Wheelbarrow keychain

Some friends of mine were moving to another country and I wanted a small gift for their new life. I thought of making a keychain because it's simple and light and useful. It's also something you carry every day. I decided to make it into the shape of a wheelbarrow because it is an internal joke.

Anyway I decided to make it out of brass because it is strong and it doesn't oxidize. I also really like this material.

So I started looking into brazing. For brazing you use a torch that can go up to around 1000 degrees Celsius and can easily melt many solders. Lower temperature solders such as tin/lead will not bond very strongly with brass.

For brazing brass we need to following elements

• solder: either brass or a silver brazing rod. Silver is a bit better because it melts at a lower temperature than brass. I used a 45% silver solder mixed with other metals.
• flux: borax-based flux, it releases a gaz when heated up and keeps oxides away so the solder flows.
• heat: propane or oxy-acetylene torch, around 450–900 °C (red-hot but not melting the brass).

First we eat the joint evenly, then push the solder in the gaps. It should flow into the joint by capillary action.

After brazing I did a bit of cleaning up with sanding paper.

I then finished the cleaning up with a wire brush and a rotatory tool. Finally, I hammered the first letter of their names with a letter punch. Here is the final result: