Morgan
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High temperature solder
I bought some aluminum solder from Harbor Freight the other day without knowing much about it. The nice thing is you can use an ordinary propane torch
for small projects.
One forum member from another site said he looked up the msds and it consisted of a proprietary blend of magnesium, aluminum, copper, and tin. There
was another product I read about that uses even more metals. Although it isn't going to take as much heat as a true weld, it has the advantage of
fusing with aluminum at a much lower temperature. While I can't confirm the composition and haven't used the product yet, maybe you might have some
unique use for it too. It can become brittle if suddenly cooled so I wouldn't entrust it for some applications. I wonder what the ratio of the metals
is to make it?
"When Alumiweld reaches 790º F/421º C it dissolves aluminum quickly. When heating the base metal, direct the flame at right angles to the base for
more even and efficient heating. Apply a thin coating of Alumiweld (see step 3). Then back off with the heat until the coating hardens. This gives you
a good feel for holding the temperature close to, but slightly hotter than 730º F/388º C (aluminum will not be dissolved or penetrated at less than
730º F/388º C)."
"Coat the Weld Surface with Alumiweld.
Coat the surface where penetration is to occur with a thin layer of Alumiweld. This keeps the air (oxygen) away- much like the inert gas envelope on
MIG or TIG welders."
http://www.eastwood.com/how-to-weld-aluminum-with-alumiweld-...
Some telling photos.
"Interestingly, it seems that the Alumiweld etches itself into the parent material somewhat."
"As you can see the junction between the parent material and the Alumiweld is indistinguishable."
"Finally starting to see visible signs of failure.... in the parent material!"
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=36600.0
The instructions that came inside my Harbor Freight purchase.
http://www.alumiweld.com/h2uaw.html
A beginner video showing some what not to dos and characteristics of the alloy. I got some insights from reading the viewer comments as well - a tough
crowd.
"Buy a fucking clamp." ha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ42scaWFnw
Another composition and claims. Interesting this works on titanium too. I've some 6Al/4V titanium tubing I might try to see if my cheaper Harbor
Freight alloy works on Ti.
"Yes HTS-2000 works on all non-ferrous alloys including "all" aluminum alloys (even the ones that cannot be welded),
magnesium aluminum mixtures, zinc, die cast, pot metal, copper, bronze, Nickel, Titanium and galvanized parts."
"Not to be confused with Alumaloy, Alumaweld, Alumarod, Durafix, Aladdin 3 in 1, or any other first generation rods most of them consisting of 3
alloys. HTS-2000 is a unique stand-alone product, Comprised of nine alloys that cost more to produce and through exhaustive testing led to this
superior advanced technology. HTS-2000 has an elongation of 10% in 2 inches (rather than the standard 3% like the first generation rods listed above)
which makes HTS-2000 3 times more flexible and stronger than any of its competitors. It also easily penetrates past impurities that lay below the
metal's surface which may be impossible to penetrate with competitors materials. Also unlike the first generation rods HTS-2000 does not require steel
or special cleaning brushes. All of this means not only a more expensive manufacturing process with new technology but also superior quality (this is
the best brazing rod you can buy anywhere at any price) direct to the customer, see our testimonials and video and it will be easy for you to choose
HTS-2000 as your #1 choice."
http://www.aluminumrepair.com/faqs.asp
http://www.aluminumrepair.com/client_list.asp
[Edited on 6-10-2013 by Morgan]
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cyanureeves
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this stuff looks to be wonderful and can be used to save aluminum housings like dewalt angle grinders.angle grinders break from excessive downward
pressure on the side handle.one could make aluminum water cooled condensors with that or sound suppressors,brass knuckles etc...i was just looking at
harbor freight today for silver solder.
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Morgan
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I liked the quick way they made new threads for a bolt, taking advantage of the fact that it doesn't stick to iron/steel. Too, I guess you could just
fill a hole and drill and tap it if you needed it perfectly straight.
HTS 2000 Aluminum Repair
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCrixbXz4rc
Illustrative surface tension at the 4 minute 30 second mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCrixbXz4rc#t=4m30s
[Edited on 6-10-2013 by Morgan]
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elementcollector1
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I have some thick aluminum wire - would this 'solder' steel plate together with a blowtorch?
Elements Collected:52/87
Latest Acquired: Cl
Next in Line: Nd
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Morgan
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Alumiweld doesn't stick to ferrous metals. That's why you can put a bolt in it and let it harden and then unscrew the bolt as in the last video I
posted. So I doubt aluminum would adhere to iron very well unless you did something exotic. If the part got hot (or cold) you would have to contend
with different rates of thermal expansion.
For some reason some split shot weights made of tin caught my eye today, so I bought a pack thinking I might try melting them with a piece of
magnesium fire starter and some aluminum just to see if I could make some Alumiweld myself. I suspect the majority is tin, but as to the rest, I can
only guess the proportions. Some forum said something about it containing copper too, a piece of copper tubing would suffice I guess. I wonder what
characteristics each metal imparts to the alloy?
Imagine the fun of making a nine alloy composition as with the HTS-2000 product. Seems a bit excessive but maybe 10 metals would be even better. ha
Here's a curious way of bonding dissimilar metals.
http://www.highenergymetals.com/page2.html
http://www.highenergymetals.com/
A vivid description of an aluminum to steel technique.
"I used to machine explosively welded aluminum to steel plate. They were used for faying strips welded between the steel decks and aluminum
superstructures of Naval vessels. They used to use a steel combing riveted to the aluminum strucure but that was unsat over time."
"This aluminum welded to steel took place in the woods not far from Port Angeles, WA. They had a huge hunk of slavaged battleship armor 10 ft wide and
40 ft long and over a foot thick set up on timber cribbing. They lay the steel plate on it sprinkled on something granular to maintain the critical
spacing, then the aluminum plate, then a sheet of high explosive. It was detonated from one end with a special arrangement of matched detonators to
generate a plane wave that ran like a ripple to the other end of the aluminum plate. In the space of 0.020" five million PSI accelerated the aluminum
plate to supersonic velocity and struck the steel. The clean, sand blasted surfaces semi-melted and stirred together in some way that formed a strong
fusion bond."
"Those explosive welding people had it down to a science. It went off with a hell of a bang, the big hunk of armor dipped and jumped, and the welded
plate just sat there as a billow of reddish smoke rolled up and drifted off. The bonded joint had hard spots with a peculiar grainy undulation in the
fusion line."
"We parted it off on a planer into 1" wide strips 12 ft long. It was tough on parting tools and we'd break one or two every cut. Bandsaw blades
wouldn't last over a foot in it. That was 1975. These days we have water jet metal cutting. supersonic garnet doesn't stop for anything."
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/aluminu...
[Edited on 6-10-2013 by Morgan]
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12AX7
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Anything titanium involves ammonium bifluoride based fluxes, no?
Aluminum soldering/brazing can be done by scraping away the surface oxide, but the bonding isn't great for the same reason. Flux is best, just really
nasty.
Tim
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Morgan
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Here's some tidbits from page 9 and 10. I suspect aluminum and titanium bonding isn't that strong or acceptable for structural uses. I don't really
know much about it. The product HTS-2000 (high temperature solder) mentioned/claimed that it bonds titanium but to what extent it's probably not
stellar from what I gather.
The Alumiweld product seems to bond to aluminum quite well though, the aluminum parent material fatiguing before the fused region.
" Pure aluminum reacts with titanium very actively, and thin-wall brazed joints are characterized by unacceptable level of the base metal erosion.
Even short exposure of Al melt to titanium during torch brazing may result in deep erosion of the base metal. Therefore, aluminum BFM are usually
alloyed by such metals as Cu, Si, Mg, Fe, and Sn, which diminish the reactivity of pure aluminum. Magnesium is the most effective alloying element for
this purpose because it does not react with titanium at all."
BRAZING OF TITANIUM AT TEMPERATURES BELOW 800°C: REVIEW AND PROSPECTIVE APPLICATIONS
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&a...
[Edited on 7-10-2013 by Morgan]
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