aluminium welding

[eski1]

hi
I do alot of aluminium tig welding and get alot of poor quality castings coming thru the front door like door handles , some car castings . All i would like to know is what is the proper name for the type of metal that when trying to weld it just melts or dosent weld . Some people call it pig or dog metal it seems to be made up of all the left overs
nasty

cheers
chris

 

[sreid]

Any chance that it's Zink as in "Pot Metal."

 

[swall]

Door handles sound like zinc alloy die cast to me.You've got to be careful welding unknown castings these days. You could be in for a real surprise if you encountered a mag die casting!

 

[kenvlach]

A magnesium door handle would be useful if lacking a key (someone else's car or if it's really dark out). Just ignite; unfortunately single use only.

 

[swall]

Kenvlach--A good way to thaw out a frozen lock?

 

[whizzz]

normally, for aluminium, brasing is always better then you weld it. But, for alumunium sheet more than 2mm thickness, welding is preferred. Try this link :

http://www.welding-advisers.com

 

[kenre]

If your TIG welding, dont know about other types, And something is Magnesium, it WONT go up in flames. It will act very similar to Aluminium. Ive TIG welded Mg many times

Ken

 

[kenvlach]

kenre,
Inert gas removes the element of surprise and warm glow experienced upon encountering magnesium.

 

[kenre]

Yes, inert gas is rather useful! But Argon isnt any good for a cover gas when melting Magnesuim! Been there, wont do it again! When Mg catches fire is VERY hard to put out.

Many small parts on cars are Zinc Die castings. They will feel rather heavy compared to Aluminium.

Ken