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aluminum to steel????
feorge -
Saturday, February 17, 2007 - 3:36pm
Welding can you weld or braze aluminum to steel??? a friend is building a robot for a school project and wants to know about connecting these materials. thanks,  The only way I would join
visitor -
Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 12:15pm
The only way I would join the two would be to use a polymethylmethacrylate composite. This stuff is used on airplane structures to join parts where drilling and riveting would lessen the strength of a subassembly. Be careful though the the stuff is toxic. Wear respirator rubber gloves etc. It is tough as hell strong bond product name Equilox sold by Centaur forge » reply  aluminum to steel bonding
johndach -
Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 1:57pm
John Dach The other thing that MAY work, depending on how much stress si going to be put on the bond area, is using a product called LEXOR (I think that is the name, I know it starts with an L and has an X in it). It is a caulking compound for windows and other needs, is water clear, is a solvent base and is TOUGH. If you ever use it to put in a car windshield, you will destroy the car getting the stuff off. VERY sticky, not terribly expensive and available at your local hardware store. John Dach » reply  AL to Steel
Chris welds -
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 2:14pm
There are some very limited methods for actually welding ferrous to non-ferrous alloys. Unfortunately though, these processes do not lend themselves to the hobbyist or even most welding professionals as they typically require very specialized tooling and equipment. The most effective method that I have used involves a GMAW type process with AL wire and a dabber type wire feeder cycling at about 40 cycles per second with the welding current and voltage tuned to compliment the dabber cycle. Heat shunting is very important to limit the size of the heat affected zone and control cooling contraction in the dissimilar metals. I use water cooled copper bars on both sides of the work-pieces and joint. Go with cool bolts! » reply You cannot do this on a
visitor -
Monday, February 19, 2007 - 6:32pm
You cannot do this on a small, cheap scale. So if you must have aluminum welded to steel, and money is no object, its possible to have it done. I have a friend who is installing a new vacuum cleaner on his boat- a 50hp vacuum that vacuums whole, live salmon out of the holds of fishing boats and into his tender, for freezing- and it uses a stainless steel to aluminum system in the pump- but the material was explosively welded together, and took months to get, and it was NOT cheap. Use rivets, bolts, glue, wire, duct tape, clamps, or bubble gum. » reply This is a school project
don johnson -
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 1:37am
This is a school project usually meaning low bucks and low experience, I would go with bolting the pieces together. A robot is a work in progress, and expect to take it apart and do it again, and again. I have often built at least three robots before getting a working version, and even then it was a work in progress. Lots of good inputs, but many are beyond student level. Don » reply Al-Ss brazing
visitor -
Saturday, April 7, 2007 - 6:19am
Hello there, yes you can Al-Ss joint very easily. you have to a brazing alloy of composition Zn98Al2 and a flux paste - Al Flux 028 Cs/D (of company Flux GmbH). Regards, Eyup Karaca. » reply They can be soldered.
jolly roger -
Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 9:31pm
I can't give you the exact info right now, but there is a solder that sticks aluminum to steel, or just about any other metal for that matter. I have used it on alum to steel and alum to copper as well with good results. It's fairly inexpensive and can be done with a bernz-o-matic torch. It comes as a soldering paste or as paste flux and wire solder. Use the same tehnique as silver solder. I would give you the info but I left the stuff with my dad and he is on vacation right now, and my memory is pretty much short term anymore, LOL. I like the rivets and screws idea myself though. » reply Explosion can join aluminum to steel
visitor -
Sunday, July 15, 2007 - 6:30pm
The only two ways I could see to join aluminum to steel would be either by friction stir welding FSW or by using a Bi-Metallic explosion welding (piece are generally already joined by explosion and sold as is). Bi-Metalic has been very popular in the marine fields to attach the steel shell to aluminum superstructures. Alex, P.E. www.maadigroup.com » reply I have a millermatic 210 mig
visitor -
Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 11:35pm
I have a millermatic 210 mig welder and a spool gun and I used silicon bronze wire and it work great for welding aluminum to steel » reply |
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ArtMetal
I keep hearing being able to
I keep hearing being able to weld steel to aluminum. It has never been proven to me and I don't think it is a reliable joining of metals.
Anyone to add more?
Don