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Location:
Castle Hill NSW
Registered:
March 2003
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 Welding aluminium
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Mon, 27 September 2004 00:02
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I have an opportunity to get my hands on heaps of aluminium tubing cheaply, so i can make a wakeboard tower for my boat, but i was wondering: is aluminium hard to weld? Anyone have any experience?
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Location:
Baulko Hillo
Registered:
April 2004
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Re: Welding aluminium
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Mon, 27 September 2004 00:32
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Aluminium is pretty hard to weld AFAIK. It has to be TIG welded.
What boat is it btw?
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Location:
Castle Hill NSW
Registered:
March 2003
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Re: Welding aluminium
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Mon, 27 September 2004 00:44
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Here's the baby i'm going to be buying this thursday:
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Location:
Baulko Hillo
Registered:
April 2004
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Re: Welding aluminium
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Mon, 27 September 2004 00:58
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Nice man..... But will she put out much of a wake? Looks just like a normal ski boat. Just pack her full of bladders!!! That's what we did with my mate's CruiseCraft and it was HUGE!
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth, Western Australia
Registered:
December 2002
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Location:
Castle Hill NSW
Registered:
March 2003
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Re: Welding aluminium
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Mon, 27 September 2004 01:01
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Just look at that deep-vee, man! It'll put out a FAT wake. Not to mention its a rear mount, big old cast-iron v8. niiice and heavy.
Yeah i might buy a couple of fat sacs. Or find some concrete blocks and leave them in a nice spot at the ramp. Bladders? haha ive never heard them called that.
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: Welding aluminium
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Mon, 27 September 2004 01:12
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Everyone reckons ally is hard to weld but I disagree.
Due to the rate it dissipates heat, you need to weld with a lot more current than you would welding a similar size piece of stainless or mild steel.
If you TIG ally, an AC welder needs to be used but if you need to fill a gap, just MIG it!
Ally tends to 'fall' away when being welded, leaving big holes. You just need to be careful and set the current just right.
TIG as always leaves a much nicer finish, but as I said earlier, all your cuts need to be spot on as its hard to fill big gaps.
Also when TIG welding ally, you will chew through filler rod like its going out of fashon!!
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Location:
Baulko Hillo
Registered:
April 2004
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Re: Welding aluminium
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Mon, 27 September 2004 01:15
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Meh, the image looks heaps dark on my PC (all images seem to) so I can't see the bottom of the hull.... But yeah, with the engine right at the back it should be pretty nice! And yeah, we put about 250kg in the back of that ol' Cruiser! Lucky it had a 200 on the back otherwise it wouldn't have moved! What engine is in that beast?
As for the welding, I had a few bits custom made for my engine from aluminium pipe and that was done by Gary at Hornsby Performance Mufflers. Apparently there are only a couple of places around the area that will do it and Gary is one of them.
Hope this helps!
Jeremy.
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Location:
Castle Hill NSW
Registered:
March 2003
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Re: Welding aluminium
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Mon, 27 September 2004 01:25
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I think its a 327 chevy AFAIK.
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I Supported Toymods
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
December 2002
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Re: Welding aluminium
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Mon, 27 September 2004 04:50
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You can still oxy weld aluminium but it requires a bit of practice.
The main thing to consider when welding this stuff is you MUST clean the surface extremely well (steel wool + a bit of liquid soap works well) and dry it off with the air gun so there is no oil etc. left on it.
TIG welding is the best option but not many people have a TIG laying around and leadfoots like me tend to blow holes in things with the TIG.
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
July 2004
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