of just holding the torch in one place.
Once your solder is melting & flowing use the torch to steer the flowing solder around the joint, keep the torch moving until the joint is full. If you ended up with a few spots where the solder didnt meet then just flux the joint again while its hot the reheat & the solder will flow & fill any voids.