welding aluminum at home, cheap

[Coors]

Having bought a 88 FourWinns Sundowner last year, I have been going nuts, fabricating missing brackets, etc, from mild steel. Today I went to the tractor supply place and found some aluminum brazing rods made by Hobart. After experimenting with one rod- I figured out to use a grinder to cut of the anodizing, instead of ,then after heating, use the ss wire brush.

Instead of using my big blue wrench, I used a small set, like the hvac guys use; set it low, and brazed. I was bending aluminum trying to break the weld. $12d

 

[Boomyal]

Re: welding aluminum at home, cheap

.....Instead of using my big blue wrench, I used a small set, like the hvac guys use; set it low, and brazed. I was bending aluminum trying to break the weld. $12d

Huh?

 

[erikgreen]

Re: welding aluminum at home, cheap

These brazing rods are pretty well known. They work ok if you take the time to clean your parts beforehand and if you have the right aluminum alloys.

Unfortunately, they're pretty useless for most aluminum welding type tasks... they don't count as "welding" because they're not actually joining the metal in question by melting it, but rather they're working as a sort of solder. By the way, technically this may not even be brazing, it's more of a high temperature soldering.

At any rate, it's a good thing for certain types of work, but I wouldn't trust it to repair anything more critical than a bimini top.. the joints made this way just aren't that strong.

Thanks for letting people know, though.

Erik

 

[Coors]

Re: welding aluminum at home, cheap

Correct, I wouldn't use it for structural, but it is handy for small stuff, like carb controls, etc. I had it in the vise, and bent it 90 degrees. weld held, like it was tig

 

[Robj]

Re: welding aluminum at home, cheap

What type of heat did you use. Oxy acetelyne, proprane or mapp gas? What is the name of the product? I need to get some aluminum welded and this seems like a reasonable alternative.

Thanx and have a great day.

 

[Coors]

Re: welding aluminum at home, cheap

Product is hobart aluminum low temp self fluxing; 700 degrees. I used a small oxy acet @low heat. Tin it first, don't heat the rod, get the metal just hot enough for the rod to flow when applied.
clean metal is the trick.