WrxPulse
Automotive
- Feb 5, 2007
- 2
Hello all,
I'm currently working at a shop which is building turbochargers for diesel pulling applications. A portion of my job involves welding a billet aluminum sleeve into a cast housing and then remachining the internal countour.
My problem is this: After welding the sleeve in it becomes very difficult to maintain a good surface finish in the area immediately around the weld. the material becomes very "gummy" and sticks to the cutting tool. I would like to know if there is a solution to make the material cut cleaner and leave a better finish.
The housings are cast from unknown aluminum and vary from piece to piece in their quality and consistency. the inserts are usually 6061 but sometimes are another alloy (the company will buy "drops" from our material supplier because they are roughly 1/3 the cost of a cut-to-order piece). This is a TIG weld and the only filler available is 4043. I have no way to preheat parts, and I'm welding in a small corner garage of a larger building so the room may range from 50 to 80 degrees. I've tried cooling 3 different ways: part wrapped in a blanket, part in open air, and part quenched in water. none seems to be better than any other.
I realize my conditions are far from ideal, but any help is appreciated.
thanks for your time,
Jack
I'm currently working at a shop which is building turbochargers for diesel pulling applications. A portion of my job involves welding a billet aluminum sleeve into a cast housing and then remachining the internal countour.
My problem is this: After welding the sleeve in it becomes very difficult to maintain a good surface finish in the area immediately around the weld. the material becomes very "gummy" and sticks to the cutting tool. I would like to know if there is a solution to make the material cut cleaner and leave a better finish.
The housings are cast from unknown aluminum and vary from piece to piece in their quality and consistency. the inserts are usually 6061 but sometimes are another alloy (the company will buy "drops" from our material supplier because they are roughly 1/3 the cost of a cut-to-order piece). This is a TIG weld and the only filler available is 4043. I have no way to preheat parts, and I'm welding in a small corner garage of a larger building so the room may range from 50 to 80 degrees. I've tried cooling 3 different ways: part wrapped in a blanket, part in open air, and part quenched in water. none seems to be better than any other.
I realize my conditions are far from ideal, but any help is appreciated.
thanks for your time,
Jack
