Hello, metalworkers!

Haven't been by in a while. Been busy getting ready for a six month volunteer
stint.

We know by sooting aluminum and torching it the soot will burn to indicate the
annealed condition has been reached. I doubt this is more than a coincidence as
I read the aluminum oxide layer become mobilized and can be removed by rub
soldering at some temperature, so I speculate annealing happens to happen at
near the same temperature. That is, buring off the soot doesn't anneal the
aluminum, it's the heat that anneals the work.

Is this an effective method of preparing aluminum for soldering? Does the soot
act as a powerful reducing agent, turning the Al2O3 into reduced Al at the
surface?
Can presooting aluminum, torching it to remove the soot, and applying flux with
the tip of a solder wire, then rubbing with solder wire be a way of tinning
aluminum for soldering?

Inquiring minds want to know. So do I.

I have the equipment, solder, and flux, but not a single scrap of aluminum
other than a beverage can.

I'll be working with 0.080 inch thick aluminum soon.


Yours,

Doug Goncz ( ftp://users.aol.com/DGoncz/ )
Student member SAE for one year.
Loves in my life:
Dona, Jeff, Kim, Mom, Neelix, Tasha, and Teri, alphabetically.
So that is who I spend my time with.