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i need some repairs done to an aluminum box. i have only an arc welder. how hard is it to weld compared to steel? how available are the sticks. i cant seem to find them. does anyone know of supply shops that carry them? this is a rather large project if i can pull it off i can save about 5-6k.
Reply:Damn, when you say box, how big is it? If you think you can save that much money then I would go out and buy the proper equipment and be happy with saving about a half or a third of that. Don't forget that time costs money. You may save in the out of pocket expenses, but you will more than make up for it in lost time.
Reply:its 21 feet long. many 10? wide and 10? high. tiraxle box needs to be relined
Reply:and no i don't really wanna buy equipment. i was gonna bring it in for scarp if this doesn't work. its structure is solid but it needs a new floor. and possibly a couple side panels changed. i could be wrong but i was thinking its fairly easy. put new precut lengths down over the old floor. maybe cut side panels out and replace?. someone has had to of done this before. just i don't know how good an arc would work?
Reply:That dump body was most likely originally done with mig and a spool gun. That would be the way I would probably do it if I had to repair it. A few things to keep in mind from someone who has worked on dump beds. If they used the triaxle for asphalt, you will need to really clean that body well if you plan to weld to the old body, say just over line the floor. When we did our steel body, we pressure washed the whole thing as well as posible first. Then we cooked the body with a torch to melt and burn off as much crap as posible. The torch isn't really that good an idea with an alum body. After that it was wire brushes and lots of mineral spirits, rags and acetone to remove all the tar that remained. Then the grinder to remove the rust etc. We are annal about cleaning the body when ever we have to do asphalt, so the body was reasonabbly clean to start. The cleaner you get the alum the easier it will be to weld.Stick is posible, but you have to have a DC stick machine. The sticks are not cheap and they go real fast. They are not at all like welding steel. There have been several threads on stick welding alum in the last couple of months, a search should find some. Your LWS should be able to get the rods for you if you want.Go to the user CP and add your location so we know where you are at. You never know if you are near to some one with the right toys, you might be able to get some one to give you a hand for the right price if they are slow. I'd certainly think about it if you were in my area..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Al stick welding is kind of tricky. The only place I found rods are small hardware stores located close to rural areas. The flux and metal are very fluid so if youre trying to use it out of position then youre going to have all sorts of issues. And probably a few burns. Not to mention the flux is sort of toxic, lots of fluorides and phosphates and fun stuff like that. Also, if you dont completely clean the flux off after your done it will corrode the Al away like water on steel. Its going to start very cold, and past 4 to 6 inches of weld on thinner material (1/8th thick) youre going to be on the verge of melting through. Didnt get to try it on thicker stock. The only way I got it to run anything like a decent bead was to fool my tig welder by leaving the shielding gas off and plugging in the stick stinger on tig mode. I set it about 10 amps hotter than id want, and used the foot pedal to control the heat of the rod. Even doing that it was a pain in the rear. FWIW, stick welding Al isnt listed in any welding code.... but it is out there and it can be made to work. Personally, I think you would have more luck trying to gas weld it with an oxy/acetylene set if you dont want to spend the money on a tig or mig setup.
Reply:I've purchased AL stick electrodes at places Menards in the past. Small amounts and for what you get, they are pricey.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720 |
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发表于 2021-8-31 23:45:54