¿ welding a piece of motorcycle ?

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I have no welding know how.  I was walking through home depot and saw a Benzomatic torch welder tool http://www.bernzomatic.com/bernzomat...equestid=85770    I thought I could buy that and weld a piece of my motorcycle back together.  Here is the piece i want to weld.  I "think" its aluminum.  After searching the net i found:http://acmehardware.com/pd-4627170-B...ring-rods.aspxandsaw some aluminum wire stuff.So what are some good ways to reconnect the piece in that picture?   Just melt the two pieces somewhat and then stick them together and let them cool down.  Or maybe use the wire or rods to melt inbetween the pieces and then let it all cool down? I read that aluminum has to get super hot before it just liquifies and that it is very hard to get aluminum to the point right before it melts.  All help will be appreciated
Reply:You may need to be more specific on what part of the motorcycle that you will be fixing...
Reply:not knowing what part you are fixing anything on a bike frame (al or crmo) should be tig.your life rides on it scott f
Reply:I read that aluminum has to get super hot before it just liquifies and that it is very hard to get aluminum to the point right before it melts.
Reply:aluminum melts at about around 1200 f,   steel like closer to 2700 and aluminum oxide  burns off at something over 3000.  if you dont clean that oxide off, the al melts on the inside before the outside.   very bad.  takes wire brush or chemical just prior to welding.  also needed is a proper heating source.  your lil benzomatic has too much spread on its flame for this.  inaddition, to "weld" you must actually melt and fuse base metals and filler rods together.  soldering is more of a glueing.  soldering requires the base gets hot enough that the solder basically sticks.  think of copper sweat soldering on pipes.  after a number of years these joints are generally susepable to failure.  welded joints if done properly should never fail.  no part on a bike except the taillight should be soldered.   also, a soldered joint as this youve described there are three components, part A, filler, & part B.   when you weld, there is only one component,  filler and both pieces are now physically one, there is no seperation.   thats the shear beauty of welding!  good luck,  hope you do the right thing pardner chris
Reply:well i tryed to add a picture of the piece  that I want to weld.  It didnt show up for some reason.  I shall try again.  Ok found out the problem is that my pic is too big.   Ok, now look at this picture.  Look at the bottom left hand side of the engine.  then you'll see 1 small black circle.  Directly to the left of that black circle is a grey bracket, kind of has a triangle shape.  In the bracket you can see a middle point, looks like a darker line going through it diagonally or horizontally if you think of the bracket as a triangle.   That is where mine is broke at and where i want to weld shut.  I cannot say what the material is made out of but ill try to do some research on it.  Most bikes are made with alluminum products though.
Reply:well i guess no one knows if the Bernzomatic torch can weld it so i've come up with a different question.How hot will this MAPP Gas get?  Bernzomatic.com gave me this heat chart of the different gases.  http://www.bernzomatic.com/bernzomat...parisons.jhtmlI just cant figure out whats the overall burning temperature of this stuff.  I need it to be able to burn this Aluminum rod.  http://www.bernzomatic.com/bernzomat...rnzoProd100064  The rod says that it has a working temperature of 700-750 degrees.  I figure this is supposed to mean i have to get it that hot so i can mold it, bend it, etc.  I basically want to melt the aluminum rod and sandwich it in between my 2 broken pieces.  The brinnel hardness of 100 sounds like after it cools it will be hard as ****.  Am i right??
Reply:Originally Posted by snookaywell i guess no one knows if the Bernzomatic torch can weld it so i've come up with a different question.How hot will this MAPP Gas get?  Bernzomatic.com gave me this heat chart of the different gases.  http://www.bernzomatic.com/bernzomat...parisons.jhtmlI just cant figure out whats the overall burning temperature of this stuff.  I need it to be able to burn this Aluminum rod.  http://www.bernzomatic.com/bernzomat...rnzoProd100064  The rod says that it has a working temperature of 700-750 degrees.  I figure this is supposed to mean i have to get it that hot so i can mold it, bend it, etc.  I basically want to melt the aluminum rod and sandwich it in between my 2 broken pieces.  The brinnel hardness of 100 sounds like after it cools it will be hard as ****.  Am i right??
Reply:No you were clear in your first post.  Made perfect sense to me.  BUT when i read about the "brinnel hardness of 100"  i figured it would 'glue' together my pieces just fine.  Searching online i cant find out how much pressure 100 brinnel can take.  I only need enough pressure so that when i step on the brake the bracket doesnt move, it's hard to explain.    Basically think about crushing a 2 liter pepsi bottle with your hands.  U need to apply a bit of pressure to crush it well.  The 'glue' only needs to be able to handle that small amount of pressure.  So if anyone knows how tuff/strong 100 brinnels is please let me know.
Reply:I'm not the most experienced welder, but I know a fair bit about bikes.Here's my 2 cents worth:1. Welding aluminium is not easy, even with the right (A/C TIG) equipment and some previous experience, so chances are all you will succeed in doing is melting the bracket into a lump a scrap with a propane or MAPP torch.2. If the bracket is just the heel plate, it's not that critical, but from what you describe it holds the rear brake cylinder and/or pedal.You may only need slight pressure for normal riding, but imagine you're riding along in the wet one day and a Taxi / Volvo / Truck pulls out in front of you.You're gonna put a lot more pressure on that pedal than usual and if it snaps you're left with front brakes only.......and in the wet or on gravel that means you're at least going to go for a slide or drop the bike.My suggestion would be to check out the price of a new bracket, then once you've recovered from the shock of the ridiculous price they charge for new bike parts, check out a breaker (used parts dealer), and then take the bracket to a welding shop with the right equipment. For a small weld like that, they shouldn't charge too much and the weld will be strong and look good.If you're keen to have ago at welding, try it out on something non-critical first.Good Luck!JDH
Reply:If it hasn't been made perfectly clear so far, I'll try to help.  There is no way in hell that you'll be able to weld up an aluminum or any other part with MAPP gas and air.  There's not really anything that you can buy for any reasonable amount of money that will allow you to do this.  Get a new part, or check ebay for it.  People are parting out bikes on ebay all the time.  Alternatively, call around for a welding shop that sounds confident that they can do aluminum.With the right setup and tons of experience one can oxy-fuel weld aluminum.  OFW was used exclusively for welding aviation parts up through the fifties when it was supplanted by GTAW.
Reply:Heres another thing to consider.  You are basing the stength of this connection by a hardness factor.  Hardness is good for things like "hardface applications" which would be for instance the blade on a plow.  Or bulldozer blades.  Or a metal on metal machined part.  Augers are included.  These applications need a very hard surface, hence the term hardness.   While they are very hard, and they are indeed welded on, what they are not is ductile.  Ductility is a factor dealt with regarding structural applications, and this is a strcutural application, even if its a non critical part.  Basically there is elasticity and tensile strength and those are strengths you should be more considering.  Also,  remember that when you go throwing some weight on that part, you may just cause the brittleness of a hard joint to just break.  Metal strength is measured in a number of differnt ways, and they all very and basically your question of hardness is irrelevant for the application, Im sorry.   Please go find a qualified welder to do this job.Good luckCHRIS