Any point in trying to weld this?

I wouldn't put it back in service, new ones are cheap and my arse ain't, but I'm wondering if it would be worth playing with to practice welding cast AL?

http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7a...FC1758C5B8.JPG

Yes, one underwear soiling averted. Not mine, this is off a brother's bike. Called and said his clutch was loose, told him I'd pick him up from work (bike is only transpo) and take a look for him. Had to work on his wife's computer anyhow...

So since I got the TIG, I've been looking at every piece of scrap anything, wondering if it would be a good piece to practice on. Thoughts?

good for practice welding on hard stuff

Obviously clean the hell out of it, what kind of rod? I'm wanting to practice on cast stuff as I have a set of '59 sportster cases I want to weld up eventually. I know the alloy will be worlds different, 35 years apart and for two purposes, but it has to be similar, cast and cast, right?

4043 filler

Do you have the piece that came off if yes then its a piece of cake and if not you will have to rebuild that whole part thats missing.If you got better things to do dont waist your time on it when a new one could be bought pretty cheap.

I agree for practice go for it. If your are going to tackle welding the cast sportster cases you've got to start somewhere.

If you do not have the other piece, break another piece off and weld it back on. Clean it good, put a little groove in the connecting parts. 4043 filler, straight argon on AC. Cast aluminum is not that hard.

Might want to bake it to get all the oil out ... if there is any grease left on it at all you'll just get a black, splattered mess, an unusable part and a lot of frustration ... remember the three C's ... clean, clean and clean.

I do have the other piece, and regardless, I won't be putting it back into service. Not worth it.

That may not be just cast aluminum. It's probably either really high magnesium content or even pot metal.

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Originally Posted by performance

That may not be just cast aluminum. It's probably either really high magnesium content or even pot metal.

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Good point Mark. Been there done that on pot metal. Also, I believe I called you way back over an aluminum security arm that turned out to be magnesium. :D Ended up with O/A and special filler to fix it. Still have the filler for the next time.

May be an alloy, but they're sold as 'aluminum' Easy way to tell? Or will I know when I light up on it...

For this project I would get a 4043 filler and go at it. You will know pretty fast.

Winky brought up a good idea about baking oils out, but for this project (playing around), I would clean it, grind it and weld it.

There are chemicals and even machines that will test metals. :)

The cases, when I get to them, I'm going to have a machine shop clean them for me, heat, solvent, wash, etc. nice and pretty. This piece never had heat, had grease on it, but I figure acetone, propane torch, acetone again, clean enough to practice on.

What will I see if it's magnesium alloy? Never welded magnesium alloy, nor stainless. Tons of other types of metals in my time though.

want to clean small parts just use a dish washer gets aluminum the cleanest except for a ultrasonic cleaning machine they clean deeper . have a used dishwasher at my machine shop i picked up at a garage sale for like 40 bucks use it to clean carbs and small parts before putting in my ultrasonic tank

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Originally Posted by Rodsmachineshop

want to clean small parts just use a dish washer gets aluminum the cleanest except for a ultrasonic cleaning machine they clean deeper . have a used dishwasher at my machine shop i picked up at a garage sale for like 40 bucks use it to clean carbs and small parts before putting in my ultrasonic tank

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Actually, been keeping an eye out for a new oven and dishwasher (well, new to me) to install in my shop once I get the carpentry stuff moved out to a new shed. Power is there, plumbing is there, will save me from sleeping on the couch.

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What will I see if it's magnesium alloy? Never welded magnesium alloy, nor stainless. Tons of other types of metals in my time though.

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Learned this the other day when welding some "cast aluminium" (with a little cast in "Magnesium" sign just to the left of where I was welding. What's up with that?). The puddle will form way quicker than it does with aluminum. It will be sorta shinier and look weird compared to aluminium. When you weld it with aluminum filler, your welds will instantly crack with a nice crackling sound.

Oh, and if you don't have a good ground contact, it'll get real exciting around the clamp.

Now who has some magnesium filler they'll part with? :)