Welding Cast Aluminum???

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What is different about welding cast aluminum versus standard 6061???
Reply:If it is good cast it will weld ok,if it's got a lot of crap in it it will weld like crap.I have had to "butter" the weld area,burr it back and then weld.
Reply:Cast aluminum is dirty. Pre heat the crap out of it and brush it until your arm falls off and it will weld just fine I've done valve covers that see oil and it's just dirty. I've welded brand new cast aluminum and put it in my powder coating oven at 350 or 400 for awhile and brushed it and used the tig to clean it and it welded up damn near perfect.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:I've welded a lot of broken Harley cases, and you can never tell by looking whether  they will weld good or not. The same with Die cast. Like Chevy chain drive transfer cases. Sometimes its just a matter of getting the oil cooked out, but then you leave a carbon load behind and they still weld poorly.  sometimes its silicon sand impregnated, and that is almost impossible to get a good weld on. But I would say that I've only had about a 5 % failure rate on castings. Mac
Reply:Originally Posted by Tool Maker...Like Chevy chain drive transfer cases.
Reply:Quite a few Pickups in the late 70s and into the 80s. I really do not know the years because all I ever did was weld the cases up.  I'm not a mechanic by trade so have never had to learn a whole lot of car stuff.  Mac
Reply:Originally Posted by ANVILJust curious Mac, what did Chevy use with a chain drive transfer case?
Reply:Like stated above,  some cast welds Buttery smooth and some spits and pops at u cause is dirty as hell and u can't tell by looking at it unfortunately.Mike
Reply:This thread was started because I as asked to weld a piece of cast aluminum lawn furniture.............this welded up real nice.I now have a manual transmission top that I have to weld on........is there any procedure for claening the oiled metal prior to welding???