# First Aluminum Weld Project



## Franko (Feb 4, 2016)

I got my TIG welder about a year ago. I haven't attempted to weld aluminum with it as most of the advise I saw recommended learning to weld steel first, for obvious reasons if you've ever heated any aluminum close to it's melting point.

I have a project that will require some aluminum welds so I guess it is time to practice.

My first test plate was a 3/16" aluminum plate. That's very close to what I'll be welding. I'll post plans later.

This is the set up I used. A copper base plate with the work lead clamped to my copper finger.




I had the amperage set at 120 amps, as that was the high end of recommended for 1/8" welding on my machine (Miller 210 Syncrowave). A 3/32" tungsten ground to a fairly stubby 50º point and 3/32" aluminum rod.
I chose a low amperage setting as my experience has been that aluminum melts suddenly by surprise.

The test beads shown progress from bottom to top, the bottom one being the first.
On the first bead, I made a pass without filler rod. Then I attempted to use rod on a second pass over the first.
It didn't work out very well. I allowed the plate to cool a few minutes between passes.

The second and third passes were a little better, but I was still trying to learn how far away from the arc to keep the filler rod. Too close and it balled up.

On the 4th, 5th, and 6th passes I was starting to get the hang of it. The beads were short on purpose as that is what will be required on the actual project. Still having some issues with melting the tip of the rod, but generally better. By the last couple of rows, I was learning how to dab the rod in and get it out before it melted.


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## Cheeseking (Feb 4, 2016)

Way to go . just dive in and do it.   Make mistakes as you go and learn.   I wish my welder did AC.  Its only dc tig/stick.


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## TOOLMASTER (Feb 4, 2016)

I tell guys, watch for the shine...if it's shiny , it's melting.

grind your tip..hit reverse dc to get a nice ball (on a copper ground)

back to ac and go to town


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## rwm (Feb 4, 2016)

Nice work.
Actually welding two pieces together is a bit harder. My advice is REALLY clean metal to start. Sandblasting it makes a huge improvement in your weld if you can do that. If you are welding factory plate it will be necessary to sand off the oxide layer somehow at the weld seam. Wipe the pieces and the filler rod with acetone right before you weld. Make sure you put the acetone away from the torch. Ask me how I learned that! You need more heat than you may think with aluminum. You want to get a puddle fast and not heat the entire piece any more than necessary. I'm sure others with even more experience will chime in.
Robert


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## Grumpy Gator (Feb 4, 2016)

F,
First clean the hell out of the work. Next unless you are welding really small things jump up to 1/8" tungsten and non-reduced cup..  For alum. you don't want a pointed tip.  Round is your friend. Keep your torch tipped back at more than 45°. More like 35° to 25° and use the gas flow to push the "Crud" out of the weld stream area.
 Joining plate together spot weld the heck out of it. If you have any big gaps back fill them.
 Don't watch the center of the weld puddle watch the sides and when the weld lines up stop the heat and move.
Don't fret I burned up 20 lbs of rod before I got the hang of it.
UV light from Tig welding is bad Ju Ju cover up and don't be a bone head like me.
For a finished "Row of Dimes" look don't be afraid to back fill first then go back and Touch it up.
I got more tips and tricks but dinner is ready and SWMBO is calling .
**G**


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## TommyD (Feb 4, 2016)

I've seen some sexy Tig welding, it takes practice.

My skool just bought some new stick/tig and mig welders, my boss says I'm one of the guys that will be sitting in on the company sponsored training. Woo-hoo, I can't wait.


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## GA Gyro (Feb 4, 2016)

TommyD said:


> I've seen some sexy Tig welding, it takes practice.
> 
> My skool just bought some new stick/tig and mig welders, my boss says I'm one of the guys that will be sitting in on the company sponsored training. Woo-hoo, I can't wait.




I am sure you understand the subtle and playful sarcasm of this comment:



Nothing personal...

Just jealous...


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## TOOLMASTER (Feb 4, 2016)

and remember...aluminum likes to sit there all innocent looking...not red like hot steel...it will get you..
I can't tell you how many people have come over and see what i'm welding and grab it...they learn quick


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## Franko (Feb 4, 2016)

Thanks for the tips. I need them all.

I did clean the aluminum, with a stainless wire brush and cleaned the aluminum with acetone.
My rig has high frequency and I can see where it cleaned around the welds.
The cup I'm using is a gas valve cup.

I moved on to joining two pieces with a butt joint. It went much easier than I expected. I guess all the practice I did with steel paid off.

This is a sample of joining two 1/8" pieces. I'm happy with the torch and rod control, but
I see some little pits in the beads. What do you suppose? Maybe a bigger gas valve cup?




This is what the project is. It's two aluminum tubes, one 1/4" wall and the other 1/8" wall. I need to butt them together.
My plan is to cut a rabbit in the thick one to simplify clamping and alignment, and to provide some back-up to the thinner tube to avoid burn through.

It will be an adapter sleeve to mount my bicycle work stand to a stage speaker stand. The diameter of the stand is 1.5" and the work stand is 1.75".


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## TommyD (Feb 4, 2016)

GA Gyro said:


> I am sure you understand the subtle and playful sarcasm of this comment:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



My first 'you suck'. I'm touched...


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## coolidge (Feb 4, 2016)

Okay somebody school me, why the copper plate?


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## Franko (Feb 5, 2016)

There is probably no good reason for the copper in in my situation, Coolidge. Copper is good to back a weld that has a gap, so the weld doesn't protrude out the opposite side. Spatter and slag doesn't stick to it. I probably used it because I thought it might increase the ground contact, plus I knew I would be welding pieces with a gap between them.


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## TOOLMASTER (Feb 5, 2016)

try a bigger cup than what you have on there


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## Sandia (Feb 5, 2016)

Thanks for the post Franko, looks like your coming along pretty good on the aluminum tig. Keep at it.  

I just purchased a Everlast 250EX last week, still gathering the other stuff to get started. Coolidge was kind enough to PM me some useful information on the Everlast.

Never used tig before but I have welded all my life since about 13 with stick and oxy/acetylene. Bought a mig machine in 1990 and have used it exclusively since then. Not a pro with either one of them.  Going to start on a cart for the tig this morning hopefully, but will use the mig to put it together. I will post a pic later of the Everlast and the work progress on the cart.

Bob


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## GA Gyro (Feb 5, 2016)

Sandia said:


> Thanks for the post Franko, looks like your coming along pretty good on the aluminum tig. Keep at it.
> 
> I just purchased a Everlast 250EX last week, still gathering the other stuff to get started. Coolidge was kind enough to PM me some useful information on the Everlast.
> 
> ...



My welding experience is similar, without the MIG unit... being in the heating and AC business, I braze CU tubing regularly. 

I would like to get a TIG machine someday... was looking at an Everlast a while back... Would appreciate your thoughts on the one you got.

THX

GA


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## coolidge (Feb 5, 2016)

Sandia said:


> Going to start on a cart for the tig this morning hopefully, but will use the mig to put it together.Bob



That's just wrong! lol


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## davidh (Feb 5, 2016)

franko, if your photo of the two tubes standing up is what i see, and the seam is nearly invisible, i can't hardly believe you would need a filler at all. . .  i miss my tig.  the defibulator folks said i would probably explode my heart if i got too close to one with the arc running. . . .  your practice look quite good. . .


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## Grumpy Gator (Feb 5, 2016)

_Tips take 2. When welding two different thickness metals together keep your torch on the thinner one and point the heat toward the thicker one.You can always rotate the torch to chase the weld on to the thinner work piece. Once again back filling is your friend._
_Once you go all the way around and it's still warm you can make a finish pass for the row of dimes look. Remember that the work is all ready hot so if it looks like its getting away from you cool it down and try again.
The quick way to set your tungsten is to use your filler rod as a gauge just lay it across the cup and set the tip to that distance.
I use lacquer thinner to clean with because it does not leave any oil film behind and dries quicker. Soap and water works well also just rinse it real well.
You got any questions just give me a shout .
********
	

		
			
		

		
	



	

		
			
		

		
	
 ****G********** 
_


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## Franko (Feb 5, 2016)

More will be revealed regarding the joint between tubes, David.
I need to cap the thicker walled tube. I'll turn a tight fitting plug and weld it in. After that, the plan is to cut a rabbit joint to fit the inside diameter of the thin walled tube. Then, slide them together, clamp and weld them.

I'm feeling fairly comfortable with my torch and rod control welding flat. Welding around curves is much more difficult for me. I need to practice on some scrap tube. I'd love to have a welding lathe, but I don't.

One interesting thing I have noticed using the AC setting is that it is a lot noisier. It makes a very loud buzzing sound.

My friendly local welder (Chuck) pointed out that the cleaning action around my welds seemed excessive and suggested I decrease the ballance. It was set at 75%. I've bumped it up to 80%. Apparently on Lincoln machines this would a change from 25% to 20%.

I need to go back and review some of Jodie's videos, regarding cleaning action of the arc.


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## Sandia (Feb 5, 2016)

coolidge said:


> That's just wrong! lol



Yep, that was exactly what I  was thinking when I made the post.  I need to get the cart built so I have a place to put the Everlast and argon bottle, then I can start trying to teach myself how to tig weld. lol


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## Sandia (Feb 5, 2016)

GA Gyro said:


> My welding experience is similar, without the MIG unit... being in the heating and AC business, I braze CU tubing regularly.
> 
> I would like to get a TIG machine someday... was looking at an Everlast a while back... Would appreciate your thoughts on the one you got.
> 
> ...



Ga, I will give you my opinion at a later date. I am certainly not qualified to make any judgement on the machine at this point, not having any experience with tig welders at all.  Looks cool if that counts for anything, plus it didn't break the bank as compared to the red and blue machines.


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## rwm (Feb 5, 2016)

Welds look good Franko.
I just discovered that Esab now makes a box that does TIG, Stick and MIG. Never seen that before.
R


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## TOOLMASTER (Feb 5, 2016)

Is this your weld seam?

View attachment 121307


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## Franko (Feb 5, 2016)

TOOLMASTER said:


> Is this your weld seam?



Almost, Toolmaster. It is a single rabbit on the thick wall tube.

Thanks R.


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## TOOLMASTER (Feb 5, 2016)

revised..i drew it wrong


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## cbsos (Feb 5, 2016)

Hi Franco, I have been welding light gauge alloy for some years find it much harder to deal with than heavy gauge alloy that I am now welding, I started with a 180 ac/dc to make aircraft panels and after much stressing and translating of German to English I managed to get some reasonable looking welds. I have since found my problem was treating the TIG like a Oxy/Acetylene torch and attempting to get to too much penetration which resulted in a much wider weld than necessary and therefore far more heat in the surrounding panels causing distortion.
Like all welding the parts to be welded MUST be clean and fit with as little gap as possible (perfect), the extra filler rod causes more shrinkage as it cools and exerts more stresses of the finished panel.
You must get the heat into the tack weld join it together and get the torch away as soon as you can, I find I count as I weld and each weld will be the same length of time, DON'T go back and fill a hole, leave it and go back when the area has cooled, space your tacks evenly. Consistent weld times consistent material at each weld.

When my tungsten gets dirty I use a thick scrap alloy plate or a copper panel to strike an arc and traverse over the panel,  you will hear the sound of the arc change too a smooth sound as the dirty alloy splatter is burnt off.  Using a copper plate as a backing to prevent excessive penetration will absorb the heat and make it hard to get a good looking weld.
Using a thick panels and trying to make a poor welds will help you see what happens if you have the wrong angle on your torch,you will see the filler bead rolling one way or the other, you will see one side of you weld will sag and you can then compensate by tipping your torch to align your filler rod and get beads sitting in the right area. Try changing settings and this is the other smoke and mirrors.
I takes KGS of filler rod and many cylinders of Argon to get good, but consistent practice is the best teacher.
I hope this helps.
Chris.


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## Franko (Feb 5, 2016)

Thanks, Chris. All good info. I've read everything I could find about TIG, and watched every video I could find. It isn't that I'm ignorant of how to do it, but I just hadn't attempted yet. All I've done is steel for most of this year.

I read or heard from one of the uTube welding guys (maybe in a book) that gas welding was the best experience for learning to TIG. I tried gas welding many times, but was never able to do it. I'm not any good at brazing, either.


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## Franko (Feb 6, 2016)

Ok, it is as done as it is going to get. Not the prettiest, but not a total embarrassment, either. I spent a couple hours making beads on some round scrap. I turned down about 10 thou. on the lathe to clean it and washed it down with acetone. I adjusted the balance to 20% and that seemed to fix the over cleaning action.

I cut a ring about 5/8" long to make a stop for the bottom tube and braced it in and welded it in place. That was a very difficult weld, or at least I had a lot of difficulty getting the thicker side to melt.
After welding the ring on, I put it in the lathe and trimmed the weld flat, but left some so as not to weaken it too much and provide a flat for the bracket to rest on. Then I cut the step in the thick wall tube to fit the upper thin wall tube.





Then, I welded the two together. I made a little bevel on the mating surfaces. I had to turn the amps up much more that what I used to practice. I set it to the upper range recommended for 3/8" stock. I'm not very good at welding round things. I could only manage about 3/4" at a time. I clamped the parts together and didn't need to tack. I got one blob right off the bat before I turned up the amps, and mounted the thing in the lathe and trimmed it down some. The parts were straight and turned true on the lathe.




So, here it is, doing what it was made to do. This would have been so much easier if I could made the adapter to fit inside the tubes, but they have an internal seam.




Weird. Every time I wrote the word "lathe" is makes a link.


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## rwm (Feb 6, 2016)

Hey! That's beautiful. Good job. 
R


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## TommyD (Feb 6, 2016)

Nice work.


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## royesses (Feb 7, 2016)

Very well done Franko. It is not easy welding around a cylinder like that. Especially when you are just learning aluminum tig. I don't think I could do as good as you.


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## Goat Driver (Feb 21, 2016)

Looking pretty good on the aluminum. It is a different world than steel, etc., no doubt. 
*
Never sandblast aluminum*, it impregnates the aluminum with the blast media and causes porosity in your weld. Prep with a dedicated grinder wheel, flap disc, stainless wire wheel or hand brush and clean with acetone. 

*NEVER* clean with brake cleaner or carb cleaner they produce phosgene gas when heated.
http://www.brewracingframes.com/safety-alert-brake-cleaner--phosgene-gas.html
http://journal.publications.chestnet.org/article.aspx?articleID=1095693

Try some 1.5% or 2% lanthanated tungsten, I think you will like it for all welding not just aluminum. I use the 2% lanthanated almost indefinitely and have for the past couple of years.
I grind my lanthanated tungsten to a sharp point...some argue this but do not knock it until you try it. Also run hotter and move faster, it will prevent warping in the aluminum. I do a lot of aluminum fishing boat repair and fab decks etc.
This type of stuff.....


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## Franko (Feb 21, 2016)

Thanks, goatdriver. Some of the best looking tig welds I've seen are on my Bass Tracker. It had a bunch of holes in the bottom when I got it. I paid a real welder to patch it up for me. I was impressed with his skill, laying on his back and welding the bottom without setting himself on fire.

When I got that boat, I completely stripped out the inside and re-made all the decking and under supports with aluminum. Decks were 10th inch plate and supported with various angle and square tube stock, with heavy angle for seat base supports. I had it all screwed to the top plate and took it to the same welder guy, who welded it all up for me. It was all jigged up so he didn't have to anything but weld.


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## Franko (Feb 21, 2016)

I thought I might have another aluminum welding project. While refurbing my bicycle, I noticed a big split in one of the bottom back axle frame members. It looked like it was exploded from the inside with about a 2 inch longitudinal open split. The crack is parallel to a weld. I have no idea when it happened or how long it has been split.




I was talked out of trying to fix it by my local friendly welder who said welding would spoil the temper and weaken the tube, unless it could be re-tempered.

As it turned out, the frame on my bike is guaranteed for life, so the maker will send me a new frame or bike, depending on if they have a frame. It is about 10 years old. I'll know something this week. I cannot imagine what kind of stress would cause that tube to crack like that. It looked blown out from the inside.

The guys at the bike shop admonished me not to ride it, but I've been riding it for about 6 weeks. I don't think if it breaks it will be a catastrophic break. There are three other frame members holding the rear axle mount. I had a friend who had the same tube break in half on his bike and it didn't fall apart. He said it just got a little loose feeling.

It is good that the bike shop thinks the damage is so dangerous. It increases the likelyhood that they will make a good case to the maker to replace it.


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## Steve Shannon (Feb 21, 2016)

Looks like it was just fatigue. It's right next to that weld. Other places on the tube can flex more, but that area is stiffer, resulting in more stress in that area. All that's just a guess though. 


 Steve Shannon, P.E.


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## Firestopper (Feb 22, 2016)

Franko said:


> I thought I might have another aluminum welding project. While refurbing my bicycle, I noticed a big split in one of the bottom back axle frame members. It looked like it was exploded from the inside with about a 2 inch longitudinal open split. The crack is parallel to a weld. I have no idea when it happened or how long it has been split.
> 
> View attachment 122862
> 
> ...



Hi Franko,

That photo is interesting, The first thing that comes to mind is water possibly got in that section and froze. Most bike frame cracks/failures are of circumference nature from what I seen over the years. Curious to know if you could locate a small drilled hole at one of the ends of that section. 
I do like to study metal fatigue when something interesting comes along.


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## Franko (Feb 22, 2016)

That's what is curious to me, Paco. I would expect a radial crack. It has at least one relief hole that I can find. It is on the inside (not top or bottom) by the axle and very small. I would think the tube would have to be just about completely full of water for freezing to cause such a crack. I don't see how that would be possible.

I'm no expert on metallurgy, but I have heard that an aluminum weld done wrong (somehow) it can cause a crack when it cools. I suspect that is the cause of the fracture, done at the time of manufacture. It created a invisible flaw that didn't show up until later. I think it is called a "hot crack," also known as hot shortness, hot fissuring, solidification cracking and liquation cracking. (I had to look that part up) I remember Jody the welder mentioning it several time on his videos.


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## Franko (Mar 15, 2016)

Franko said:


> View attachment 122862



Here is an update to the split bike frame saga. The frame warranty was denied by Giant Bicycles because the damage was caused by the tube filling with water and freezing. It says nothing about freezing on the warranty. They said it is a common problem up near the north pole where some people live.

I don't buy that at all. I think it is a design flaw if you put a hole that will allow water in a part that will freeze and burst, if you don't put another hole that will let the water out. Or, they could have simply plugged up the pressure relief hole once the part was welded.

But, it doesn't matter what I buy. Giant was unswayed by my reasoning.
What I ended up buying was a new bike. Not another Giant.

So, I don't have much nice to say about Giant Bicycles and wouldn't recommend anyone doing business with them. So there.


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## Firestopper (Mar 15, 2016)

Sorry to hear about that Franco. The rupture looked like failures I seen in the past so my hunch was right as it appeared to be blown outward. I have seen  .120"x1.5"x1.5" steel square tube fail for the same reason. The tube doesn't need to completely fill up with water to rupture during a hard freeze (I have seen this). The aluminum doesn't stand a chance against mother natures hydraulic pressure. I would massage the crack back down, drill two "stop drill" holes and grind a small groove along the crack and TIG over it. Unless you plan on jumping garbage cans like Evil Knievel a repair would hold up fine.


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## Franko (Mar 16, 2016)

Thanks, Paco. I've got a new bike but it should be fun to attempt to repair the crack and sell it with disclosure that it has been repaired. It is something I think I can TIG. I also have some aluminum brazing rod that might be worth a shot. The stress on that chain stay is tension. A linear crack on the length of the tube could be worse. I think if I TIG it up it will hold up for light duty riding.


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## ericc (Mar 16, 2016)

I hate to say this, but this looks like the material is just plain worn out (from fatigue).  Giant never intended to honor their warranty because this frame has a definite, and comparatively short, lifetime.  Aluminum just does this, and Giant knows that.  They hope that most customers will just throw away the bicycle before the frame fails, and all the rest they can push off with some argument like they gave you.  Serious cyclists know this and buy an aluminum frame if they are short of cash or afraid of crashing.  They let it go as soon as it fails, or they reach a certain number of miles, whichever comes first.  It's funny; the person who schooled me on this lived in Plano, probably just up the road from you.


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## Franko (Mar 16, 2016)

Thanks for your comments, Ericc. I'm pretty sure it isn't a fatigue crack. It is obviously blown out from the inside and the stress on that part wouldn't run down the centerline of the tube. No kind of strain I can think of would make such a crack.

I've seen other frames that have broken from stress. In all cases, the break was a radial crack around the circumference of the frame member.


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## ericc (Mar 16, 2016)

Yeah, looking at it again and from experience, that sounds right.


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## Franko (Mar 23, 2016)

This is the latest and probably last update of the split bicycle frame saga.

The split frame.




I removed the crank set and used a small hammer to push the bulge back down. I used a big drift punch with a larger hammer to tuck in some of the edges. Then I used an air die grinder to polish off the paint and oxidation. So far, it is looking good.




This is where it started going bad. After practicing on several pieces of aluminum the same thickness as the tube, I attempted to weld the split. Nothing worked. In one second flat, I burned a hole in it. I decreased the heat and when I managed to get the base metal to melt just right, the rod would ball up and not flow.

It was the ugliest weld I've ever made. I had high hopes of a nice stack of dime weld for the patch. I could not get the tube metal to flow and my welds just glumped on in blobs. I ground it down and started over a half dozen times.

It was all difficult, but the most difficult was welding next to the thick kickstand bracket. After a while, I gave up on the original plans and just ground it smooth as it would allow. It is probably ground too thin and is weakened.




I found some paint that matched pretty well. Rattle can dark copper metallic.




I had hoped to repair the bike enough to sell it with a clear conscience. I'm going to scrap it. I think I've weakened it too much to feel right about selling it to anyone.

Oh well. Live and learn. A pesky conscience can be expensive some times.


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## Steve Shannon (Mar 23, 2016)

Did you flood the inside of the tube with argon while you attempted the weld?


 Steve Shannon, P.E.


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