brigs and straten engine case, magnesium ?? aluminum??

[HMW]

Somebody mentioned the carbide burr and I have had great luck with that too. That and the stainless steel wire wheel on the grinder. Ive used a grinding disk before and wished i hadnt...live and learn

[59halfstep]

James,
Tig works OK, torch works a bit better due to the flux, but I usually use the Tig technology.
-Aaron

Aerometalworker - you mention torch. What would your recommendations for rod/flux for torch attempt? Thanks

Charlie

[Aerometalworker]

Aerometalworker - you mention torch. What would your recommendations for rod/flux for torch attempt? Thanks

Charlie

Charlie,
Same filler as for Tig, in this case 4043, and for flux I would use either the Tin Man or Allstate brand aluminum welding fluxes.
-Aaron

[59halfstep]

Thank you Aaron.

Charlie

[TIG332]

Clean the aluminum with alcohol or acetone,use a carbide burr to vee out the crack, use a small dia tungsten to cook out the oil that is impregnated in the case,make sure that you stop drill the ends of the cracks.Do not add any filler rod until the aluminum becomes shiny from your cleanup passes with the small dia tungsten probably 1/16th.Use only a stainless steel brush that is designated for aluminm only.Die grind out contaminated material until no black stuff is present.When the aluminum does'nt show any signs of black residue you are ready to weld it.The 1/16 tungsten may start to wiggle during your clean up passes due to the heat on it, if this happens and you have a square wave machine turn your AC balance dial to the more penetration side.You can also get more heat out of your small tungsten by switching to a 75% AR 25% HE, or a 75%He 25% Ar. The reason I recommend a small tungsten during the cleanup passes is because when you use a tungsten too large for the amount of current that you are passing through it you can get contamination.A 3/32 tungsten should do the trick for you when it comes time to weld, I would use a 4043 rod maybe 1/16th for the first pass then fill it in with 3/32.I hope this helps you.

[Portable Welder]

Thanks Tig332, You saved me a whole lot of typng.
I personally have never felt the need to down size the tungsten.

They were talking about cleaning with a torch but did not mention what type.
I never clean with a oxy torch, just in case thats what you were doing.

Keep your cleaning high and penetration low and dont quit cleaning with the tig torch untill it remains shiny.

Only then should you pick up the welding rod.

When cleaning with the tig torch turn your amps down lower than what you would run them at for welding.

Good luck.