Brazing of ink jet print head components using thin layers of braze material

A method of bonding a first surface of a first metal component of an ink jet print head having at least a first preformed aperture to a second surface of a second metal component of the ink jet print head having at least a second preformed aperture, the first and second components being of stainless steel, the first and second surfaces being bonded together with the first aperture in alignment with the second aperture, the method comprising:

• (a) cleaning the first and second surfaces and plating such surfaces with a strike material, thereby removing oxide from the first and second surfaces;
• (b) plating a layer of a filler material on at least one of the strike coated first and second surfaces, the filler material being selected from a group comprising gold, copper, nickel-phosphorus and any binary and ternary combination of such materials, the total thickness of the filler material on the first and second surfaces together being no greater than approximately two microns;
• (c) aligning the first and second apertures with the first and second surfaces abutting one another;
• (d) loading the components with a pressure of, from about one-half psi to no more than about one hundred psi in a direction passing through the first and second surfaces to press the first and second surfaces together;
• and
• (e) melting the filler material while the components are loaded with the pressure without melting the first and second components to braze the first and second components together with the first aperture in alignment with the second aperture.

A method of bonding a first surface of a first metal component of an ink jet print head having at least a first preformed aperture to a second surface of a second metal component of the ink jet print head having at least a second preformed aperture, the first and second components being of stainless steel, the first and second surfaces being bonded together with the first aperture in alignment with the second aperture, the method comprising:

• (a) cleaning the first and second surfaces and plating such surfaces with a strike material, thereby removing oxide from the first and second surfaces;
• (b) plating a layer of a filler material on at least one of the surfaces, the filler material being selected from a group comprising silver, gold-silver, gold-copper-silver and copper-silver, the plating step comprising the step of plating a total thickness of the silver portion of the filler material on the first and second surfaces together of no greater than approximately one micron;
• (c) aligning the first and second apertures with the first and second surfaces abutting one another;
• (d) loading the components with a pressure of from about one-half psi to no more than about one hundred psi in a direction passing through the first and second surfaces to press the first and second surfaces together;
• and
• (e) melting the filler material while the components are loaded with the pressure without melting the first and second components to braze the first and second components together with the first aperture in alignment with the second aperture.