Aluminum is a very attractive metal for constructing some kind of home-made structures: lightweight, perfectly machined, drilled, sawn, does not rust, etc. But here's the problem: to weld two pieces of aluminum without special argon welding is almost impossible. And the equipment for such welding costs more than one thousand rubles. But it turns out there is a way! This is soldering! But not simple, but with the use of special powder-rod solders.
Will need
So, what do we need to solder two parts one to the other:
- .
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- Metal brush.
- Clamp.
- Vise.
You can ask for aluminum solder rod in welding shops. But due to the narrow direction, its application is quite difficult to find, and the price is quite expensive.
The most affordable way is to buy it on .
It is inexpensive there, take a pack right away - it will come in handy over time.
So it looks without packaging. An ordinary piece of wire in appearance, but not quite: inside this rod contains a special powder.
The melting point in Fahrenheit is indicated, if we convert convenient units to us, it will be 370-400 degrees Celsius.
Solder aluminum with your own hands
We proceed directly to the soldering. First you need to prepare the surface of the metals. We take a rough metal brush and clean the place of future soldering.
To be more precise, it is necessary not only to clean the surface of various dirt and oxides, but also to create a large roughness for better adhesion of the solder to the surface.
Using this method, you need to clean both parts at the place of future connection.
Now we fix the clamp of the part and clamp everything in a vice for stability and reliability.
Take the gas burner. Moreover, the thicker the metal, the more powerful the burner must be capable of warming the parts to the soldering temperature.
We heat the connection.
After some time, with a soldering rod we touch the heated parts for a second.
If there is no melting, we continue to heat.
We try again. And as you can see, the solder began to melt.
Without removing the burner, we smear the solder along the connecting seam. It spreads well.
After the solder is evenly distributed, we wait a couple of seconds for the solder to flow to all available places.
Next, turn off the burner and wait for complete cooling.
Bond strength
Of course, this is not arc welding, but it keeps very well, and reading is not worse.
I managed to break the connection only by taking it for a break! But here, it seems to me, the welding would have fallen off. So friends, the soldering method is reliable.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to say that this method can not only solder aluminum parts, but also repair aluminum products, duralumin, silumin. By the way, aluminum radiators are so often sealed in car repair shops, and they charge at a charge as for welding work using argon.
Watch the video
Watch the video, where you will see firsthand the whole process of soldering aluminum parts.
