Angel Garcia wrote:
The high end Moser TK2 bikes are fillet braze construction using silver solder (tubeset is Deda 16.5 EOM steel). +++++++++++++ I haven't pored over the brazing material specs for a couple of decades or two, so this piques my curiosity: Do the Moser TK2 frames actually have fillets a la Jack Taylor, some Hurlow, etc?
The reason I ask is that the metallurgy of the silver brazing materials I'm used to doesn't favor this application. They are extremely strong and appropriate for filling very small gaps (<0.035", if I recall correctly), where the loads "look like" shear. This would describe bonding lug to tube, for example. On the other hand, as the gap widened, strength decreased rapidly. In addition, the silver I've worked with gets very liquid just above the start of melting, so it is hard to build up a fillet.
Brass complements this well: strong gap-filler (fork ends to tubes, for example), has a good viscous range for building fillet radii, etc. I always thought that the rational custom frame makers typically boasted of using silver for the lugged joints, and never claimed to use silver for fork ends, seat stay eyes, etc.
But, I'm just an amateur...yet to build his first full frame.
harvey sachs
mcLean va