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Welding: Two metals are melted together.  

Brazing: Two or more materials are joined by the use of a third, dissimilar material, such as braze alloy or silver solder.

In brazing the greatest strength is achieved by a chemical reaction between the braze alloy and the metals on either side.  To do this the materials need to be in close contact with no interfering layer.   

Watch the video on the difference between brazing and welding.

Cleanliness is much more important in brazing than welding.  

• Good welders clean before welding.  However the heat of welding does burn out contaminants.  In cases where the contaminants do not ‘burn out’ the residue is mixed in with the molten metal.  
• In brazing there is less heat so the contaminants are less likely to burn out.  Instead the contaminants are often transformed into a hard layer that prevents bonding. 

See our article on Cleaning Steel Before Brazing for more on the subject.

Joint design is very different in the two processes. 

• In welding the two pieces are placed in contact and a bead is run down the edges.  The joining is done on the edges. 
• In brazing the joining is done over the entire surface of the two mating parts.  In many cases leaving small fillets on the sides can increase joint strength by up to 40%.  

Common welding joint	Equivalent brazing joint

For more information on Brazing visit our Brazing Index. 

Shop for other tools you may need for precision brazing:

	Tweezers
	Picks and Probes
	Precision Cutters
	Braze Alloy and Brazing supplies