Poor man aluminum welding?

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
i know of one of the local transmission shop's use the stuff to repair cracks in bellhousings and tailshaft's on transmissions and also know of people using it to repair nosecone's on some starters

I personally havent used it but i'v considered buying some, but in the end i would rather weld mine because A i'v got a welder and B it'd most likely be stronger lol
 
kylebacc said:
https://durafix.com/

Ok, go.

There have been several postings on products like this. Its an alloy I believe, mostly made of tin. The biggest problem is that since it's tin (or mostly tin), it is a dissimilar metal--so corrosion may be an issue down the line. If you wanna try it, go for it--but I don't think its for me.
 
Ok. Good stuff, thanks guys! I wonder, along the same lines, how much it would cost for someone to weld aluminum for me. Per hour? Per weld? Anyone have an idea? I just can't afford a welder and school lol
 
In my area, 50 - 75/hr. The low side is very likely going to be a steel shop that will MIG it with a spoolgun. Will be functional, but not necessarily pretty.

The higher costs are going to get you TIG guys that know aluminum like the back of their hand.

Some shops will charge by the hour, starting with an hour, and others will break them into 1/4 hour increments, which is good if you have a 20 minute job - you aren't paying for the full hour.
 
I've studied metals and corrosion types in tech school. Some aluminum and titanium alloys actually contain a percentage of tin and antimony, so I doubt that there will be any issues with galvanic corrosion.

I've also used this stuff. Its great for welding up cracks in a boat, but dont expect it to be a cure-all. If your crack is from a stress issue, it will crack the repair soon after. Dont ask me how I know! :roll:

I also found the stuff to be amazingly difficult to use without a lot of cleanup of the weld area afterwards. You've got to be pretty adept at brazing before you even attempt to use it or you'll make a blobby, disgusting mess.
 
Having done a fair amount of steel welding myself; I wouldn't use this stuff.

To my mind, TIG welding is the way to go for most problems with an aluminum hull. Personally, I've never done any of it, nor could I afford a TIG welder at this point.

However, my way of thinking about this goes like this:

There's a right way and a wrong way to do things. The wrong way is usually cheaper and faster, but almost always leads to more fixes later on. Usually when you REALLY don't want to fix them or more usually when you can't. The right way fixes it for good (usually, nothing is perfect).

A lot of it comes down to knowing what you're doing, or finding someone who does (especially with something like TIG welding or this kind of "brazing").

To answer your second question: Around here for a decent TIG welder it would be about $65/hr. Personally I haven't used one, so I dunno if they'll do 30 min or not.

My advice would be to take pictures next to a ruler or tape measure and show them around see what sort of quotes you get. When you find a few people you think seem reasonable, trailer her up and take her to them. See what they say.

It's your boat and engine. Trust your judgement and do what you think is best.

Best of luck!
 
@kibby

"I also found the stuff to be amazingly difficult to use without a lot of cleanup of the weld area afterwards. You've got to be pretty adept at brazing before you even attempt to use it or you'll make a blobby, disgusting mess."

That can be cleaned up by an angle grinder I assume?
 
I just got similar stuff from harbor freight to fill in some holes from bolts that I removed. As said previously, there is a lot of grinding involved to clean up the area it was applied.

Since I am going to be using steelflex I have decided to just fill the holes with rivets. The area I heated up with the torch changed shape and raised up some. I am not sure if it was too thin there or what but it made me think twice about doing it all over my boat since I have a lot of holes to fill in.

However I will try it for the 1/8" angle and tube I will be using for framing and see how that goes.
 
I am buying a TIG welder this week, and I have done some TIG welding and will say that is the only way to go when it comes to aluminum or cast iron.
 
That stuff is basically an aluminum glue. It will work for a patch and other small things ... and can work fairly well, but its no where near as strong as welding it. Welding actually bonds the metal together at the molecular level and is super strong.

I recently bought a MIG welder with a spoolgun and have been teaching myself to weld aluminum. Surprisingly, its not that hard. I've never welded anything before, and with a bit more practice I wouldn't hesitate to weld on my boat.

As for the cost of getting something welded at a shop, if you prep the areas yourself ahead of time, it shouldn't be more than 40 or 50 bucks an hour ..... and a good welder should be able to finish up just about anything on a boat in less than an hour.

I got four cracked ribs and two 12" hull cracks welded for $100.

PS - If anyone lives in Southeastern PA and wants something welded (steel or aluminum) ... I'll do it for the cost of materials and some good fishing stories :lol:
 
That is called soldering. Melting a piece of metal to fill in a crack, etc.

WELDING-is the joining of two metals usually by melting them together, with or without a filler material.

Soldering is good for wires and not much else. Welding is what is needed for anything that requires strength. Yeah if I want to fill in the gap between a pair of coke cans, I can use the propane torch and that "snake oil" garbage. If I want them to STAY stuck together, I'll TIG them up.

Same goes for boats.

Seen guys at car shows demonstrate that stuff on cracked briggs blocks. One day I watched a guy do it and asked him if I could have the block when he was through with it. He said sure...I have plenty. Took it home and ground that "junk" off and underneath was sure enough the exact same crack. If it had been welded, that crack would have been melted together as one piece, had the welding been done properly.
 

Latest posts

Top