cast al welded to extruded al.

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I have a project that I will be working on in a few weeks from now and looking for some tips on welding cast aluminum to extruded aluminum. need tips on heat wire ect any hlep greatly appreciated
Reply:Originally Posted by Joe BakerI have a project that I will be working on in a few weeks from now and looking for some tips on welding cast aluminum to extruded aluminum. need tips on heat wire ect any hlep greatly appreciated
Reply:Billet:- 2. Metalworking. a comparatively narrow, generally square, bar of steel, esp. one rolled or forged from an ingot; a narrow bloom. Does this definition fit the use of the word in the context?I guess I am trying to understand how the word billet describes the metal which is billeted!Machine ground? Square?City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Billet means not cast when it refers to Aluminum...Nice shiney plate..Bar stock is BilletCast is just that..cast.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:i was under the impression that "billet" meant that it was cut out of a solid block of material?with full intent and better sense to recognize what is false and part with it.
Reply:Hey Joe,I do a lot of cast to extruded AL where I work(p/t & retired). You didn't specify any dimensional configurations so I can only render what our parameters are. We weld(all MIG) 1/2"thick "T" castings to 1 & 1.5" sq. tubing with .125 wall thickness. Our castings we receive are virgin castings, clean and only require slight filing of the small AL flashing left on some parts. Our extruded is very clean and all prep is done with a stainless steel wire "toothbrush" and acetone in the weld area. Once our setup is prepared with the fixture in place, both parts brushed & wiped with acetone, set into the fixture, and the casting is then preheated to 300-400 deg.. The residual heating of the cast will transfer to the extruded piece. Our MIG uses only 5356, .035, 140A @600ipm w.f., 28cfh of 100% Argon and the results are superb. You have to run "hot & fast". At the initial arc, the MIG will have a "hum" instead of the typical "bacon" crackle, sounding similar to spray. We spent several weeks to design and implement the most efficient process and many hours of setups & practice to maintain "repetitive consistency". The end results are quite exceptional and a very satisfied customer. We supply 400-600 pcs. per month  during Sept.- Mar. for their summer supply. Always remember AL is quite finicky and requires absolute chemical cleanliness to gain optimum results. Also, adequate ventilation when prepping to maintain ones' health is strongly suggested. Hope that helped a bit to give you some insight...Good Luck....DennyComplete Welding/Machine/Fab. ShopMobile UnitFinally retired*Moderator*"A man's word is his honor...without honor there is nothing.""Words are like bullets.... Once they leave your muzzle, you cannot get them back."
Reply:Hey Zapster,It does sound like you are receiving some rich "enlightenment" from a "welding student" and a "blatantanomaly". Some have all the luck....don't they?....DennyComplete Welding/Machine/Fab. ShopMobile UnitFinally retired*Moderator*"A man's word is his honor...without honor there is nothing.""Words are like bullets.... Once they leave your muzzle, you cannot get them back."
Reply:Huh? City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Originally Posted by yorkiepapHey Zapster,It does sound like you are receiving some rich "enlightenment" from a "welding student" and a "blatantanomaly". Some have all the luck....don't they?....Denny
Reply:ex·trude      /ɪkˈstrud/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ik-strood] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation verb, -trud·ed, -trud·ing. –verb (used with object) 1. to thrust out; force or press out; expel: to extrude molten rock.  2. to form (metal, plastic, etc.) with a desired cross section by forcing it through a die.  –verb (used without object) 3. to protrude.  4. to be extruded: This metal extrudes easily.  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------[Origin: 1560–70; < L extrūdere to thrust out, drive out, equiv. to ex- ex-1 + trūdere to thrust, push] Sausage metal? No, that would be rebar!City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:I'm missing the point of the vocabulary lesson from tanglediver but whatever.As far as welding cast to extruded al, I've only done ornamental cast to extruded al using TIG (so no real structural issues -- don't know if there are structural issues for stuff that would be under great stress).  No surprises.  Clean the base metal and the filler like usual and go for it.What sort of project are you working on?Favorite right now is a Miller Syncro 200.Tons of tools and I blame at least one of them when things don't go right.
Reply:I'm trying in my way to figure out what his question is. Aluminum is aluminum, I might think. Unless there are some kind of alloyed ingredients. I am also begining to learn aluminum welding the only way I know how, the hard way, until class starts up again and I can get a clue from the instructors who know better. YorkiePap pulled a response outta his hat that hit me right in the curiosity.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Excellent, as curiosity is a sign of great intelligence.  Aluminum is not aluminum.  There are various alloys, various methods of hardening and various level of impurities and quality.  Like everything else in welding, what I'm learning (also the hard way a lot of times) is that it all makes a huge difference.  Some of the most subtle things make a huge difference.You will learn your entire life.  It's a great thing.Favorite right now is a Miller Syncro 200.Tons of tools and I blame at least one of them when things don't go right.
Reply:Yorkipap sounds like he is making boat parts.My pontoon boat is made of rolled al 5052sheets, and the tie down eyelets are cast. They are mig welded onto the top of the pontoon log. Not pretty at all. Production at it's fastest.Obviously it can be done. Also....I can polish this 5052 to a superb mirror finish.Guys on the river think my boat had replacement work done when in fact I just ran out of time and didn't polish the whole log. hahahLincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:To tanglediver,Your responses and signature indicate you are a youngster, student, and still very wet behind the ears. Don't get insulted as my words are not meant to demean in any way. I have 43+ years welding, production design, machining, fabrication, & more, and love a challenge. Welding is a multi-faceted arena that can be quite fascinating, very difficult at times, but so rewarding if one really engages a query to learn all the attributes of metal and fusion. Every metal has its' own parameters and those must be learned to obtain optimum results. The techniques for each type of weld, ie., SMAW, GMAW, GTAW, Plasma, Induction, Resistance, Laser, O/A, and others, have their own rules and sometimes trial & error are the only way to get results that produce the proper weld. My post on our technique for the AL welding we do took several weeks of prep and trial & error. I didn't "pull anything out of a hat" as you suggested. You need to establish proper thought patterns regarding information you seek when asking questions about unknowns to your knowledge base. I weld AL every day. Your statement:"Aluminum is aluminum",  indicates the wetness behind your ears. Cast & extruded AL are different animals and react differently when welding. You want to learn to weld.....READ....STUDY....ASK pertinent questions to those who have the knowledge & experience and may be gracious and generous enough to help you.To phila.renewal: Your post is quite accurate and I can see you will become a very good welder with your mindset. I respect that.......Never stop learning.To Joker11: A good guess but not at all in the ballpark. The parts we weld go to a customer who has to attach the casting to an office cubicle panel at the top and the square tube extension that is welded connects to a wall support length of sq. tubing to rigidize the cubicle. It's mainly a support bracket because of the weight of the panels.Hope I enlightened some......DennyComplete Welding/Machine/Fab. ShopMobile UnitFinally retired*Moderator*"A man's word is his honor...without honor there is nothing.""Words are like bullets.... Once they leave your muzzle, you cannot get them back."
Reply:Originally Posted by tanglediverI'm trying in my way to figure out what his question is. Aluminum is aluminum, I might think. Unless there are some kind of alloyed ingredients. I am also begining to learn aluminum welding the only way I know how, the hard way, until class starts up again and I can get a clue from the instructors who know better. YorkiePap pulled a response outta his hat that hit me right in the curiosity.
Reply:Thank you for that Hotrodder! Peace out.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:I just had a problem like yours in March. Someone gave me a chop saw for woodwork that had been dropped. One whole corner was broken off and missing. It was still usable if you blocked it up, but not really very secure. I decided to try to fix it. It was obviously cast aluminum, and at the break had a very coarse grain structure. I had some 3 inch x 1/4 inch angle aluminum, alloy unknown, lying around which I cut up to the proper length using the broken chop saw. Using a Miller 30a spool gun with .030 5556 wire set to the setting listed on my miller 251 for 4043 wire worked just fine. The 2 common aluminum wires are 4043 and 5356. For welding to a casting I think the 5000 series wire is the first choice to maintain a rigid structure. I had no idea this would work until I tried it.