Fire and Metal!

April 2, 2010 11:38 AM

I want to learn/get some experience with oxy-acetylene brazing near Boston. Does anyone know of a place around here that offers courses and maybe open shop space after completing a course? Willoughby and Baltic seems to have disappeared off the map.
posted by backseatpilot to education (6 answers total)

metalwerx for small scale stuff.
posted by rmd1023 at 11:50 AM on April 2, 2010

Depending on exactly what you want to braze, you could probably teach yourself. I taught myself to braze copper in an hour or two. Other metals are harder and more dependent on having the right brazing rod and flux. Copper's easy because it doesn't need flux so brazing it is about as easy as soldering it.
posted by pombe at 1:23 PM on April 2, 2010

I learned at The Steel Yard in Providence.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 1:31 PM on April 2, 2010

Keefe Tech in Framingham teaches an adult ed welding class. You might want to contact the instructor and see if they cover brazing.
posted by bondcliff at 4:25 PM on April 3, 2010

Thanks! I think I'm going to try the Steel Yard's course. That way I can go to their open shop hours after taking the class.

I've seen metalwerx before, but I need some more oomph. I'm hoping to put together a bicycle.
posted by backseatpilot at 6:31 AM on April 9, 2010

As an update - I took the Steel Yard's "Weekend Welding Workshop". It was a blast, but unfortunately did not include any brazing - only torch cutting and MIG welding. The instructor mentioned that one of the other welding classes does cover brazing, but they meet weekday evenings and it's a bit difficult for me to get down to Providence after work.

If you want to play with MIG welders, though, I would definitely recommend checking out their weekend course.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:19 PM on May 11, 2010