First Practice Fille

[Giff Holmquist]

So, a buddy at work gave me a Soma CX frame he had cracked the DT on. Going to use it for practice in the not too distant future by fillet brazing a new DT in. So, mitered up some tubes and did my first practice fillet.

Felt better than it turned out, but my biggest issue is being able to see the brass while I'm brazing. VERY difficult to differentiate between the brass and the flux when it's up to temp. Don't know if the lenses are too dark or too light. I'm also thinking I might step down the torch size by 1.

Any words of wisdom here?

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[Andrew R Stewart]

What glasses are you using? What filler rod and flux? I don't see much burning so not yet too hot. I like a small and tight flame for fillet. You really only want the area you're trying to add filler to be hot enough. Gravity and too much heat away from the spot you're adding filler to results in the filler running away from the joint (as in photo #3). Andy.

[Giff Holmquist]

I've tried 2 different sets of my Oakley sunglasses after trying the goggles I have. Not sure what the googles are. Might be a 5.

The runaway was the tack....right as I started tacking some guy walks up to the garage to try to sell me siding.....what perfect timing!

I'm using GFM Type B flux with 1/16" brass.

[Will Neide]

I've tried 2 different sets of my Oakley sunglasses after trying the goggles I have. Not sure what the googles are. Might be a 5.

I use my Oakleys. I have the blue ice tint lenses. I think they are one of the more heavily tinted lenses for very sunny days. I use them for bronze, and for silver I use a very lightly shaded lense, or clear lenses. And low lighting in the shop helps. I don't like it "lights out" dark, but I don't have spot lights shining on the project I'm brazing.

[Greensabbath]

I'm no expert but I have come to enjoy fillet brazing so I bought a pair of Green Ace IR glasses for here Lampworking Glassblowing Glass The #1 Choice Among Professional Glassworkers . The block the yellow light emitted by the burning flux and the ones I bought have a shade 3 lens to keep things dark. They are night and day compared to even very dark regular sunglasses and well worth the investment so far.

[duanedr]

I'm no expert but I have come to enjoy fillet brazing so I bought a pair of Green Ace IR glasses for here Lampworking Glassblowing Glass The #1 Choice Among Professional Glassworkers . The block the yellow light emitted by the burning flux and the ones I bought have a shade 3 lens to keep things dark. They are night and day compared to even very dark regular sunglasses and well worth the investment so far.

Me too. Made a huge difference in being able to see what's going on with the puddle. Since the eyes are getting a bit worn out, I picked up a pair with magnification and then use a 3 clip ons.

[eBAUMANN]

I'm no expert but I have come to enjoy fillet brazing so I bought a pair of Green Ace IR glasses for here Lampworking Glassblowing Glass The #1 Choice Among Professional Glassworkers . The block the yellow light emitted by the burning flux and the ones I bought have a shade 3 lens to keep things dark. They are night and day compared to even very dark regular sunglasses and well worth the investment so far.

Im also just beginning to dip my toes into the world of fillets, most recently practice brazing with a gasfluxer and man, the flame is MUCH brighter than it was without the fluxer...any recommendation for eyewear that would work well with the bright/green gasfluxer flame? The ray bans I've been wearing just don't feel quite as dark as I would like...

Thanks in advance everyone and good luck with your practicing Giff!