Welding or Brazing recommendations

Brazing is usually mainly for ferrous metals- think of it as high temperature soldering
There is no real equivalent process for aluminum that I'm aware of- that's commonly used anyhow
Supposedly that Muggy stuff works but I've not used it- probably hard to get good results with small parts such as yours
 
MyLilMule said:
Well, I have 4 welders, and my welding work is minimal. LOL!

I'd look into the Primeweld TIG225X. It's a 225 amp AC/DC TIG welder, also does stick of course. I've had mine for over 3 years and I love it. Plus thier customer service is second to none. The owners are very active on a Primeweld Users group on Facebook. The warranty is the best out there. 3 years, no questions asked, shipping included. I've seen users post in the FB group, get a response from Dustin or Gene (owners) on a weekend, and get a replacement machine shipped on Monday. For $869, it is just unbeatable, IMHO. Or wait a few more days for the 335 amp machine to come out - at more money - but what a machine that's going to be.

As for your last question, well, I can TIG weld for starters, and I've never had great luck brazing anything for that matter. LOL! Although, I have had great luck using TIG and aluminum bronze brazing wire on cast steel. :)
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Interesting you should point to Primeweld as that’s the one I was looking at. I bought their Mig 180 recently but haven’t yet used it. The reviews on these things are really good. 4.9/5 on Amazon with over 1000 reviews.
 
markba633csi said:
Brazing is usually mainly for ferrous metals- think of it as high temperature soldering
There is no real equivalent process for aluminum that I'm aware of- that's commonly used anyhow
Supposedly that Muggy stuff works but I've not used it- probably hard to get good results with small parts such as yours
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This is what I had originally planned on and bought based on the reviews. I’m sure it’ll have its purpose at some point for another project:

 
PK1 said:
Interesting you should point to Primeweld as that’s the one I was looking at. I bought their Mig 180 recently but haven’t yet used it. The reviews on these things are really good. 4.9/5 on Amazon with over 1000 reviews.
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I just unboxed a PW MIG 285 yesterday. :)

brino said:
In general I use MIG much more than TIG. However, that also says I do steel much more than aluminum.
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Although I have been using MIG longer, I personally prefer TIG by a large margin. It's somewhat meditative and relaxing. Until I dip my tungsten. ;)
 
PK1 said:
I would appreciate some advice from those of you who have experience welding or brazing aluminum: I have made a side mount license plate for my motorcycle, and I am looking to assemble the pieces together. I would either need to weld the pieces together or braze them. I have made the small brackets for reinforcement otherwise vibration and wind forces can fatigue and brake the main bracket from the license plate holder. I have both a brand new mig welder with a spool gun, and a torch with aluminum brazing rods. Problem is, I have never welded anything nor brazed aliminum!

Brazing the main bracket to the license plate holder would be easy. I have machined a ~1mm groove in the plate so that bracket will stand on its own for either welding or brazing. I am trying to figure out how to fixture the two small reinforcement brackets to weld or braze. I suppose I could tack weld them in place and then weld, but brazing may be more complicated since heating the assembly up may melt the braze in other places while I work to braze the pieces in stages.

The main plate (largest piece) is 1/8" think (~3mm) and the brackets are 3/16" (~5mm). Any recommendations on the best approach considering I am a complete novice to both methods?

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Here’s your opportunity/rationale/excuse for buying a TIG welder & starting a fun & challenging new adventure!

I bought a 210A TIG welder for the purpose of learning to TIG weld, which I did.

At one point, I read that a TIG welder can also used for stick welding. I figured that I may as well try stick welding since I already had the machine.

Fast forward a few years & I **love** stick welding. I only TIG when I have to (which is often, usually for welding aluminum or small jobs).
 
I have done MIG welding of Aluminum without a spool gun. I used the Teflon liner and Argon gas with DC reverse polarity.
One trick was to use a contact tip one size bigger than your wire. Getting the grip set correctly on the drive rollers is tricky, just enough to push the wire but loose enough to slip with the slightest hint of a jam. Yes it is a PITA to get it all set up correctly.
My first Al welding project was making a set of ramps for loading a '69 Catalina onto a trailer. All material was 2" square AL tube with 1/8 wall. Was four 6 foot long pieces with 2" spacers of the same material between each leg. In for years of weekly loading and unloading I never had a weld break.

I am planning another "big" AL welding project and it will be done with my MIG and no spool gun.
 
Just to throw another idea out there, if you use ¼" or so aluminum, you could just drill and tap it with small bolts and make the whole assembly bolt together and eliminate any need to Tig weld. I am just learning to Tig weld, prior to that, I tried to make any aluminum project a bolt together instead.
 
Since you mentioned screwing it together.......At a place I worked at we did a lot of dip brazing of AL. All parts were screwed together with either 4-40- or 2-56 aluminum screws that were just to hold it together for brazing so that things could not move when all of the joints were fluid at the same time. The screw heads were ground or machined off after. The screws were nearly invisible after.
 
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