Pipe soldering Questions

[Andrew Gabriel]

I would be careful about the surface exploding out. Slate is formed by compression, not by firing.

I would suggest using something that has already been fired such as a ceramic tile or a brick, which I suspect is less likely to explode if heated again. Eye protection still advisable though.

I expect you'll find pieces of asbestos sheet easily to hand too in many places, although asbestos cement sheet can blow apart with a loud pop in a fire and would not be suitable, even if they are ignoring the long term health risks.

[0345.86.86.888]

You can use them even when they're "dead" with regards to scouring pots.

Only thing to e aware of is not to use them on hot pipe. I'm pedantic about seeing a perfect bead of solder around the end of the joint which often means a quick re-clean and touch-up after the initial joint is made; green scourers melt.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Andrew Gabriel escribió:

Slate is used in fireplace hearths, indeed my own fireplace has a slate hearth.

[MrCheerful]

oh yes, quick, convenient and safe, love it.

[dennis]

I have seen slate explode when hot. I have also seen asbestos cement explode in a fire (1). Don't assume that non-combustable makes it 100% safe in a fire.

As ~7 year old my brother and I decided to play firemen and set fire to our sisters dolls house up the garden, the roof went with a very big bang and bits went everywhere. The sister wasn't happy. 8-)

[tabbypurr]

I'd not heard of that one before. I've seen ice used. Not sure but I think it had a bit of washing up liquid in it.

NT

[tabbypurr]

Cement asbestos sheet explodes in a fire IIRC, as does cement & sand sheet. Floppy asbestos works great, but I can't recommend that.

NT

[Tim Lamb]

I think heated asbestos cement roofing *explodes* due to steam forming within the sheet.

[Cursitor Doom]

They make springs for that very purpose. Fuck messing around with molten lead!

[newshound]

There is a (sort of) flaring tool sold by BES which is hammered into the end of a length of 15 mm copper pipe, swageing it out so that it can be soldered to another length without a coupling.

[newshound]

So do I!

[newshound]

No, springs are a PITA. Rather than lead, use Cerrobend or Wood's metal.

[tabbypurr]

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

Fireplace hearths do not get very hot

Its the firebacks that take the punishment

[Andrew Gabriel]

Sounds very plausible. In this case, even when using fired products (ceramic tiles, bricks, etc), make sure it has a very low absorbancy (e.g. engineering brick) so there isn't going to be water under the surface to blow out.

[PeterC]

For fridge pipework, I had a set of swaging(?) tools for increasing the siz of a pipe's ID to v. slightly more than its OD. Used to put about 1 dia. or a bit more in, then join it using what I knew as Cuproflow. So long as the pipe was clean and had been rubbed with a bit of steel wool, it didn,t need flux. Used an oxy-propane torch but possibly MAPP would do it.

Flaring is, well, flaring and is used in refrigeration instead of olive - if you think that forgetting a cable clamp or whatever until after doing the wiring is bad, try forgetting the back-nut on 1" pipe that's just long enough! (The T-shirt didn't fit, either).

[Andrew]

A ceramic tile