Now who is going to be the first to use these brazing rods to join two China Girl engines together 
Aluminum Brazing
- Thread starter Mike B
- Start date
I don't know the "best" place, I can only tell you that I bought mine at Ace Hardware.
there are several manufacturers of these type rods, the Alumi Weld rods I get come from Harbor Freight Tool store or you can also order them online.
Hobart welding supply company has their version which I have seen at Tractor Supply and there are others Ive seen online and in youtube vids where people are demonstrating how to use them for different fixes.
You can get these from several sources and so far all of the ones I've purchased in the past are the same thing so basically wherever you can find these at the best price is all you need to do, I hadn't seen any of them that are better or worse than any other brand.
Gotta know how to use these before they'll work... when done right it's been proven in several torture tests by vendors AND customers that the metal will fail before the braze joint will. Would I weld a bike frame together with these? Absolutely not, but will I use them to quick fix something that needs good strengthlike adding in a few brackets and tabs or repair a cracked engine case with them... If my welder isn't available to me, absolutely.
I have a stick, TIG, and wire feed Mig at my shop as well as oxy/acetylene, propane and mapp torches, and an old carbon arc brazing torch and they all have their place. If you're fabbing up a frame, Mig is hard to beat for strength and speed, if it's really thin metal and precision is needed such as fabbing up a gas tank or expansion chamber, Tig is the way to go, brazing is also an excellent choice here.
These aluminum brazing rods would also do a great job for home fabricating an aluminum tank, but they do their best when doing quick fixes or damage repairs, the metal MUST be clean and at the right temperature or the whole process won't work.
I needed a few items at Ace, so I looked them up when I was there.
Still there and $18 for a half pound. A no brainer, go buy some -
Still there and $18 for a half pound. A no brainer, go buy some -
I used the HF Alumiweld rods to braze together a subframe to hold two electric motors together on my modded e-motard. If you do it properly, they make a remarkably strong joint!
Very nice work on that motor mount. What's the power rating on those two motors. It looks like your e-motard would be a real beast
they're overvolted so each makes about 4 hp, it is quite the beast, lol! If you thwok the throttle open the bike will flip right over backwards and it weighs about 120 lbs.
Interesting comments on a product thats been in wide spread use for at least 35 years under various trademarks. It works & Mr. B's "coupons" survived his hammer & vise test to prove it.
I've made my living for about 50 years welding & machining metal with stick, torch, mig & tig. That said earlier posts are on target about cleaning aluminum...with a stainless brush that is never used to clean other metals. Oxidation of aluminum occurs within seconds after cleaning so brush after any pauses during brazing process. Remember that aluminum oxide is used in a phenolic resin carrier for grinding and cutting the hardest of metals don't believe that you can create a strong bond unless it is continually removed during brazing. Prepping weldment with a light cleaner (alcohol) on a lint free cloth is also good. Even with a quality AC square wave TIG & adequate gas shield cleanliness can't be ignored. We rebuild aluminum rock trailers & purchase hundreds of pounds of aluminum filler a year and use a mild aluminum acid wash to prep for welding and 300amp spool guns to run it. 3/8" thick aluminum plate 40 feet long requires a lot of heat...propane torch & alumniweld won't work for big jobs but it dang sure will for bike size projects. Keep it clean, control your heat and let your work piece melt the rod. Then build something to amaze & inspire us all. Rick C.
I've made my living for about 50 years welding & machining metal with stick, torch, mig & tig. That said earlier posts are on target about cleaning aluminum...with a stainless brush that is never used to clean other metals. Oxidation of aluminum occurs within seconds after cleaning so brush after any pauses during brazing process. Remember that aluminum oxide is used in a phenolic resin carrier for grinding and cutting the hardest of metals don't believe that you can create a strong bond unless it is continually removed during brazing. Prepping weldment with a light cleaner (alcohol) on a lint free cloth is also good. Even with a quality AC square wave TIG & adequate gas shield cleanliness can't be ignored. We rebuild aluminum rock trailers & purchase hundreds of pounds of aluminum filler a year and use a mild aluminum acid wash to prep for welding and 300amp spool guns to run it. 3/8" thick aluminum plate 40 feet long requires a lot of heat...propane torch & alumniweld won't work for big jobs but it dang sure will for bike size projects. Keep it clean, control your heat and let your work piece melt the rod. Then build something to amaze & inspire us all. Rick C.