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welding aluminum ?

i am trying to a repair a cast (injection molded ?) aluminum piece where there is a big crack that needs to be closed then joined, imagine a 4" U shaped chanel bent and one side with a 3' crack so the bend needs to be straightened and the crack joined for strength. the thickness of material is

3/16".

i was researching how to weld aluminum on web it seems you can do it all sorts of ways arc, gas, TIG, MIG

as i understand to have best results one needs to consider

  1. the grade of aluminum to be welded (how do i figure this out ?)
  2. pre-heat the area before welding
  3. avoid contaminates introduced into flux/flow
  4. thickness of material

How does one determine the grade aluminum and is there a prefered/better method for joining in this particular application and will one of those light duty harbor TIG or ARC welders handle the task ?

thanks for any helpful advice. R

Reply to
robb
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If your piece is die cast which is the metal version of injection moulding plastics, the alloy could be anything from a lightweight magnesium alloy use in such things as chainsaws to zinc alloys common in carburetor and automotive parts. Die cast alloys are troublesome... Likely a specialty TIG welding rod will be the solution. Randy

Reply to
Randy Zimmerman

I've seen alum rod for arc welders (DC +, iirc) that were awesome. Not pretty welds, but good penetration, fast, very little prep req'd. The demo I saw (in a welding class) made it look almost idiot proof. Don't know the name of the rod I saw in action, but I'm sure good welding supply houses have a variety. Also forgot the amps req'd, but I think it was up there.

Alum tig requires a lot of heat. My Miller Econotig, about $1300 ten years ago, under ideal ideal conditions, *might* be able to join two pieces of

1/4", and is really comfortable only w/ 1/8. Alum just carries away so much heat you need big amps.

If deep penetration were not an issue, and with preheating, etc, my machine might be able to handle your repair job. Real cheapie machines would likely have that much less of a chance at success.

Reply to
Proctologically Violated©®

hi thanks for heads up on material woes I do not know what type of aluminum blend it is and i can find no grade identifiers

application wise the piece is probably most like an aluminum injection molded table part for a a table saw

thanks again for info and reply R

prefered/better

Reply to
robb

thanks for reply,

I figured those cheapy machines would probably not handle this job but i wanted to hear it from the proffesionals.

I was just looking for an excuse to buy a new toy (er um, i mean welder)

thanks for money saving tip R

prefered/better

Reply to
robb

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