Welding THE WORST Aluminum Casting I’ve Ever Seen
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- Cast aluminum is one of the more difficult things to weld. And this is the NASTIEST casting I’ve ever worked on. During a unfortunate series of events I cracked my custom Harleys inner primary. With a new one costing over $500 I knew it was worth trying to repair it. But this thing is FULL of impurities. Luckily I’ve made a relationship with Rockmount Welding and they had just the tig welding rod to help me fix this casting! Will it hold up?
Rockmount Neptune Tig Rod👉 rockmountweldi...
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Here’s some tools I used 👇🏼
Optrel welding helmet- rockmountweldi...
Aluminum deburing bits- www.amazon.com...
Black stallion tig welding gloves- www.amazon.com...
I too play the family friendly game of "fixing this absolute dogshit i own"
Sure keeps me busy
I weld castings pretty much every day, and never have any problems with it. On engine cases, which have been in contact with oil, no matter how much you mess around with acetone, there will still be some oil present, which will screw up the weld. Using the Neptune filler, which has no silicone, is not a good idea, if the casting is dirty or material unknown.
To clean the casting before welding, the machine balance needs to be set to full cleaning action, and the repair area heated with the torch, till there is no more black gunk appearing. Wire brush the impurities away, and keep going until no more is appearing.
Next, if the machine, has a mixed wave setting, turn that on, and weld using a No5 collet body cup, 2.4mm lanthanated tungsten, and 4043 filler. If the casting is genuinely difficult to weld, not just contaminated with oil, then using 4047 filler might make it easier? Filler, with no silicone, will make the repair difficult.
Some HD castings have a lot of zinc in them to make die casting faster, if that's the case they are still weldable, but the zinc will need to be boiled out of the repair area, till it's clean enough for a weld pool free of burnt zinc, to form.
This dude covered it. Only thing I would say is heat up a larger area than the welding area. 10”+ around the area will help with pulling and reduce cracking
@@samuelsnyder5169 The fact he is trying to weld a casting soaked in oil, is using the wrong filler material, and doesn't know how to get rid of the oil contamination, are perhaps going to make the job far more difficult than not using pre-heat?
Pre-heat is a good idea on materials like cast iron, but very rarely needed on aluminium.
He makes a lot more excuses than he does repairs anymore.@@humourless682
@@humourless682 I'm an total amateur but depends on the casting being fixed. Something this thin, probably not. On the transmission cases I've fixed, pre-heat was the only way I was getting enough heat in it with a 200A inverter machine short of running the torch over the case for 30 minutes wasting argon.
Pre heat is a waste of time. I did run the cleaning action over the weld. Just hard to film. It’s hard to remember to cover everything. Also I would disagree with this being not the correct filler, because it gave me the results I was looking for. In the past I’ve used 4043 certain castings won’t take it. When my shop is done it will be specifically set up to capture the process better. Hopefully more arc shots and overhead shots
If I could add something-I've done a couple of these.I place my ground directly to the part being welded and put a non-conductive item like an old glove on the 'good' side.nothing sucks like fighting through a weld to find arc burns all over the part.Ask me how I know! great content as always man-
Definitely a better idea!
this is the shit right here. pure honesty and honestly good work. keep sending us them bangers Anthony, it's been a pleasure watching you grow this channel and always giving real tips away for free 99. stay warm this season up there man.
Thanks for trusting our products!
I have to weld up one of these Harley crankcase covers a couple times a year. Best thing to do is preheat. Mantains the elastisty, keeps warpage down, and it bakes out some of the junk. I've heard they have a lot of copper in their castings which is what causes the problems. Either way they are never fun. Great job getting it stuck back together.
*This is a tough repair because it is both chromed aluminum and has extreme variations of thickness in the same piece. I would probably try to preheat this to 350° first and maybe even blanket half of it simply because alum goes from solid to a runaway puddle in nothing flat, and I'd want everything to be consistent when I applied heat. Counterintuitively the chrome likely reflects heat away from the interior of the part. We tested brake caliper housings and the naked cast aluminum cooled quickest, then polished aluminum and chromed aluminum cooled the slowest. Of course that's the reverse heat escaping vs entering the part but concept of chrome reflecting heat is the same.*
Definitely preheat and clamp to weld table ... Perhaps he should have used low temp aluminum rods for bad casting.
I'm getting to the point where I don't wanna TIG anything anymore. I'm good with the actual TIG'ing but it's all the prep work for it takes too much time and effort. I turned 53 years old in September and realized just how close I am to pushing up daisies myself. I've outlived the age my father was when he died and doubt I'll make it to the age my mom died at. I'm just rambling on here to say I dunno how many days I have left on Earth, so I'm not gonna waste them doing a bunch of shit I don't want to. I'll pass on most TIG jobs unless it's something cool like a custom turbo manifold or anything interesting really. I just don't feel like getting everything perfect ground out and everything you're using or touching meticulously clean. I turn down dirtbike engine cases all the time because they're oil soaked. The oil has permeated the pore of aluminium casting and is gonna be nothing nothing but a PITA to get a clean weld on.
Not saying that's the case here at all. This situation is different and you're a much better welder than I am.
The rule of 30% for the set up. I always use the cleaning action of the welder before ever trying to start the weld.
Full of excuses, and yea you should have pre heated it whether you think you know it all or not. And a 50/50 ac balance is never good 😂
Camarata needs to come out there with his new grader and fix that fuckin road 😂
Oh and imma buy a hat one day
Meanwhile back in the civilized world we call it Aluminium....
Holy shit Rockstar! I thought you were running a motocross race🤣🤣 I go by the Harley plant here in Menomonee Falls Wisconsin every day, now all ill think of is ole death wish, the shit casting and the Rockstar workin more welding magic!! Have a great week and keepem' comin!
You sure ain't gonna get Disney to sign you on as a voice actor..."F'ing Elsa, stop freezing everything! These m'fers gonna lose their crops!"
PRO TIP: welding aluminum that has been in salt water or had gas and or oil in it, always sucks seems like if you run the torch over it to heat it up and cook out the crap. Then once you get a tack its good to go.
I just recently repaired a cast sub frame on a gsxr 600... the casting was fucking terrible too.
I don’t doubt that! I’ve had some that welded as good as 4043 plate and some like this
Do you drink beer with tomato juice?
I could smell the hot aluminum and the nasty chrome crap through the screen..lol. Looks great so far. I am sure it will be perfect when you are done. Back to the video..lol
You and me both!
People actually wear gloves for too many things. I've met multiple people who have lost fingers or pieces of fingers wearing gloves while using drill presses. Be careful out there.
Everyone knows you don't use gloves when working with rotary tools. That's 101 basics.
@mp-xt2rg that's a lie because I'm never taking my glove off for a spinner. I'm not trying to catch anything 😊😊😊
I got my glove caught in the bench grinder with a wire wheel once, luckily the glove was real loose so it just ripped right off my hand, i thought i was gonna kiss a finger goodbye. I had a braided wire wheel on an angle grinder kiss my knuckles once and it took the flesh down to the bone in like a 10th of a second. Wire wheels are no joke man.
Correct and Don't get me started on tungsten rings
Yeah only time I wear gloves at work is when working with sheet metal bit if I'm using a mill or lathe drill press I use like medical gloves so if something happens I can get my hand away it'll just tear the glove
78k subs… very nice… congrads.. 100k coming up..
Yes sir! Thank you
The fact of the matter with any type of casting I don't care what material it is they trap contamination they are all a crapshoot I don't care how well you grind it sandblasted if it had grease expect to fight if it's a casting in general expect a fight and whatever you do don't expect it to go well but what I have found that works is preheat and post Heat is it has grease in it and you think you got it all off you will find more percolate out as you heat it up you'll have a gummy puddle especially a gummy puddle with aluminum if it's a thin casting I will TIG weld it if it's a super thick casting I will aluminum pulse weld it with wire feed because most of the time with castings especially if it's aesthetic and structural it's going to get Blended anyway and most likely rechromed
Biggest question we want to have answered, how much did you charge yourself for this project? 😂 where were you riding your Harley at to have that happen?
Seems like I always learn something thanks for the little bit of knowledge you pass on
That road is a challenge with a 4x let alone a bike. Holy crap!!!
Born to ride 🤠
Ha Ah yeh, my mate George, is an automotive engineer, specialising in motorcycle engienes, a large part of his business is welding up broken bit's of Harley.
He is a god with a TIG welder.
Im here for the "go fuck yourself" haha. My favorite part of the video every time.
🤣🇺🇸
7:55 fu***** cheap fuc**** 😹😹😭 i felt that to the CORE
Love the fuckin honesty, great real world info. Subbed and liked 👍🏻
You always use a 1/4, 1/8 inch distance from the pool? Shouldn’t the arc distances be the diameter of the tungsten?
Just a friendly thing i saw the other day watching some engine rebuilds on Steve Morris, and the welder is 1 of 5 in the USA to do copper welding at 800amps, pure helium with tons of knowledge. You dont have much thickness and your 170amps is probably too high. I think downing the amps and upping the Hz would allow you to get on and off the material while still getting good penetration.
Rockmount stuff is freaking incredible stuff. I first became aware of them because of Zila.
Yep.. Harleys sometimes leak right thru the casting. Crud also builds inside the “voids”/crack(s). Heat cycles and vibration.. yeah.. should have seen the earlier ones made of sheeet metal.. easier to fix.. so, with that bike, the casting broke where the motor and transmission flex risers occurred. When outer case is mounted, the stresses are spread more.. just a couple (5) decades with HD..
You’re riding your Harley on some roads like I read mine on. The road I live on’s like a creek bed. I have to ride the friction zone and the brakes while dodging rocks. really sucks on a 940 pound Electra glide.
I use the jumbo collet bodies with a 8 or10 cup size to weld with, gives more gas for welding cast aluminum
Fantastic work as always you would of thought a company like them would use good stuff. Cool repair 👍👍
Thanks 👍
Haven't seen the whole video yet, but when you deal with really dirty casting it helps to run an AC balance of 80/20 initially with no rod, This will melt the base metal and bring out the contaminants due to the heavy cleaning action.
Then go back with rod and run about 30/70 ac balance
4047 work for me. Some of these castings might be magnesium alloy so look for Mg symbol first.
Just another worrd of encoragement.
Build up your skills in the "clever" welding processes, so that when you get old and don't bend so well you can do stand up or sit down welding in the workshop.
This will be particularly usefull in the colder months where you are.
something I have done with bad casting's like that is turn my AC balance up. peddle it and just run the tig torch over the weld area back and forth, just trying to slightly liquify the basemetal and let that garbage float to the top. then re-wire wheel and hit with acetone again.
it has helped get 90% of the garbage out of the casting before I start adding filler.
Dude, I wasn’t going to comment, but how much was that bike? And they use those cheap materials? Sad af to see this country go that way
Nice repair! Am I seeing things, or is the speedometer upside down? LOL
There’s no speed limit where we’re going!
lol@@MeltinMetalAnthony
mannn you think thats bad i was welding a 60s barber chair foot rest leg, i had to gind it out weld it grind it and weld it over and over just to get decent metal that actually pools. Hate cast aluminum welds like donkey. Love your vids keep em up
I was gonna suggest building a brace based off the bolt holes to minimize thermal expansion and flex in the casting while you weld since it's so thin there, but you were already done when I arrived lol
Love your videos man. Take care
I never see welder youtuber talking this unrespectful way to his audience 16:41
I love your honest videos along with all your no filter thoughts you express :) thank you
Hey Anthony, just chatting with someone who did the metallurgy and there is actually copper in that aluminum also, he had troubles 20 yrs ago and fount that out and it smoothed right out
You should never use a spinning tool when cleaning your aluminum to weld. A disc or wheel will embed crap into the aluminum, use a wire brush that is dedicated for aluminum and brush forward and backward, not circular, then clean again with acetone to remove dust and debris. There is no such thing as to clean with aluminum.
Ok and I’ll weld through the remaining chrome
Thanks for admitting you being dumb for not being safe this time. 😂
Some off road Harley tires would be fun...good looking bike
Another great video, but your back roads dont look very motorcycle friendly
Not at all
You should of torched it to get the oil and impurities out plus I would take the hot start off and let your cleaning action work and then pedal down and turn your hrtz as high as that machine will go
Nice motorcycle, nice repair.
I will never weld another one again....amd I've been doing this a long time..
😂 cast aluminum dipped in dirt and oil. At least it wasn't chinese.
Harley Meltin Metal! Fantastic view 👍😁
Ant your good man its ok to say maybe u didnt clean the material well enough
as a student I appreciate these videos a lot im constantly learning new stuff from u 👏🏽🔝
Happy to hear that!
Was that casting from the AMF years? Holy crap that road at the end.
No this was post AMF
@@MeltinMetalAnthony That is terrible!! before I left my chemical engineer job I purchased a duplicarver for a ridiculous amount of cabbage. I am able to secure something to the board and place a large block of styrofoam or wood (scary) and as I go over the piece it will carve it out and it makes a perfect model that I can use in the lost foam method of casting aluminum. I have not used it yet however I have a 1983 Yamaha trimoto 200 that has a bearing holder that I have not been able to find for the last 4 years. The three wheeler was in decent condition for having been in a scrapyard for a few years. I am going to carve the holder and then cast it and turn it down and bore it on my lathe or maybe a friend's lathe so I have his help...lol I do not know when I will succeed in making castings but I will keep you in mind. Eventually I will be back down in Florida hopefully sooner than later.
You called it at 11:56 Magnesium . It would of failed the white vinegar test and I would of either slammed it in the scrap bin or turned down the job . I won’t let a cheap Chinese cast ruin my rep. 🤷🏻♂️
I could see that, but I usually do jobs like that and explain that it might not hold, besides this was for my bike
It would be a great time hanging out with you an just shoot the shit😂
Keep doing your thing bro. Love watching a TRUE PRO WORK
Thanks bdu
what a nightmare. good ol hardley for you..
Should you have preheated that to keep it from being so rigid and pulling another Crack?
That’s debatable, it was only 1/4 so I opted not to. Def always on cast iron
I heard cast aluminum has a TON of impurities in it Also I think it did have magnesium because I was seeing some green light and magnesium does burn green when reacting to high heat like meteorites that burn green have magnesium in them or Nickel and possible copper
Good possibility
Love your honesty.
Just my 2c I’ve never had an issue with a casting cracking, even when welding trash Chinese cast aluminium. I don’t recall seeing you preheat the casting and use an oven or torch for a controlled cool.
Usually it’s not required, but I thought that was common practice.
Not trying to bash on anybody but that’s $100 aftermarket case get a new one
No it ain’t 🤣🤣🤣🤣
"Muggy weld" I heard good rod to use
I always thought he had a shovelhead
WENT FROM "HI GUYS, TODAY IM GONNA SHOW YOU THE PROPER WAY TO ALUMINUM WELD.. LETS GO!!" TO "FUCK THIS SHIT!, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!!" REAL QUICK..
Sphinx's lost nose
i owned a harley once, biggest piece of crap i have ever owned. never had an issue with any of the hondas , suzukis or yamahas i have owned. harley uses cheap parts and cost way too much, just for uncool people to think they look cool.
One day you’ll get it.
@@MeltinMetalAnthony get what ? I owned one, it was junk. I have been riding since before you were born. If you like harley , fine, i don't.
Throw that shit in the trash. Fix it with Primo Riviera belt drive.
Lmao send me the money 🤣🤣🤣
Keep on making great videos.
That's the plan!
Hey I just started welding school this year and I love your videos very helpful! I would just like to say when you tell us your methods or why you use certain things could you just give a quick explanation on exactly why you use one specific thing over other (example): you use stainless steel wire brush on cast aluminum why is that
A bit of preheat should keep from cracking and warping ideally. I know a lot of guys don't bother anymore because it didn't work one time. It improves your odds for sure.
What a bummer.
I let grimy aluminum parts sit and soak in the ultrasonic tank 24 to 48 hours to get it clean it welds better than just degreasing with acetone but still get the occasional spec that boils up. When welding but its not as bad .
love it
I love Anthony’s salty truthfulness. Keeping it real.
Very cool bike, cheers from Sweden
Thanks! 👍
@@MeltinMetalAnthony you're welcome
Class presentation and job ..mike Scotland
I liked it and I learned something Harley making crappy parts since 1970
🤣
Nice great job ! Horrible test road
man you the shit for real bud!
Nice job bro. ? I have a small small shop with a 140 amp mig flux or hard wire. I have most or all tools to fab stuff. I want to start a bussines and get to the point where or at I've been to school and been welding for 20 years mostly mig but know tig and stick a little I learn really fast with anything I build mini bikes and go karts and metal models. I need a mobile truck would 10.000 to 15,000 thousand find one thanks for the videos and the tips.
Ya I think you could find a decent one for that price
@@MeltinMetalAnthony how the hell do u find people for work and putting adds up for small at home work tell I get the truck
All engine parts blow. I ruined more than I can remember but I did start using my gas grill to preheat them. Its like welding bread the way the voids and shit just pops up.
Ya it’s hard to avoid. But I think it’s stuff that was never ment to be welded after it was casted. But here we are 🤣
Ya it’s hard to avoid. But I think it’s stuff that was never ment to be welded after it was casted. But here we are 🤣
You're dreaming
Life is too short for PPE.
😎👍
I liked it, have a blessed day América
You too sir!
U want to buy a 3m air helmet with one battery filter system
Hell ya me too!
I have 2 of them theyre 2000 bucks knew
3m 6500 series
Battery last 8,hours
I just did a MACK fuel tank with rockmount Neptune tig
Turned out beautiful!
I need to upload the video
Would love to see it
We’d love to see it too!
@@rockmountweldingI will try to edit and post it this week or next weekend.
Is that rods near 4047 or 4043?
I’m not sure what the equivalent would be, this is Rockmounts own recipe. The link to buy them is in the description
For dirty parts some preheat can help to get out some oils, etc
Alloys with more Si, hard to weld but easyer to cast, i can see it in new Chinese parts, so 4047 will help and i think i need it in my workshop
Looks like pretty clean aluminum in the camera. I know the worst aluminum tig I've done was a 231d transfer case out of a late 90s model dodge
They chrome the casting to his the low quality aluminum lol 😂
What machine were u running ?
I occasionally watch you but 52yrs ago I was working in a small shop and a rock mount salesman came to the shop and he gave me a belt buckel with a Welder on one knee even kept it for years after it broke
sheesh, plz bolt that thing down before you ever do another of these. I always make jigs or at least bolt it down to the table when doing castings. Thell move on you if you don't and you should also pre-heat anything this large. When doing ATV differentials for example I make large inserts with the lathe to replace the gear set so I don't warp the areas where the bearings go.
But here we are and it worked. Stick to grinding and over complicating your own projects
@@MeltinMetalAnthonyI find you get what you put into it. Its often easier to set up once and do it properly. No grinding needed. No cracking or extra steps.
Cast is a bitch…my recommendations are good pre and post heat to reduce cracking when welding on cast and small beads when you weld should help as well…Also bury the part in sand when done so it cools slow
Repair area should have been boiled, soaked in ace overnight, after gouging/chamfering and preheated before the weld.
The casting wasn't the problem.
🤣
🤣🤣@@MeltinMetalAnthony