There seem to be lots of people selling aluminium brazing rods nowadays
with claims that it's easy and as strong as welding.

One of the major suppliers is Durafix:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/DURAFIX-EAS...d=302591197676

Does anyone here have any experience of using this (or other similar,
but cheaper) aluminium brazing rods?

--
Chris Green
·

On Wed, 12 Jun 2019 20:51:48 +0100, Chris Green wrote:

There seem to be lots of people selling aluminium brazing rods nowadays
with claims that it's easy and as strong as welding.

One of the major suppliers is Durafix:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/DURAFIX-EAS...d=302591197676

Does anyone here have any experience of using this (or other similar,
but cheaper) aluminium brazing rods?

Yes.

I have used a Lumiweld kit with pretty good results.

https://www.frost.co.uk/lumiweld-kits.html

I bought it specifically to weld a threaded collar I had turned up,
into a thermostat housing I had bored out on the lathe, allowing me to
fit an electric fan switch where one was never previously fitted.

This was over 30 years ago when we built the kit car.

I remember it lasting pretty well (20+ years), but I believe I've
since re-done it using two-part 'Liquid metal' epoxy and think I'd use
the epoxy again, if I had to do anything similar (where there was room
for the epoxy to have a fillet / reasonably large contact area).

When I was practicing with the Lumiweld I think I brazed a couple of
bits of ally scrap together and when destruction testing, the metal
failed before the joint.

Cheers, T i m

I seem to recall from my metalwork at school warnings were that not all ally
is pure ally, so one needs to be careful.
Brian

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"T i m" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 Jun 2019 20:51:48 +0100, Chris Green wrote:

There seem to be lots of people selling aluminium brazing rods nowadays
with claims that it's easy and as strong as welding.

One of the major suppliers is Durafix:-


https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/DURAFIX-EAS...d=302591197676

Does anyone here have any experience of using this (or other similar,
but cheaper) aluminium brazing rods?

Yes.

I have used a Lumiweld kit with pretty good results.

https://www.frost.co.uk/lumiweld-kits.html

I bought it specifically to weld a threaded collar I had turned up,
into a thermostat housing I had bored out on the lathe, allowing me to
fit an electric fan switch where one was never previously fitted.

This was over 30 years ago when we built the kit car.

I remember it lasting pretty well (20+ years), but I believe I've
since re-done it using two-part 'Liquid metal' epoxy and think I'd use
the epoxy again, if I had to do anything similar (where there was room
for the epoxy to have a fillet / reasonably large contact area).

When I was practicing with the Lumiweld I think I brazed a couple of
bits of ally scrap together and when destruction testing, the metal
failed before the joint.

Cheers, T i m

On Wed, 12 Jun 2019 20:51:48 +0100, Chris Green wrote:

Does anyone here have any experience of using this (or other similar,
but cheaper) aluminium brazing rods?

Couldn't get the damn stuff to stick, just a little gob here and there. Also,
Aluminum conducts heat very, very well, so it needed plenty of torch.

Ended up using a two-part epoxy, as temperature, load, surface area, etc.
allowed it.



Thomas Prufer

You can get alusol ( not anusol! ) And that claims to allow you to solder to aluminium.

Also a company called superior flux that offers an aluminium cleaner and AFCW 99C and AFCW 96S solder wire that can also solder to certain aluminium grades.

T i m wrote:
On Wed, 12 Jun 2019 20:51:48 +0100, Chris Green wrote:

There seem to be lots of people selling aluminium brazing rods nowadays
with claims that it's easy and as strong as welding.

One of the major suppliers is Durafix:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/DURAFIX-EAS...d=302591197676


Does anyone here have any experience of using this (or other similar,
but cheaper) aluminium brazing rods?

Yes.

I have used a Lumiweld kit with pretty good results.

https://www.frost.co.uk/lumiweld-kits.html

I bought it specifically to weld a threaded collar I had turned up,
into a thermostat housing I had bored out on the lathe, allowing me to
fit an electric fan switch where one was never previously fitted.

This was over 30 years ago when we built the kit car.

I remember it lasting pretty well (20+ years), but I believe I've
since re-done it using two-part 'Liquid metal' epoxy and think I'd use
the epoxy again, if I had to do anything similar (where there was room
for the epoxy to have a fillet / reasonably large contact area).

When I was practicing with the Lumiweld I think I brazed a couple of
bits of ally scrap together and when destruction testing, the metal
failed before the joint.

Thanks Tim, that's really useful. I have a little crack at the edge
of a transmission case and I've been wondering if something like this
would be worth trying. The crack doesn't *really* need fixing, it's
only in the lip/edge so I'm pretty sure it will hold together and be
oil tight anyway. I'd just be happier with the crack fixed.

--
Chris Green
·

On Thu, 13 Jun 2019 08:42:46 +0100, Chris Green wrote:

Thanks Tim, that's really useful. I have a little crack at the edge
of a transmission case and I've been wondering if something like this
would be worth trying. The crack doesn't *really* need fixing, it's
only in the lip/edge so I'm pretty sure it will hold together and be
oil tight anyway. I'd just be happier with the crack fixed.

Alternative is to TIG-weld it, i.e. go to someplace where they do it and let
them do it. Easy for those practiced in the art, and those that have the
expensive equipment (needs AC, and I think Argon, and plenty of current).
Possibly done for a bit on the side.

I'd worry that torch welding would cause the whole edge to sag. The rods I used
didn't take kindly to crud and oxides, and I spent a lot of time and gas on
scraping and scratching at the ally to no avail. Don't see how you could get the
inside of the crack clean, to give the flux a chance.

Or maybe "Loctite Fixmaster Aluminum Putty" or one of its brothers?


Thomas Prufer

On 13/06/2019 07:43, wrote:
You can get alusol ( not anusol! ) And that claims to allow you to solder to aluminium.

Also a company called superior flux that offers an aluminium cleaner and AFCW 99C and AFCW 96S solder wire that can also solder to certain aluminium grades.


I have soldered aluminium with ordinary lead tin solder.
The secret is Carr's aluminium flux, and an open window.


--
"It is an established fact to 97% confidence limits that left wing
conspirators see right wing conspiracies everywhere"

On 12/06/2019 20:51, Chris Green wrote:
There seem to be lots of people selling aluminium brazing rods nowadays
with claims that it's easy and as strong as welding.

One of the major suppliers is Durafix:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/DURAFIX-EAS...d=302591197676

Does anyone here have any experience of using this (or other similar,
but cheaper) aluminium brazing rods?

I'm interested in this too. I bought some a couple of years ago just to
play with. Not as easy as the videos suggest, in my experience, and I am
fairly experienced in soldering and silver soldering with a gas torch
for steel, copper alloys, and jewellery.

For things like crack sealing I'd look at epoxy first.

In article ,
Thomas Prufer wrote:
Alternative is to TIG-weld it, i.e. go to someplace where they do it and let
them do it. Easy for those practiced in the art, and those that have the
expensive equipment (needs AC, and I think Argon, and plenty of current).
Possibly done for a bit on the side.

I managed to MIG weld ally at home. Not too complex - just a bush for an
ATS into the side of an ally tube. After a bit of fettling, looked ok, and
has certainly held - been on the car for some 10 years.

--
*The e-mail of the species is more deadly than the mail *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 13/06/2019 07:43, wrote:
You can get alusol ( not anusol! ) And that claims to allow you to
solder to aluminium.

Also a company called superior flux that offers an aluminium cleaner
and AFCW 99C and AFCW 96S solder wire that can also solder to certain
aluminium grades.


I have soldered aluminium with ordinary lead tin solder. The secret is
Carr's aluminium flux, and an open window.

I'd have thought soft solder weaker than a decent epoxy?

--
*If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 13/06/2019 15:27, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 13/06/2019 07:43, wrote:
You can get alusol ( not anusol! ) And that claims to allow you to
solder to aluminium.

Also a company called superior flux that offers an aluminium cleaner
and AFCW 99C and AFCW 96S solder wire that can also solder to certain
aluminium grades.


I have soldered aluminium with ordinary lead tin solder. The secret is
Carr's aluminium flux, and an open window.

I'd have thought soft solder weaker than a decent epoxy?

Yes but it is ductile, and resistant to chemicals and UV, and feathers
better.

On 13/06/2019 16:09, newshound wrote:
On 13/06/2019 15:27, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Â*Â*Â* The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 13/06/2019 07:43, wrote:
You can get alusol ( not anusol! ) And that claims to allow you to
solder to aluminium.

Also a company called superior flux that offers an aluminium cleaner
and AFCW 99C and AFCW 96S solder wire that can also solder to certain
aluminium grades.


I have soldered aluminium with ordinary lead tin solder. The secret is
Carr's aluminium flux, and an open window.

I'd have thought soft solder weaker than a decent epoxy?

Yes but it is ductile, and resistant to chemicals and UV, and feathers
better.
In my case it was to make electrical contacts to aluminium electrodes in
LI poly cells


--
€œIdeas are inherently conservative. They yield not to the attack of
other ideas but to the massive onslaught of circumstance"

- John K Galbraith