DIY aluminum welding

[Snowgoose-1]

Seen a video using aluminium rods diy. Heat the joint then using rod like soldering. Like to have a go .anyone triedd it yet

 

[aslabend]

Seen a video using aluminium rods diy. Heat the joint then using rod like soldering. Like to have a go .anyone triedd it yet

Used some durafix easyweld to make some small ali brackets. My experience is that it is not like solder, which flows into the joint, it sort of melts and you squidge it in. The brackets I made were OK and are still holding together but not that neat. Certainly cheaper than buying a tig welder.

 

[Charlie Boy]

Lot of ads on the net and lots of reviews on Youtube.
Given that the point of aluminium TIG (AC) is to break the oxide layer on the metal, then attach the molten rod while the surface is shielded by an inert gas (Argon), its hard to see how those rods will truly bond with the metal.
Maybe ok if its not a load bearing part

 

[RichardS]

Used some durafix easyweld to make some small ali brackets. My experience is that it is not like solder, which flows into the joint, it sort of melts and you squidge it in. The brackets I made were OK and are still holding together but not that neat. Certainly cheaper than buying a tig welder.

My MIG welder is relatively easy to use and also does ally welding with a spool gun. You just need a second gas supply. I've never tried it as not yet had any need.

Richard

 

[aslabend]

Lot of ads on the net and lots of reviews on Youtube.
Given that the point of aluminium TIG (AC) is to break the oxide layer on the metal, then attach the molten rod while the surface is shielded by an inert gas (Argon), its hard to see how those rods will truly bond with the metal.
Maybe ok if its not a load bearing part

You break the oxide layer by brushing with a supplied stainless brush before quickly heating the part and squidging the stuff on. It does kind of work although I'd not use it for anything that is taking load. I did wonder how much better it is than just roughing the surface and using Araldite but thought I try them as I was intrigued.

 

[Bergamot]

I used durafix rods to repair some fairly delicate aluminium window surrounds on an old sports car where they had suffered fatigue cracks. After the fix and many miles of rattling round there were no signs of any cracks. If you use them I recommend that you practise before committing to your main fix as it requires a few goes to get the hang of it and brushing the repair area with the supplied stainless steel brush is essential. For me it was a cheap and effective fix.

 

[Norman_E]

Lot of ads on the net and lots of reviews on Youtube.
Given that the point of aluminium TIG (AC) is to break the oxide layer on the metal, then attach the molten rod while the surface is shielded by an inert gas (Argon), its hard to see how those rods will truly bond with the metal.
Maybe ok if its not a load bearing part

I bought some rods years ago, in a kit that had a stainless steel scratch rod and a stainless wire brush. It worked very well indeed, but you need to be careful not to completely melt the parts you are joining. I think my kit was called Lumiweld. When my neighbour crashed his track bike and broke the brake pedal, half of which was ground away as the bike slid down the track I used the kit. First I cut the remains of the pedal to a square edge and made an extension from aluminium plate, then welded the two together. The trick is to get a good pool of molten metal at the joint without melting the whole thing. It sets as a true weld, not a soldered joint and is just as strong as the parent metal.

 

[TernVI]

I have excellent results with Lumiweld, and also abject failure.
One failure was not being able to get the joint hot enough I think.
The other was probably related to the alloy of one of the parts.

When it works it is very strong.

 

[Kilo]

I've also had mixed results & wouldn't use them on anything critical. Have you come across pulse mig with a Teflon wire feed hose liner? Depending on the budget it may be worth looking at. I don't really do enough with ali to invest in the proper kit but I am sorely tempted to take a punt on a cheap pulse mig.

 

[rotrax]

I bought some rods years ago, in a kit that had a stainless steel scratch rod and a stainless wire brush. It worked very well indeed, but you need to be careful not to completely melt the parts you are joining. I think my kit was called Lumiweld. When my neighbour crashed his track bike and broke the brake pedal, half of which was ground away as the bike slid down the track I used the kit. First I cut the remains of the pedal to a square edge and made an extension from aluminium plate, then welded the two together. The trick is to get a good pool of molten metal at the joint without melting the whole thing. It sets as a true weld, not a soldered joint and is just as strong as the parent metal.

I still have quite a lot of Lumiweld rods.

It does work, but I would be reluctant to use it on safety related parts - like a brake pedal!

But, it sounds like it did the job.

We used it for attatching broken fins to aluminium cylinders and heads of air cooled motorcyle engines. Did lots, we were well known for it.

Some failed subsequently, interestingly enough adjacent to our repairs, two below, one above.

Long time ago now - 30 years at least - but IIRC the Lumiweld guy told me the oxide layer was removed with the S/S wire brush and a chemical element within the Lumiweld rods caused enough tempreture increase to melt and join the two pieces using a propane/oxy blowtorch. Oxy/Acetylene was not recomended as Acetylene is a 'dirty' fuel gas.

This was in the days when Argon Arc or TIG was only seen in Aeronautical or leading edge Motorsports facilities.

 

[madabouttheboat]

I think the key with this kind of repair is to get the parent metal hot enough so that the fixing rod melts on it, rather than in the flame. This is quite difficult with a large piece, as aluminium is a great conductor of heat. I have tried to use them with varying degrees of success.

 

[Rappey]

I used my mig to shorten my boom. I did replace liner and use what was recommended . Whilst I did achieve what I needed I would never attempt welding ally with a mig again.
I found a cheap screw on aerosol type blowtorch couldn't really create enough useful heat for the aluminium welding rods but it can be succesfull .
As with others, I would take a structural part to be welded by a professional.

 

[Mait]

I've used Durafix rods twice and succeeded both times. Be careful not to melt the original parts. Just heat them enough to melt the rod on the surface and no more.

 

[ip485]

Never done it, always wanted to try some welding, had a brand new furling screw fitted to my mast and learnt a lot from a lovelly welder who said he would never do it mast up, he said goes straight through aluminium and the whole bl**dy lot could flow down as it heats up. We lifted the mast.

 

[Iliade]

This was in the days when Argon Arc or TIG was only seen in Aeronautical or leading edge Motorsports facilities.

I have tried to weld aluminium alloys with all the toys and failed miserably... IMHO, if it matters, leave it to the pros.

 

[rotrax]

It is a matter of training and practice.

I was sent to the bodyshop when an apprentice. The Foreman got me to cut up an old bootlid, gave me an Oxy Acetylene set, said " The jet is right, the pressures are right. Turn the Acetylene on first, light it, turn up until the black smoke goes, add the Oxy, adjust the Oxy until you get a double blue cone and then join them bits together! "

By the end of the day I could make a fist of joining bits of bootlid together. That was in 1965, done a lot of welding since then. Even alloy with Oxy Acetylene.

I used a TIG set once, bit of piss. If you have Oxy Acetylene experience it is similar at the workface.

Low tempreture nickel bronze welding joining thin tube is a skilled job. Good prep pays off here big time, as does having a Gasfluxer. Instead of dipping the heated filler rod into a powdered flux, the flux is in a container disolved in methanol and the Acetylene bubbles through it, picking up the flux as it does so.

I love welding like that ? but it has been overtaken by Argon/TIG.

Only done plastic welding once, fair but far from perfect result. It was strong enough, but looked like pigeonshit

 

[Norman_E]

I still have quite a lot of Lumiweld rods.

It does work, but I would be reluctant to use it on safety related parts - like a brake pedal!

But, it sounds like it did the job.

We used it for attatching broken fins to aluminium cylinders and heads of air cooled motorcyle engines. Did lots, we were well known for it.

Some failed subsequently, interestingly enough adjacent to our repairs, two below, one above.

Long time ago now - 30 years at least - but IIRC the Lumiweld guy told me the oxide layer was removed with the S/S wire brush and a chemical element within the Lumiweld rods caused enough tempreture increase to melt and join the two pieces using a propane/oxy blowtorch. Oxy/Acetylene was not recomended as Acetylene is a 'dirty' fuel gas.

This was in the days when Argon Arc or TIG was only seen in Aeronautical or leading edge Motorsports facilities.

The brake pedal was for a 1000cc track bike, ridden by a rider who never uses the back brake, so hardly critical, but in fact the repair is stronger than the original. I use a Siefert propane torch, and the only time I had trouble was welding up the corners od a big lathe drip tray made from 1/8th inch aluminium plate. The big plate conducted heat away very quickly and I had to use two torches, a big one for general heating, and a smaller one aimed directly at the weld area.