Topic: All you need is a good welder

[Artfrombama]

Before;

After;


And a little cash.....

[grcamna2]

Nice Work !  Do you know what they used to prep/clean all the old oil out of the porous aluminum castings before welding it ? I have a pr. of cases that're going to be welded and the man is putting it into an oven repeatedly until all the oil is gone,which seems like a lot of prep work to me.

[Artfrombama]

Nice Work !  Do you know what they used to prep/clean all the old oil out of the porous aluminum castings before welding it ? I have a pr. of cases that're going to be welded and the man is putting it into an oven repeatedly until all the oil is gone,which seems like a lot of prep work to me.

I used a carbide burr and smoothed all the edges. Made a patch from .125" aluminum. Other than that just find a talented welder with a heliarc machine (no spool gun).
Bottom case had to go back to the welder because the mating surface had to be built up because of the heat.

[grcamna2]

Sounds good 

[calj737]

Prep it by heating with MAPP gas to help purge the oil out of the cases prior to welding.Insures a clean and thorough weld joint.

[henrikm]

Nice work! Wish I had a AC/DC welder and a mill to resurface

[grcamna2]

Nice work! Wish I had a AC/DC welder and a mill to resurface

Me too and the skill/exp. to use them correctly.

[grcamna2]

Prep it by heating with MAPP gas to help purge the oil out of the cases prior to welding.Insures a clean and thorough weld joint.

MAPP gas is similar to propane and makes a big orange flame,what you're saying is that'll have enough heat to remove the oil from the pores of the rough castings where it's broken & that's enough prep for the welder to do the job cleanly? makes sense,I'll remember that for the future.

[Terry in Australia]

Nice Work !  Do you know what they used to prep/clean all the old oil out of the porous aluminum castings before welding it ? I have a pr. of cases that're going to be welded and the man is putting it into an oven repeatedly until all the oil is gone,which seems like a lot of prep work to me.

I used a carbide burr and smoothed all the edges. Made a patch from .125" aluminum. Other than that just find a talented welder with a heliarc machine (no spool gun).
Bottom case had to go back to the welder because the mating surface had to be built up because of the heat.

What's wrong with Spool Guns Art? I've got a cheap eBay MIG with a spool gun that I bought in an attempt to weld a broken engine case, and it did a brilliant job! I tried running alloy wire thru my big expensive 220 amp MIG, but I was continually snagging the wire, so the spool gun was a brilliant "fix". Cheers, Terry.

[calj737]

What's wrong with Spool Guns Art? I've got a cheap eBay MIG with a spool gun that I bought in an attempt to weld a broken engine case, and it did a brilliant job! I tried running alloy wire thru my big expensive 220 amp MIG, but I was continually snagging the wire, so the spool gun was a brilliant "fix". Cheers, Terry.

Sounds like you had the wrong size tip on the MIG, Terry? MIG or Spool would work. TIG works great too. Just need to tinker with the settings on any process you choose and get the old alloy clean, clean, clean to weld it.

[754]

Spool gun is for trailers and gravel truck boxes..

[Davez134]

Spool gun is for trailers and gravel truck boxes..

+1
I agree, I would for sure use my TIG for a job like this. Way more control and consistency. BUT if all I had was a spool gun setup it would be better than JB weld  (I have a spool gun on my Miller 211, and it honestly took me longer to get the hang of that then it did to learn my TIG!)

[Artfrombama]

I don't TIG weld so I depend on people that do and that know what is required to make the repair. I plan to seal the inside of the repair with JB Weld.

As far as being able to do the repair with a spool gun, I wouldn't try it... I would take my business elsewhere from someone that would use a spool gun, TIG welding is what I prefer for precise welding on thin material such as an engine case.
Spool guns are great for lawn furniture, trailers, awnings, etc.

If you have a spool gun and have the ability to weld engine cases with it my hats off to ya. You're way better than me.
Not saying it can't be done.

[calj737]

If it's properly welded then skip the JB. Or find a better welder. I would be insulted if you did that after I TIG welded it.

[Terry in Australia]

I don't TIG weld so I depend on people that do and that know what is required to make the repair. I plan to seal the inside of the repair with JB Weld.

As far as being able to do the repair with a spool gun, I wouldn't try it... I would take my business elsewhere from someone that would use a spool gun, TIG welding is what I prefer for precise welding on thin material such as an engine case.
Spool guns are great for lawn furniture, trailers, awnings, etc.

If you have a spool gun and have the ability to weld engine cases with it my hats off to ya. You're way better than me.
Not saying it can't be done.

Thanks mate, the reason I asked is because your welds look as good as my spool gun welds did when I repaired the case on Mike's bike, much more like a thick MIG weld, than a finer "stacked coin" TIG weld.

I'm guessing there are guys here who have commented, but really don't know the benefits of a good MIG weld, particularly when depth of penetration is important. I own a good AC/DC TIG welder, but for thicker material where good penetration is the key, you can't beat a good MIG. You certainly wouldn't need to be backfilling with JB weld.... Cheers, Terry.

[calj737]

I own a good AC/DC TIG welder, but for thicker material where good penetration is the key, you can't beat a good MIG.

Interesting. I have found the opposite for me. TIG has been far more effective with thick aluminum due to the amount of heat required to get the pieces to weld together. I've welded 1/4", 3/8" and even 1/2" pieces and have never gotten the MIG to fuse it properly. I even preheat the thick pieces to help, but I'll be damn if I can hold a MIG gun and weld 0.375" tubing without burning my fingers off. I had to resort to a water-cooled rig recently it was so damn hot. Terry, you must be the most talented MIG welder in the world (or maybe your reference was to steel, in which case, never mind).

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah you're right Cal, you have to be a pretty good welder to use anything but a TIG nowadays. I've been welding for well over 40 years (and boy, am I tired!) and can remember learning to weld old Suzuki engine cases in my cousin's dealership with an Oxy/Acetylene torch, long before MIG or TIG welders were available to mere mortals.

Nowadays any dolt and his dog can TIG weld, just look at those jerks on American Chopper, they can't build a decent bike to save themselves, but they sure can make pretty welds with their TIG's. I notice though, that a lot of folks tack their frames together with a MIG before they pretty them up with their TIG's. MIG's can't be too bad, Ducati still use them on their Trellis frames, just like Honda did on ours.........

[calj737]

Yeah you're right Cal, you have to be a pretty good welder to use anything but a TIG nowadays. I've been welding for well over 40 years (and boy, am I tired!) and can remember learning to weld old Suzuki engine cases in my cousin's dealership with an Oxy/Acetylene torch, long before MIG or TIG welders were available to mere mortals.

Nowadays any dolt and his dog can TIG weld, just look at those jerks on American Chopper, they can't build a decent bike to save themselves, but they sure can make pretty welds with their TIG's. I notice though, that a lot of folks tack their frames together with a MIG before they pretty them up with their TIG's. MIG's can't be too bad, Ducati still use them on their Trellis frames, just like Honda did on ours.........

Ha! Its funny, everyone I know starts with a MIG that is self-taught because a trained monkey can make pretty welds with a MIG  TIG takes lots more talent to make those beautiful beads, but ALL processes require knowledge to insure proper welds. I have started my boys with Stick welding to make them learn the fundamentals and instill proper techniques. We stitched an aluminum boat together for a friend with my MIG and my 17 YO who has been welding for about a year (STICK), picked up the MIG gun, made about 5-6 practice passes, then laid some pro welds down. I just sat back like Tom Sawyer and drank coffee inside where it was warm