Pastes can be an advantageous alloy form for users who have high-mix/low-volume product lines. Pastes provide a convenient alternative to preforms, while also avoiding the need to hand feed alloy into the braze joint during the brazing cycle. As a result, batches of parts can be assembled and brazed in a single oven cycle, while avoiding the inventory burden and minimum cost requirements for custom preformed shapes.
As suggested, the logistics of inventory management can become quite burdensome and complicated for customers who regularly operate in high-mix/low volume production environments. Although paste alloys may offer a high degree of flexibility, the trade-off is generally at the expense of higher cost versus bulk wire and bulk foil products. Also, unlike using a wire or foil preform, the amount of paste applied can be variable if care is not taken.
Pastes can be furnished with flux incorporated into the paste binder, or without flux incorporated into the paste binder. Flux-less pastes are ideal for vacuum brazing or controlled atmosphere brazing. Brazing pastes can be supplied in a variety of industry standard alloys including: silver, copper, aluminum, nickel, bronze, and other soft solders. All pastes can be packaged in the customer’s choice of hand syringes, machine syringes, or jar containers.