Detailed Cast Aluminum Welding 

Now this is RU-vid, every RU-vidr should follow your lead. Straight and to the point without God dam annoying background noises that some call "music".

Arc view is exceptional! Appreciate the time you put in to get them looking so good.

Thanks for posting this despite the heat! I really like the way you just jump into the work and discuss cost.

Do not hope, i always enjoy watching your videos, although i do about 5 minutes of welding per year! Still, that does not stop me from hoarding 6 or more welders through the shop collecting dust.

:D I always find it pleasing when the needed part is found in the pile(s) of off-cuts/scraps/by-products from other projects.

Those arc shots are something else man! Feels like being there and doing that ! Great stuff

Try Kevlar gloves, been using them for over 20 years on aluminium and stainless steel, they work amazing, rarely get burnt...and the filler rod glides through nicely when feeding.

Nice really appreciate you taking the time and effort for these videos!

wish i had you're foot control man, awesome video, you explain it so well. thanks for passing knowledge on. 👍👍

Thank you for doing these kinds of videos. I know the views are a lot less on these niche topics, but the content is soooo valuable for many of us.

I appreciate the videos. As I’m starting to learn just as a hobby in my garage they have really helped.

Thank you so much for such an excellent video! Massive appreciation for the time and effort to share your knowledge. Knowledge shared is knowledge doubled!

Well done on the content and filming. Could see what you did and the difference between the two ways of working in the metal. Thanks for sharing. Look forward to seeing you soon. 👍

There is always something to learn from your videos, Thank You.

Well done Justin … love your passion for teaching

Awesome video - you just gave me flashbacks to welding a bunch of huge holes in my buddies aluminum boat. It was exactly like this except I am still a beginner, so I had to learn the circling and flooding technique you demonstrate here as I went along, and the boat had 5x more contamination and junk in it. Felt very proud that I was able to fix it though and its still floating!

Thanks! Love watching that metal flow!

good video. it really shows the crap you get with aluminium repairs. aluminium soaks up crap and looks exactly like that when welding. maybe for the next video is show doing it with a stainless backer.

Absolutely amazing arc shots. Well done. Your skills still amazes me. Carry on my friend.

😁 I really thought you were going to say 88 instead of 90 and make a back to the future joke. Super work, making me want to take up welding 👍👍

Thanks for your sacrifice in the heat Justin. Great video with awesome arc shots as usual.

Excellent Arc Shots!!!

We love you Justin! Do what you do!

It's nice to see welding, and fabrication being a good career path in USA. I am from India, and I have been in love with welding since when I was 15 or so. Couldn't make a career out of it, so became and engineer only to learn that the money lies outside the shop.

Thanks for the video, I picked up a lot of info especially watching your technic.

I've never done tig but always want to learn it. This is excellent. Really enjoyed it. Loved the 4G63 collaboration with Mankandy too. From Australia 🇦🇺 where it gets just as hot, thank you Jason.

Great job with excellent tutorial, thank you sir!

You are always worth a watch and a like!

In case I have not thanked you Justin, THANKS! Been watching your channel for a few years now, listening and then applying what you teach to my hobby level TIG work. It is slowly sinking in and I just welded my first cast aluminum. A set of engine cases someone destroyed, they are very dirty castings but your techniques worked and I am pretty proud of what I have done. Still trying to learn to run a nice bead though, I am trying to build a small gas tank for a custom scoot I am building.

nice vid. i don't watch all of them, but when i do have the time to, i always learn something.

You should Get a little Glass Dropper Bottle for Your Vinegar Test. Would take up less space on the tool cart, you won't need to worry about over pouring Anymore. Plus it will Appear more "Professional"

Excellent video and instruction!

Excellent work and great video. Thanks

I'm liking the low production vids. The real value in your vids was always the knowledge drop anyway.

As always, exceptional!

Outstanding Justin...always good, cheers from Orlando FL

Very well done. Putting the heat to it and letting the crap (internal porosity in the casting) bubble out like you did is essential to getting a sound weld. It takes patience, but is the only way to do it.

Very good and it looks like fun.

You ended up capturing arc shots that look clearer than when I'm in a hood. That's wild!

this new camera setup is incredible

I have an engine that the rod got shot out the top on and can’t get a new engine for it so I was thinking I might weld the case back up and just rebuild it myself so this popped up just in time as I was pondering the possibility of it and the vinegar test is really helpful I’m no master welder I’m running a Vulcan from harbor freight and it’s an old Kawasaki mule side by side engine so I’m not expecting art work just sturdy lol

You make is look so easy. Nice job

I feel like I’m getting better just watching you !

Great video! We’ve seen so many vids on cast aluminum weld repair, but what about welding pieces of cast aluminum together? For example, I’ve got a turbocharger compressor housing onto which I need to weld a 90 degree elbow. Would love some tips on how to make that happen.

Your back hell yeah thank God missed ya 😁

Used to love ally tig welding never done cast aluminium

A few decades ago the owner of the company I was working at saw it as a personal mission to find something that I couldn't weld. One day I came in and found cracked Mickey Thompson magnesium wheels and Vick Edelbrock manifolds from their first years. A taped up and purged sandblast cabinet got me through the mags.

Welding cast aluminum is just a gamble it feels like, because you dont know what you have on your hands really. Sometimes it just seems to blow itself apart, sometimes its so uneven you go from an easy weld into molten aluminum spraying everywhere. Most of the time there is just a lot of bubbles and you have to work a lot to get them all out. Most people just see a tiny hole that needs to be filled in (if we are talking about this piece here) but for us who has worked with cast aluminum before, what we see is a minefield. Sometimes it looks like an easy job, you almost want to tell the customer, give me 20 minutes and it will be fixed, but as soon as you start working on it, you feel like it would be a lot easier to just remake the whole part.

Learnt a lot from this. Thanks!

I fill holes that our machinest from time to time on adelet boxes, there basically large eletrical boxes for breakers and such ... them suckers are some times 2" thick maby more. I basically beval both sides and weld from the center out... there a really good aluminum casting

Good Effort !!

thanks for the pricing ,, these are the jobs I find hardest of all to price .

Superb man!

I always used the pipeliner backing pads for my gloves they just slip on with a couple elastic straps, and you can twist them around to cover where ever you need them. Would be nice if you included the settings for the video (miller Dynasty 90A 85Hz - 4563 rod 3/32 and 1/16) sort of thing.

A 20+ minute video... Yes Please!! 👍👍

Great video

Love the videos and education

Lennox Lube Tube wax for all things aluminum including burrs, 4-1/2" carbide saw blades, carbide chop saw blades, band saw, etc...Plus, you can weld thru it.

Something to try, if you want to reduce clogging on those rotary files, is to briefly run the file in candle wax before you start, it doesn’t stop it, but it does reduce it enough to make it easier to clean off with a file card, then just rinse-repeat.

Impressive how little shaking there was if you had your arm floating holding the torch that far up. Well played.

Thanks Justin

Perfect video, I literally have to weld cast aluminum today on a boat engine cover….should be fun….I hope….

*I want to see a competition between you and whats his name from fireball tools in a tig welding showdown. NO GLOVES AT ALL. The one who welds the most without stopping wins. And must weld in an enclosed box like this manifold you're welding. I would totally pay to see that.*

I dig the white vinegar test.

I dont know if i missed it, but what alloy filler do you use on cast repair? I hear different things and was just wondering if there was one you preferred over the other. Great video with some excellent arc shots! As usual 😉

Like all your videos and the time that goes into them. Love the knowledge you provide for free. This video had me feeling sick early on and I had to put my phone down and just listen. Those with ADHD and autism may enjoy it more than I did.

Thanks!

Stick your cutter into wax - see the difference it doesn't clog up as much. Used to do that for a living.

A backer or purge would help with that porosity. A purged cabinet is the easiest way to deal with a lot of things.

Hey Jason great video as always and thanks for the tip on Aluminum vs. Magnesium identification. That's so simple and I've always wondered how to tell the difference. I also see you tossing the last little bits of your filler rods, how come you don't join them and continue? Again, great stuff. Been following you on and off since your garage and always come back. Keep it up man. Mark.

am i the only closing my eyes when he says "listen to the arc"?

Seems OK ;-) Nice work!

$200 for that quality of work, when can I hire you?! Lol

it looks easy to you. what size diameter of tungsten do you use? and what gas pressure do you use?

Excellent video & information! Using LaYZr tungsten....? 😁 Thanks!

Thanks

Assuming you are using an iPhone or a gopro, it would make the handheld shots much less vertigo inducing, if you would use the image stabilizing feature. I LOVE the information you put into your videos and your presentation skills are excellent, and missing parts because i have to look away from the bouncing screen is disappointing.

As little Ring Around the Rosey I like to call it.

Excellent video and love your channel. Quick question. I’m a beginner and have a stick mug and flux core machine. I am using those for simple repairs around my hobby farm. I do not have a TIG machine nor do I know how to TIG weld. How would I go about doing a cast aluminum repair with a mig machine? I have a spool gun for it.

what machine do you use for most of the welding you do? i was thinking about buying a everlast mts275 for my first welding machine but i really wanna learn mig and tig to be able to do both and watching your tig welding just makes me wanna learn so much more because you make it look so easy even though i’m aware it take a lot of practice and skill to get there. i’m aware it’s a lot for a machine but i’d wanna be able to do multiple things with it. not just one type since i’m not always gonna wanna use one type of welding depending on the things i’m doing. i just wanted to know what a skilled welder like yourself runs most often

Nice job and nice gloves 😂😂😂

I know you did a video on welders but for some reason I can't seem to find it. Must be sleep deprivation from the new baby! But what is you recommendation for a ac/DC tig machine around the 1k mark. Not going to be used in production, just whatever fun projects I have.

Please do a video on how to connect a tig torch to a welder. Also on the different connectors ,how those work and how you know what size they are, and how you know if it is a twist mate, 1/2 inch terminals, tweco style. I have a Lincoln weld pak 180i mp dv and want to get a K1782-17 (PTA 17) 1 piece torch for it but I’m not sure if I have to order an adapter to hook it up to my machine or which one I would need I’m just confused man and need help!

I would just like to caution that some die cast parts are made with a Zinc base alloy. Interesting thing is that the density of Aluminum is 2.7 grams/cm^3 and Zinc is 7.13 g/cm^3. The interesting thing is that the density of Zinc is only slightly less than that of Iron which is about 7.2 grams/cm^3. So if you pick up a die casting that is quite heavy for the size chances are it is a Zinc based alloy. Just for information the density of Magnesium is 1.74 grams/cm^3. Zinc does have a higher strength than Aluminum or Magnesium so that is why it is sometimes used in die castings. PS: What is the part used for? Just curious. PPS: Very Nice demonstration of technique on the filling.

Almost reminded me of brazing.

I love hearing a SAILOR say that they get motion sick...! 😂😂😂

hey Jason, just wondering what filler you prefer to use on castings. 6061 4043 or 4047. I have been told that the 40 series has more silicon and stands up to heat cycling better. Appreciate your videos thank you.

Do you run an ND filter for your arc shots? I got some ND filters to try the same, but I'm not sure anyone who does welding videos ever talks about how they set up arc shots.

What tungsten is that ??? That staying pretty sharp for AC .

Question, I recently tried a dirty aluminum cast, and while going over with the ‘cleaning run’ everything that bubbled up and ‘cleaned’ as you will - that just separated from the main casting and almost fell off. It just becomes a blob of clean aluminum thats not adhered. Do I need to preheat more? Or is this just something that could happen with old aluminum cast I did do physical cleaning before as much as I was able to.

Who or where do you buy your carbide bits at? I keep buying Chinese ones to “save” money and it’s just standard steel. Shit gets eatin up on anything I use it on but plastic.

What level of ND Filter do you use on your camera for these welding shots?

Can you tell me what you welding table is called and where you bought it? Thanks

Gm aluminum valve covers have alloy metals elements protruded/casted from inside. too bad they didn't include percentages though it would be cooler

Is it possible to wire feed fill vacuum ports on an intake manifold?

What filler rod did you use?

Which prime weld were you using

Great job! When I try welding the same spot that long it melts the bottom and sags. Am I trying to weld too hot or is there a secrete I am missing?

i find wd40 is the best for die grinder non ferrous burrs for aluminum. I tried with alumitap and it got immediatly clogged. But regular WD40 worked amazing

But is this round thingy thing you welded in BMW certified?