My experience with Alumiweld by Eastwood.....

I was glancing through an Eastwood catalog and found a product called Alumiweld. Its an aluminum welding rod that can be used with a propane torch! I knew I was going to be working on an aluminum hood in a few days, so I asked the owner of the hood, since I don't have a tig welder, if he wanted to test out the product....and we did! So, I figured I'd share my experience with it on The Hamb.

The hood had a crack in it and was mangled pretty badly where it bolts to the hinges (in the front of the hood...66 Benz). I made new hinge plates and made a plate to weld over the cracked area (since the old metal was pretty much shredded) in hopes that it would be enough to keep the hood together when mounted and in use.
My first attempt wasn't so good, kind of messy to work with and hard to control the heat. Too much heat and it was running off the hood ..not enough heat and it would just break off after it cooled . So I gave up on it and brought the hood into work and had areas (hinge plates) tig welded. Problem was, that whenever I went to tig anywhere near the area that I tried to alumiweld, there was colored smoke and a bad smell, lots o sparks, etc...I thought that was weird since they were both aluminum products, but there must be something in the alumiweld that makes it not compatible with the tig rod.
So, I tigged what I could and decided to give the alumiweld another try...bought a better benzomatic torch with the clicker which actually put out a bit more heat then the old school torch and it worked much better. You have to heat up the base metal so it bonds well, then slowly feed the rod into the area that needs welding (like regular gas welding etc..It still was messy because it flows like solder (and even looks like solder when melted) but after a few rods (luckily it comes with a good many in the pack) I got the hang of it. It filled in the gaps and the joint between the hood and the plate I made nicely. After it cooled, I cleaned it up and mounted the hood. The alumiweld held, but only time will really tell if it holds up to the abuse of the raising and lowering of the hood.

So overall, I thought that the alumiweld wasn't too bad to use afterall (once you get the hang of it). I'm a welder, but I think that anybody could use it with a bit of practice. Definitely recommend the updated benzo torch. Welding gloves, because the alumiweld rod gets pretty hot when using it. It says that you can repair potmetal with it as well. I think its pretty good if you don't have a tig, mig with spool gun or gas setup..cheaper then the purchase of any of that equipment, but I'd choose to tig, mig or gas weld before using the alumiweld again.

If anybody else has used I'd like to hear what you thought of it.

 

Thanks for sharing that information. Very interesting.

 

Pot metal ya say? I wonder if it'd work on a 1956 dealer plate frame I found that's all cracked up. I was pondering JB welding it as best I could but that might be worth trying.

 

you had better luck with it than i did!!!!

 

56 plate frame...NICE! I haven't tried it with pot metal yet, but I would get some old parts and test it out before starting on the frame because it is a bit tricky to use. But I think it would do a good job with pot metal...and for the price, its worth the experience of trying to use it I think. Check out their site!

 

I'd be a little worried about the colored smoke and the bad smell. You have to wonder what type of hazardous chemicals are in that smoke. I wouldn't want to be the one to make a follow up repair at some later date.

 

The aluminum brazing rod that several places sell contains aluminum, copper, zinc, and bi****h. It's not welding rod, it's brazing rod, and it melts at a lower temp than aluminum. Use it like solder, not like welding filler rod. no flux required, just cleanliness.

I've never used it, but I saw a demo last week, and read the directions. Neat stuff, but you probably need to be pretty careful with understanding what it can and cannot be used for. MAPP gas seems to be the preferred heating method.

 

I think this is basically the same stuff they've been selling at shows for years. the demo guy welds two aluminum cans together with a propane torch and you're sold.

It looks easier than it is, but you can eventually get the hang of it. I find it works well for filling pinholes (like around windshield or back gl***).

 

I busted the base on my OT tool (router, I'm a woodworker) I used the stuff to braze it back together about 5 years ago. Worked fine

 

That stuff is "welding" rod in name only.
It is not Aluminum, the melting temp is too low.

By definition, it is Solder.

A little bit of research online will tell you what is in it.

 

Yes, I think you're right. I was hooked in the can demo & shelled out my $15 or whatever the hell it was. You get a stainless steel brush & the rods. I used it to "weld" the ends of my custom length emergency brake cables, after I crimped on those aluminum ends (like the ones used for garage door cables). I did this because (after I had the whole crimping thing done & installed) the crimps slipped off of the cable ends at the rear brakes. After I welded them, they never slipped off again (so far). I use the emergency brake when I park all the time (it's a manual trans).