Lumaweld

I have have about 40 lbs of lumaweld welding rods. With some practice one can repair most anything. There kinda cool, you can weld alluminum with a propane torch, ( I use MAP gas ).I read about it in a motorcycle magazine about 24 years ago. Guys were welding triumph engine cases in the pits for ice racing. So I wrote the fella and asked for the distributorship for Alberta and shipped in 50 lbs.I could never sell the stuff, if went to a welding shop they would giggle and say "what do I need that for , I have this expensive welder and a skilled operator". I mended a shattered flywheel on my old ArticCat 290 Lynks and rode it hard all winter to try and explode it. It's still going, ( ask the cops!)

Brent

I have an 800 pound miller heiliarc it welds anything

bmosley wrote: (in another thread...)

I'll send you some 'lumaweld" rods to try, for free! You can't buy this stuff no more. Check my last posts.

Brent

Hell, that's a deal.

Interesting stuff. More of an aluminum "braze" than a weld, I gather, but I can think of a job or six or eight it'd be handy to have some around for - like that thread a month or so back where somebody managed to crack off a chunk of the intake casting on his (bike's) head...

they still make that stuff, but now its called alumaloy
i have some and did one hell of a job repairing a boat hull also repaired a tractor transaxle witch had got water in it and split over the winter pretty good stuff but you have to clean the surface your working on really good or it won't stick

Has anyone had any luck with the aluminum welding rods that are sold at swap meets? You know, the ones that they braze aluminum cans together with.
I bought a few and I can only braze aluminum cans together. I've tried it on misc aluminum parts, but it never works. It works fantanstic if you have a need for 2 aluminum cans brazed together, though.
Fish

I used Alumalloy to weld up a buddy's engine case. It didn't work at all until we got a MAPP torch.

www.aluminumrepair.com/

alumaloy.net that looks like the stuff I have. Guess "lumaweld" sold out or somthing. Suppose I don't have the distributorship anymore.

Brent

I know this is an old thread...

I just bought some Alumaloy rods off ebay. My first couple experiments failed, but then I found I could get good results by really working the Alumaloy into the seam. It wastes some of the rod but it really suck much better.

I cut a piece of 3/4" aluminum angle stock about 1/8" thick. Then I tried to braze/solde it back together with the Alumaloy. The first two tries looked good, but broke aprat real easily. On the third try I really forced the rod into the seam and worked it back and forth. This wasted a lot of the rod, it really held. When I tried to break the seam, the aluminum angle bent and finally broke about 1/8" away from the seam. The seam did start to crack, but the aluminum actually broke before the seam.

I was actually impressed since I had pretty low expectations. I wouldn't use it for structural stuff, but for cosmetics or patching holes, anytime.

The only real problem I see is that there is no way to tell the difference between a good seam and a bad one. They looked the same to me, on the surface. Unlike solder, where you can see a bad solder joint because it doesn't flow, Alumaloy flows over a surface even when it doesn't stick.

I used propane, but like Guitargeek said, a typical propane torch may not be enough heat for bigger stuff. If you use MAPP gas, be careful not to melt the base metal. It has a higher temperature than propane and aluminum melts without much warning.

...Just in case anyone ws considering it.

I meant to say it really "stuck" much better, although "suck" does sound funnier. :laugh: