aluminum solder....the harbor freight stuff works!!!!

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ONERCBOATER

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well in a differnt area of the forums I have been documenting the creation of a differential steered trolling motor system for my 20ft pontoon, while making the motor mounts for this system which are made of 4" T6 aluminum C channel and 2"x1/4" T6 aluminum bar stock I made an error in the machining process and drilled a 1/2" hole 3/8" off of where I wanted it. Aluminum isn't cheap...and I had a good bit of time into this project so.... what the heck I'll try the harbor freight magic aluminum "welding" rods.... actually a solder as it functions at 750*.
I was at a mild loss at 1st as I was pretty sure that my mapp gas torch was not going to provide enough heat to bring a 4"x18" by 2" piece of C channel to temp.... so I put it on the range (electric) and put burner on high, then hit the area I wanted heated directly with the torch. 2 min or less later I had a finished product, worked as advertised without much issue. (mind you I am very comfortable around welding, brazing, soldering, and such.)

Honestly I think anyone with a lil common sense could use this product. I really am that impressed.

Tomorrow when I get off work I will let you know how it machines as it is getting introduced to the milling machine to true it up, then will be drilled in the proper location. I have high expectations at this point.

Sean

PS if this is posted in the wrong spot please feel free to move it.

Friday I will see how it does repairing a hole I drilled in my starboard pontoon :rolleyes:
 

Cofe

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Re: aluminum solder....the harbor freight stuff works!!!!

Would you recommend using that stuff to repair a structure beam on a trailer?
Repairing a broken transom mount clamp?
Or use it just for lite repairs?
 

ONERCBOATER

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Re: aluminum solder....the harbor freight stuff works!!!!

I personally don't recommend structural repairs on most things that a life would depend on, there are exceptions, unfortunately welding messes with the chemistry of the metal (heat treating, etc) most failures on welded structures, provided they are well engineered are at the welds where the weld was brittle or created a dissimilarity in the metal adjacent to the weld.... or corrosion set in (in water treatment plant welds are the 1st to start leaking all other things equal)
Brazing has some of the same issues.
Soldering however most times is not strong enough to be structurally sound, most solders are significantly different than the metal they are joining, which can lead to corrosion, and often they have significantly different properties than the base material.
I didn't say you cant weld something, braze it or solder it and have it be strong, or lasting, you just have to very carefully consider what the results are going to be and what the results your going to need are.
That said, no I would not suggest this material for a transom clamp repair, and I would not use this material to join structural beams on a trailer.
I will happily attempt to use this on the pontoon, And I had no issue what so ever using it as a solder with an aluminum plug to repair the C channel as the only loads on that will be from a trolling motor and some springs and cable....essentially light duty.
The reason I posted this was because it is an easy to source product that will make at home repairs of somethings possible for "Joe Averageguy" that wouldn't normally be possible. This would likely work just as well for repairing small holes in an aluminum boat, or reattaching handle to something.... but as always you must use common sense, and consider that if the bond fails is this going to be life or limb threatening or merely an inconvenience.

I would still take the flux required brazes over this product if all out strength was required, and would opt for tig for most aluminum repair work... but the aluminum braze requires more skill to use, and the tig requires even more. I don't own a TIG and doubt that most people do.

Sean
 

ONERCBOATER

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Re: aluminum solder....the harbor freight stuff works!!!!

ok I said i would report on its machinability, it machines kind of like mild steel with a fine chip, according to it's specs it is 55-60 rockwell hardness... i believe it as it acted about that way when the carbide endmill hit it. they give a tensile strength of 40k and shear of 20k to 30k... could be i havent the equipment to test it this way. If it does indeed have the tensile and shear strengths it is rated at the only thing that would stop me from using it in a critical part would be a question of it's bond strength. I am pleased so far and will try out a few other uses for it on scrap and see if the aluminum or the repair breaks 1st.

Sean
 

Nandy

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Re: aluminum solder....the harbor freight stuff works!!!!

I have used it before but had problems getting the temp right. At the time all I had was my oxyacetylene and that is way hot. I used it to fix a small bracket for a computer until I got the new bracket from somewhere in Taiwan. It worked, not sure it would have last mostly due to my inexperience. I seen the videos and it seems to be an alternative at time for repair instead of replacement...
 

1 Carpenter

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I used the habor freight stuff to repair some large chips in my prop 13.25 x 17. Worked amazingly!!!
Had to use maps gas and heat for about 5 minutes, but it works
 
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