4077 TIG Rod

sniggler said:
Like most of the others welders here I try to avoid cast aluminum welding and I always say going in that i can't guarantee it hoping it with scare them off. The clean preheat bevel advise is spot on. I will add this you said low slow heat and my experience is that you need to get it hot and wet try to alloy a good amount of filler with the cast. I also, when I can, run a bead on either side of the crack which alloys the casting and then the money pass is easier and less scary. I also try to figure out why the part failed and what the part will be asked to do.

I would like to see a picture of the piece.
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It failed because it got hit when something fell on it.
My limited experience with aluminum cast is that the heat promotes porosity.
I'll get a pic over the weekend, and attempt to provide greater clarity regarding my plan of attack.
Regardless, as always while I'm a decent TIGer I am certainly not an expert, or professional welder. And will gladly accept criticism, correction, or redirection.
Thanks for the input.
Daryl
MN
 
Uglydog said:
Dave Smith said:
This is a completely different animal. Unfortunately, parts would not be interchangeable.

Daryl
MN
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Daryl--How many French types are there--my other French engraver is a Scripta Graver--what brand is your friends? anyway I'm going to post some pictures in the French forum section--you can see it there. --Dave
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jamie76x said:
I never turn cast aluminum jobs away and have never had a problem. When done properly the repaired area is stronger than it used to be. Its all in the battle plan and there are a few tricks that I will never tell..... One trick that I will share are never glass bead any aluminum that needs to be repaired. I tell my customers " Do not clean it before bringing it in. I will do it my way"
My motto is "I weld the things that other shops can't" I guess thats why I say that.
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Jamie,
Sorry I guess i was labeling other welders. It sounds like you do a lot of cast welding for. I agree on cleaning I won't I use grinding wheels on cast aluminum because the fibers get embedded and effect the puddle. I use files to bring the joint to fresh metal and then just a stainless wire brush. If the crack is on a straight line i will sometime notch it with a carbide tooth saw blade on a circular saw, I use to put the blade on the big grinder to dress stuff but I got cured of that folly:yikes: ouch (meat axe).

Oh yeah i want those secrects.

Bob
 
Uglydog said:
It failed because it got hit when something fell on it.
My limited experience with aluminum cast is that the heat promotes porosity.
I'll get a pic over the weekend, and attempt to provide greater clarity regarding my plan of attack.
Regardless, as always while I'm a decent TIGer I am certainly not an expert, or professional welder. And will gladly accept criticism, correction, or redirection.
Thanks for the input.
Daryl
MN
Click to expand...
Daryl,

I don't mean it as criticism i think you got great advise already. I used to do a lot of marine aluminum on boats and use to get a lot of stuff from an alloy scrap yard to repurpose so a lot of mystery metal and a lot of filthy stuff. My point is you get to where the feed back from what your welding while your welding lets you push the envelope on how hot you can weld it. Your using the puddle and reverse polarity side of the cycle pull the impurities out of the base metal and then spin it all together it took me a long time to realize that heat was my friend. Doesn't mean the molten fall apart nightmare of cast isn't right around the corner.

Bob
 
Ah, Grinding on aluminum. This is a whole new thread..... Why do people use griding wheels on aluminum? It ruins the wheels and does a terrible job!
Every time I get some one who tries "Saving money" by grinding bevels into the aluminum it winds up costing them more after I fix what they screw up. When you grind on aluminum, Since alum is softer than the wheel and all other metals used on that wheel all the other metals wind up getting embedded into the aluminum. Zinc from bolts is the first thing I can smell as soon as I get an arc going. A hss or carbide bit in a die grinder is the way to roll... and some things I hit with an end mill. If its a lareg piece and I have a lot to bevel, I do use a flap wheel on the hand grinder that are speciific for aluminum as long as its never been used on anything other than aluminum.

Just a few weeks ago I had a guy bring a casting in that he had cleaned, Beveled and "tacked" together with that crap you see at fleamarkets with a propane torch. He said " I just need a bead run on this, Shouldnt take more than 5 mins to weld" I told him its going to take an hour to prep it and another 5 to weld it and he was insulted. I explained that I am not trying to insult him but the prepwork was not going to lead to a quality repair and that all that junk filler he put in has to be taken out before I can even weld on it. He took his part and said he would finish it himself.
Some people are just crazy.

The guys whop try propane torch filler rod junk, JB weld, PC7 and epoxy always pay alot more for a repair than if they had just brought it to me in the first place.
 
Jamie,

You're pointing-out all the reasons why I just prefer to re-make the part out of some other material (usually mild steel). People bring the parts to us because they're broken and they broke because the metal wasn't strong enough in the first place. Sure, sometimes people are ham-fisted and crack castings of their own neglect but, I get an awful lot of stuff that's just worn-out from normal use. A lot of what I see are the pinch clamps from weed-whacker heads. Ears cracked off or threads stripped.

Anyhow, I had one walk-in customer insist that I repair an alternator bracket. He was a customer at the tractor place and they already told him it would be best to remake the part. My better judgement said no but I went along after he refused to pay 10 bucks more for me to remake the part. Sure enough, he comes back a few days later with it cracked right next to the weld and tells me I don't know how to weld... Then he bounced the check he paid me with. That was it... I do it on my terms now -no exceptions. As you mentioned, it takes a long while to prep, preheat and weld so, I'd rather spend a little more time and remake the part and there's no chance of dissatisfaction. Anyhow, everyone has their own strategy and this is what I'm sticking with at least for now. I don't claim to be an Ace welder and know my limitations.

BTW, there are grinding wheels made for aluminum. I have one but, it's really more suited for precision grinding on the SG -then again, precision grinding aluminum is a bit of a misnomer in the first place... I agree though in general. Grinding aluminum isn't a good way to go.

Ray


jamie76x said:
Ah, Grinding on aluminum. This is a whole new thread..... Why do people use griding wheels on aluminum? It ruins the wheels and does a terrible job!
Every time I get some one who tries "Saving money" by grinding bevels into the aluminum it winds up costing them more after I fix what they screw up. When you grind on aluminum, Since alum is softer than the wheel and all other metals used on that wheel all the other metals wind up getting embedded into the aluminum. Zinc from bolts is the first thing I can smell as soon as I get an arc going. A hss or carbide bit in a die grinder is the way to roll... and some things I hit with an end mill. If its a lareg piece and I have a lot to bevel, I do use a flap wheel on the hand grinder that are speciific for aluminum as long as its never been used on anything other than aluminum.

Just a few weeks ago I had a guy bring a casting in that he had cleaned, Beveled and "tacked" together with that crap you see at fleamarkets with a propane torch. He said " I just need a bead run on this, Shouldnt take more than 5 mins to weld" I told him its going to take an hour to prep it and another 5 to weld it and he was insulted. I explained that I am not trying to insult him but the prepwork was not going to lead to a quality repair and that all that junk filler he put in has to be taken out before I can even weld on it. He took his part and said he would finish it himself.
Some people are just crazy.

The guys whop try propane torch filler rod junk, JB weld, PC7 and epoxy always pay alot more for a repair than if they had just brought it to me in the first place.
Click to expand...
 
Re-making the part out of a better material is always ideal. No question about it. I also suggest that when possible.
Some things do get broken due to an accident that will never happen again like this arm in question... and under normal use will never fail. In those cases a repair is fine. Alot of the welding I do is on parts that can not be purchased. Example ... 1920's H-D and Indian motorcycle engine cases. Sure we could make them out of billet, shot blast and acid etch them them and you may never know the difference.... or we can go with a $6k cheaper option of having me repair them. The customer will always go with option 2.
 
Jamie and other professional welders--don't knock the crap rod that other members have welded very sucessfully with--not everyone can pay for your fees, and have learned how to fix cast items that you say can't be welded. I have never had a cast alum repair that I did fail, and I am definately not a professional welder.---remember that there are many skils to fix all problems--the end result is the fixed part and the cost----not how someone did it. Dave---:))--**this site is a perfect example of this
 
sniggler said:
Jamie,
Sorry I guess i was labeling other welders. It sounds like you do a lot of cast welding for. I agree on cleaning I won't I use grinding wheels on cast aluminum because the fibers get embedded and effect the puddle. I use files to bring the joint to fresh metal and then just a stainless wire brush. If the crack is on a straight line i will sometime notch it with a carbide tooth saw blade on a circular saw, I use to put the blade on the big grinder to dress stuff but I got cured of that folly:yikes: ouch (meat axe).

Oh yeah i want those secrets.

Bob
Click to expand...

I wouldn't mind having those secrets either.
As I am in MN I'm not a very likely business threat.

Daryl
MN
 
Uglydog, By chance did you mean 4047 tig rod? 4047 is a new class of filler they came out with that has more silicon to promote wetting on thin pieces. Its close to 4043.

jamie76x I'd love to pick your brain about Al castings...


And how do I go about posting up PDF's? I have a chart of Al filler to base metal specs that covers more alloys and castings than one could shake a stick at.

W Ease of welding (relative freedom from weld cracking).
S Strength of welded joint (as-welded condition). (Rating applies particularly to fillet welds. All rods & electrodes rated will develope presently specified minimum strengths for butt welds).
D Ductility. (Rating is based upon the free bend elongation of the weld).
C Corrosion resistance in continuous or alternate immersion in fresh or salt water.
T Recommended for service at sustained temperatures above 150 F (6o5.5 C). o

M Color match after anodizing.




That's the key to the spreadsheet... just to give an idea of how much it covers.
 
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