brazing/ soldering aluminum
IOPort51
NOT the voice of reason Jeep-CJ.com
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I love Aluminum, it is easy to cut and bend and it polishes will does not rust, not to be confused with oxidation, and it is readily available. I have cut aluminum with a skill saw, table saw, wood cutting band saw and ever a router, it works about as easy as oak wood.
One of the problems with Aluminum is joining two pieces to make one. I have a machine that does an excellent job of welding aluminum but to be quite honest it is an ordeal at best and it is something I have to relearn every time I do it. this was different when I did it every day but when you do it three or four times a year you get a little rusty.
I had a problem, My $50 fiberglass windshield frame needed some work.
When I bought it I knew it would but considering the price of a new one I thought it would be worth spending a little time on.
The problem is the holes the wipers mount in.
This is what they are kind of supposed to look like
and this is what the other one looks like
Of all the materials I have ever worked with I think my very least favorite is fiberglass.
It is messy, challenging to form and the memory of sanding and polishing it is something that stays with you for as long as you continue to itch.
Aluminum is the answer. I made up a couple of "steam punk" looking bolt ons that will, I believe, be a much stronger surface to mount to the frame.
But, I got side tracked, I want to talk about a product I used called Alumaloy. It is a low temp solder that works amazingly well and works quite well with nothing more than a propane torch and a wire brush.
Cleanliness is next to .... Got that?? The surface has to be clean, no grease, oil dirt or paint of any kind. wire brush it, this gets rid of most of the oxide. Tin the parts, this means the surfaces to be joined will already have a coating of braze material on them before they are reheated to join the material. The trick ti tinning is to heat the part until the rod melts when it is dragged across the surface. avoid direct contact of the flame to the rod. If your making a lap joint, like I was, you put the tinned surfaces one on the other and heat the entire area until the solder melts. I found it was helpful to apply pressure to the top layer to force the excess solder out and "wet" the entire joining surfaces.
This is what I ended up with
What I built is not the important part of the thread , I guess. The important part is that this stuff actually works and works well. I have tried, in the past, several things that I picked up at car shows and gun shows. You know the ones that are like infomercials.
I came to the conclusion that with enough practice you could make some of these products work but I was never interested in spending that much time getting to know the product.
I would not consider using this to build an aluminum body tub or anything bigger than what I could hold in my hand but for repair of cast and making mounting brackets and such this stuff is great.
ALUMALOY: Aluminum REPAIR Welding BRAZING Rods (1/4 LB) - eBay (item 290368637214 end time Sep-05-10 20:07:06 PDT)
I also saw it in the Harbor freight store last week.
for what this stuff costs, I think every body needs a bit in the tool box to play with. You may find the possibilities as interesting as I do.
One thing to keep in mind with Aluminum, when it is heated above 450 deg. it looses any temper that it may have had. this applies to formed aluminum and I can not speak to the properties of cast. So it you are planning to drill and tap what you are making you may want to consider that the part you have is dead soft and may not be strong as you need it to be.
One of the problems with Aluminum is joining two pieces to make one. I have a machine that does an excellent job of welding aluminum but to be quite honest it is an ordeal at best and it is something I have to relearn every time I do it. this was different when I did it every day but when you do it three or four times a year you get a little rusty.
I had a problem, My $50 fiberglass windshield frame needed some work.
When I bought it I knew it would but considering the price of a new one I thought it would be worth spending a little time on.
The problem is the holes the wipers mount in.
This is what they are kind of supposed to look like
and this is what the other one looks like
Of all the materials I have ever worked with I think my very least favorite is fiberglass.
It is messy, challenging to form and the memory of sanding and polishing it is something that stays with you for as long as you continue to itch.
Aluminum is the answer. I made up a couple of "steam punk" looking bolt ons that will, I believe, be a much stronger surface to mount to the frame.
But, I got side tracked, I want to talk about a product I used called Alumaloy. It is a low temp solder that works amazingly well and works quite well with nothing more than a propane torch and a wire brush.
Cleanliness is next to .... Got that?? The surface has to be clean, no grease, oil dirt or paint of any kind. wire brush it, this gets rid of most of the oxide. Tin the parts, this means the surfaces to be joined will already have a coating of braze material on them before they are reheated to join the material. The trick ti tinning is to heat the part until the rod melts when it is dragged across the surface. avoid direct contact of the flame to the rod. If your making a lap joint, like I was, you put the tinned surfaces one on the other and heat the entire area until the solder melts. I found it was helpful to apply pressure to the top layer to force the excess solder out and "wet" the entire joining surfaces.
This is what I ended up with
What I built is not the important part of the thread , I guess. The important part is that this stuff actually works and works well. I have tried, in the past, several things that I picked up at car shows and gun shows. You know the ones that are like infomercials.
I came to the conclusion that with enough practice you could make some of these products work but I was never interested in spending that much time getting to know the product.
I would not consider using this to build an aluminum body tub or anything bigger than what I could hold in my hand but for repair of cast and making mounting brackets and such this stuff is great.
ALUMALOY: Aluminum REPAIR Welding BRAZING Rods (1/4 LB) - eBay (item 290368637214 end time Sep-05-10 20:07:06 PDT)
I also saw it in the Harbor freight store last week.
for what this stuff costs, I think every body needs a bit in the tool box to play with. You may find the possibilities as interesting as I do.
One thing to keep in mind with Aluminum, when it is heated above 450 deg. it looses any temper that it may have had. this applies to formed aluminum and I can not speak to the properties of cast. So it you are planning to drill and tap what you are making you may want to consider that the part you have is dead soft and may not be strong as you need it to be.
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