Welding Aluminum!

[Turtle Tedd]

aluminium welding is best done with T.I.G... when you light it up with a tig unit you will be able to tell if you can weld it or need to toss it....Cast alumn.can be a combo of anything...you can melt a lot of magic rod on a bad part but it will break if put under stressy..you can get away with gas if your just doing a surface build-up like a valve cover or side cover if it is not going to take much stress from a nearby fastner

 

[machiasmort]

I can't mig weld to save my life but am pretty proficient with gas and arc. The trick I use for gas is to get the stick close to where your heating your base metal. The stick will always melt first, then you know the base metal is about to start flowing! By the way that torch seems like a quailty product!

 

[Turtle Tedd]

MACH numbe one rule with welding anything with any process is to heat the base metal (part) first ..when it begins to melt only then add the fiiler rod. .the main secret to welding is to watch it melt ,watch the puddle,focus on the puddle add the rod athe the right instant and move the puddel while adding the rod (filler material)..without putting to much heat into the area...all welding is a practiced technique except maybee for MIG witch is pretty easy to master..BUT there are also many gas brazing techniques that are used for welding light gauge bike frame parts,but these parts must be designed for this type of welding. 50 percent of welding sucess is determined by the design of the joint and what type of stress it is giong to take, the grade of the metals used and the preperation of,,,if this is not done right the best welder cannot make it right...never use a MIG welder without a gas hookup...you must have gas..period..with any type of wire,including flux core

 

[Happy Valley]

Huge difference between billet aluminum and aluminum tubing, and all aluminum tubing is not the same, using the right filler alloy is important.
Problems can occur maintaining the structural integrity with the precarious configuration of a lightweight bicycle frame under load and applying heat with welding can mean some method of relieving stress, heat treating or aging. TIG is best for aluminum tubes.

 

[machiasmort]

MACH numbe one rule with welding anything with any process is to heat the base metal (part) first ..when it begins to melt only then add the fiiler rod. .the main secret to welding is to watch it melt ,watch the puddle,focus on the puddle add the rod athe the right instant and move the puddel while adding the rod (filler material)..without putting to much heat into the area...all welding is a practiced technique except maybee for MIG witch is pretty easy to master..BUT there are also many gas brazing techniques that are used for welding light gauge bike frame parts,but these parts must be designed for this type of welding. 50 percent of welding sucess is determined by the design of the joint and what type of stress it is giong to take, the grade of the metals used and the preperation of,,,if this is not done right the best welder cannot make it right...never use a MIG welder without a gas hookup...you must have gas..period..with any type of wire,including flux core

As subject matter of the thread would suggest Welding is the fusion of metals not the brazing. My reply was inorder to help the less welding knowledgable out there. By applying heat to the work piece and not having an idea how hot it's getting, you'll have a puddle alright!

Aluminum by property has a great deal of heat transfer. Applying heat to the workpiece and filler(usually thinner) rod at the same time, gives you an idea of how hot the workpiece is getting before you make a puddle out of it! When you see the rod starting to melt you know to be on point and ready to pull back on the heat.

There are different grades (alloy's) of rod you can use, the less tin, usually the lower melting point. It's nearly impossible to use a heat dam when welding aluminum because of the fast heat transfer. There's alot more to welding it than penetration, like the flux your rod contains or you apply! Penetration is not a problem with gas welding so long as you see your base metal melt, then it's all in flux and matching your alloy and filler!

Fluxing or flux included on your filler rod(gas welding) substitutes for added gas in mig and tig welding. In mig and tig the gas creates a "shield" to push away impurities from our air. Welding is actually a chemical reaction but I won't get into it too much. When you heat metal, it takes different chemical compositions depending on environment and ammount of heat.

 

[Waterfowl]

MACH numbe one rule with welding anything with any process is to heat the base metal (part) first ..when it begins to melt only then add the fiiler rod. .the main secret to welding is to watch it melt ,watch the puddle,focus on the puddle add the rod athe the right instant and move the puddel while adding the rod (filler material)..without putting to much heat into the area...all welding is a practiced technique except maybee for MIG witch is pretty easy to master..BUT there are also many gas brazing techniques that are used for welding light gauge bike frame parts,but these parts must be designed for this type of welding. 50 percent of welding sucess is determined by the design of the joint and what type of stress it is giong to take, the grade of the metals used and the preperation of,,,if this is not done right the best welder cannot make it right...never use a MIG welder without a gas hookup...you must have gas..period..with any type of wire,including flux core

This guy knows what he's talking about.

 

[machiasmort]

No doubt TT knows what he's talking about, I just seen Killroy's earlier comment about having a giant puddle.. Sounds like me when I first started out... Gas welding, to me came real easy. I'll be the first to admit, I'm not good at mig, at all...

Here's a great site, I'm sure will keep you up. The second one is the sites Home page, on frame welding. You guy's are gonna love this!
http://www.bikewebsite.com/weldaluminum.htm
http://www.bikewebsite.com/weld.htm

 

[Turtle Tedd]

tig welding....must use the proper rod. none contain flux.

 

[Waterfowl]

No doubt TT knows what he's talking about, I just seen Killroy's earlier comment about having a giant puddle.. Sounds like me when I first started out... Gas welding, to me came real easy. I'll be the first to admit, I'm not good at mig, at all...

Here's a great site, I'm sure will keep you up. The second one is the sites Home page, on frame welding. You guy's are gonna love this!
http://www.bikewebsite.com/weldaluminum.htm
http://www.bikewebsite.com/weld.htm

I can't tell if you are joking about those sites or not. I hope you are not being serious.

 

[Turtle Tedd]

no offence mashiasmort but the above mentioned sights should be blocked .....concerning all parts that have anything to do with motorcycles or bicycles that are made of aluminum....Gas welding-s offNO..flux core of any kind-NO...aluminum welding rods are 36inches long and come it straight tubes,,this is for tig...alumin mig rods is called wire,comes in rolls,,never has a flux core...There is a lot of BS welding info out there at gun shows boat and car shows.trade shows etc...every bodys a welder...guess I shut up before I **** anyone off because I do not know anything about these HT motors or these motorized bikes..dont type to well either