Aluminum Welding Testimonials
| First try with Durafix
Photos: 5 - 3 MB Nov 20, 2007 Being gutted about the prices of TIG welders I found this way of, basically, soldering aluminium. This photo album contains my first test and probably some further tests too. (Sorry about the pic-quality, my phone is good, but not for detailed pics.) |
| GREAT STUFF!! I ordered the DuraFix aluminum welding rods to weld together a big job. I am refurbishing my 16' X 8' pontoon boat and I am making my own railing out of 1" square aluminum tubes. You guessed it, I used DuraFix to weld the cuts together and it is wonderful. However, I did have trouble with it at first, I had followed all the steps as directed in the instructions and I still could not get the rods to flow as they should. It was then that I sent an email to DuraFix and explained to them what I was doing and the problem that I was having. I was very surprised not only to get a response but to get one by phone at work. I received a call from Randall Weeks and he advised me to use the "Bernz-O-Matic" propane torch and to hold the tip of the torch approximately 1.5 inches from the surface of the tubes and it worked. It worked just as Randall had said it would and I want everyone to know that it DOES WORK. |
| A lot of the boat owners on a pontoon forum that I am a member of have had a lot of luck using the durafix rods. Their website seems to have pretty complete instructions in the use of them too. Always a plus in my book. Thomas |
| That durafix definitely works great. Its tough as nails and easy to use. I've used it on my 14 fter and it was all i needed. Danny |
| I used the DuraFix aluminum welding rods for the first time and it works very well just using a hand torch. |
| Some time ago, Vern Haller posted results he had in using an aluminum brazing rod. Recently I was pointed to a rod called "Dura-Fix" This had been written up in Practical Sailor and other boating rags. I tried it today and am amazed at how easy it works and how strong the joint is (their web site gives some impressive strength stats). As a test, I butt joined 2 pieces of 3/16" alu (4 " wide)... Then I tried twisting this test piece and could not break the joint... I did another sample and tried bending the piece 1/8" below the joint... The piece bent but the joint held. I gave a stick to the welder in our yard and, after trying it, he is **extremely** impressed. The job I had in mind for the product was in making up a mast step for the E27... The original had to be hacked around to get it out of the mast originally (humungous corrosion problem)... Using 1/4" alu plate as the base, and 3/16" plate (suitably formed to the mast profile) as the vertical flange I brazed the 2 pieces together and now have a super mast step. I used a propane torch as the heat source and the job took me 5 minutes at most... Wonderfully formed fillet on both sides of the flange, look great. I can thoroughly recommend this product. BC |
| The front aluminum panel was chock full of holes I did not need and I had to fill them in with an aluminum alloy sold under the name Durafix. This alloy has a melting point of 732 F If you are trying to save a few bucks and have a hot torch, this stuff works excellent for filling in holes, welding aluminum and other stuff. Try it out sometime! Jon |
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If you have access to a small oxy torch, you can build your case out of thin aluminum. I used a product called "durafix" Its a zinc-based rod that allows you to braze together non-ferrus metals of any sort. I found it very easy to work with, assuming you clean all the joints with a small stainless steel brush. www.durafix.com is a good source for the welding rod. |
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Problem : How can I fix a rupture in small diameter aluminum tubing. Solution : Aluminum welding rods are good for this kind of repair. It has no drip through, which is essential for small diameter tubes, and you can repair it with a hand held torch instead of a welding machine. For more information see Durafix |
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Its great stuff, nice and fast, and doesn't leave a rotten stink
in the room (don't use the product in your living room however). All ya need is a stable surface, a $20 propane torch, and a pair of shop goggles. www.durafix.com Frederic B. |
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Yes the rods are similar to technaweld, although $50 cheaper (less than 1/2 price) per full kit. It is an amazing product. As with anything of a DIY nature, the more proficient the user the better the result. Being a very bad welder, I have found it easy to make an easy weld, so anyone with some ability can make a good job of small repairs. Ian K. |
| Thanks to all the folks at Durafix. I repaired my 1975 Starcraft alumineum boat. I had 11 leaks 0 leaks now. The whole trick is do it twice.The first time did not stop leaks. I reheated each leak and rubbed each with stainless brush.I guess it is a matter of tinning fine cracks and loose rivets. My regards again to Durafix. Dave Hafner |
| It's absolutely wonderful! It really does work very well. You can actually repair aluminum articles without flux and without very high heat. You just heat the broken piece with a propane torch, then after it's beyond the melting point of the rod, you rub the article with the rod, and the aluminum alloy will fill the gap in the broken piece. Great stuf! Mike |
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I tried durafix on the outside the jet mounting just under the flame collecotor (fixed a crack in the pipe). It holds quite well. After approx 3 years of having welded those cracks on the 8r clones pipes/mountings the welds have yet to fail. |
| If it is cracked in an auminum location, Durafix might be an option. I have used this stuff over the past 10 years and it really works. C. Eickson |
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From: captkeywest@webtv.net
I am sure several of you have seen the guys at the boat show weldiing aluminum with a durafix rod and a propane torch. and wondered if this stuff could be handy for "in the field" and remote repairs: (ie: where there is no tig ) I bought a half pound at the miami boat show many years ago and have experimented with the stuff only a few times. The first time I had an opportunity to try a repair "in the field" was during a busy time in the charter business. I had discovered a small crack on our boarding ladder. Not a serious crack but my first candidate for durfafix repair! Our aluminum dive ladder was quite substaintial maybe 10' overall length, it was quite windy on deck and my first experiment was with my handy Portasol I dug around in my shed and found a generic propane bottle type torch nozzel, got a bottle of propane. And brought it to the boat The ladder was large and cumbersome and I might have been more successfull if I could have gotten the ladder out of the wind and into a sheltered environment but even with the propane torch I was unable to create a fix After the sunset trip I was able to run to scottys hardware and get a bottle of mapp (sp?) gas to experiment with . Even with Mapp gas I just could not get the components hot enough in a windy open environment to get the durafix rod to flow. ---> end experiment & took the ladder to a welding shop. :-( ****** The next experiment: The job was replacing an engine bed n a 32 luhrs : to pull the port engine of a 32 luhrs required pulling the 200 gallon aluminum fuel tank to access the stb engine mounts of the port engine. after draining the diesel and pulling the tank I found severe pitting on one corner of the tanks bottom -but no holes... Maybe durafix could be used as filler?? It filled the pitted area niceley & saved my client the hassel of transporting the large tank to a welding shop. That was early 1999 and the tank is still in service. 1999 ... I was taking mig & tig welding classes and learning about welding aluminum, maybe my inexperience had foiled my first attempts with the ladder, maybe I just was not _patient_ enough to get the ladder hot enough and maybe I did not realize how fast the heat quickly dissipated from the aluminum tubing being cooled by the wind in the unsheltered environment. which brings us to the year 2001. Now I can weld. I have a mig, a tig and an oxy-acetylene torch. the aluminum transfer case on a neighbors Harleydavidson had broken two of the mounting ears off. creating a need for a repair similar to the one shown of the carb here: http://www.durafix.com I used the tig to re-attach the ears, unlike the carb shown which is rather robust, the Harley transfer case flares from the thick aluminum ears to a thinner aluminum body and required care not to distort or burn through the thinner area. Once I had the ears tacked I tried to fill (and grind and fill) with the tig to build up the flare from thin to thick but each time I risked burning through the thin stuff and decided to quit while I was ahead rather than risk distorting or damaging the case I wondered if the durafix might help build up the flare around the ears, this time I was able to use my oxy-actetelyn and was able to get it hot enough without risking burnthrough to get the durafix to flow nicely !! :-) yes _do_ brush your repair item with a stainless brush to remove oxides, also clean the durafix of oxides as the oxides have a higher melting temperature. There were a couple of booths at the Dania Marine Flea market selling the stuff and the guys at the booths demonstrate the stuff making it look easy ! (hey thats their job!) take a carefull look next time you see one of these demonstrations at the size of the propane torch tip they are demonstrating with --I thought it looked a size or two larger than the _"generic"_ propane torch I had first used in my ladder repair attempts. if you have tried durafix and had less than satisfactory results keep in mind the demonstrators at the show may have used a larger propane torch tip capable of heating a spot quicker than the generic propane tip in your shed and they probably picked a (thin) material to demostrate with (cherry picked repair) so be patient it may take _several_ minutes to heat the workpiece enough to get the durfix to flow. but bottom line, _yes_ the stuff works and could be very handy should you require a repair in some remote area should you be cruising. but just don't buy some and toss it in your cruising spares _ experiment with it_ ! Taken verbatim from: http://www.angelfire.com/fl/cruisingkeywest/durafix.html |
| Aluminum Brazing: An excellent method for joining aluminum to aluminum or to copper or brass is to use the modern fluxless aluminum brazing method. I have used this method successfully for brazing the copper tabs to the aluminum driven elements of the M2 antenna. These joints are found inside the connector block. As supplied on my 2M5WL antennas, the copper tab is swedged into a slit in the end of each driven element dipole half so that a regular tin-lead solder joint can be made on the copper to fasten coax connectors to the elements. The problem is that this particular joint is a candidate for corrosion and cathiodic cell development if moisture ever gets to it, and this has happened to more than one of my antennas. Aluminum brazing prevents this (you will need to remove the element from the block to do the brazing). W5UN has no affiliation with this vendor, but has used their rods with very good success. You will need a propane or mapp gas torch for this procedure.. take a look at http://durafix.com |
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Posted by Tom from Northern Ontario: I took an old 15' aluminum boat on as a project, replacing over 100 rivets and reseting the rest, there were 2 holes or tears about 1/2" to 3/4" long caused by the flexing of the floor against the corners of the 2 quarter seats in the stern...for these I used 'Dura Fix' and it has stood up for a couple of years with no problem and seems harder than the aluminum. I bought my rods at a sportsman show after watching one of those info-mercial type demo's...but it does work. Dura fix works well on an aluminum hull for the average Joe with a propane torch if he follows the instructions of cleaning the area well with a stainless steel wire brush, then heating the area while rubbing the rod on it so that heat from the base material melts it (not your torch), being careful not to melt the aluminum in the meantime. Any thicker aluminum will require a hotter torch because aluminum will dissipate heat away before it gets hot enough to melt the rod, I've heard that its not an easy job repairing the likes of a prop with it unless one has a lot more heat available, its not as easy as they say. I took a dura fix rod to work to show some of our welders (like the info-mercial I watched)and did the old trick of punching a 1/4" hole in the bottom of an aluminum beer can, I was using a large cutting torch and accidently blew the hole out to about 1/2" but the dura fix repaired even this hole and we pounded the heck out of the weld after with a chipping hammer but it held. |
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To avoid nasty, large welding beads, I used my oxy/acl jewlers torch and this product here: http://www.durafix.com which is neat stuff, its great for "soldering" anything non-ferrous, like aluminum, brass, copper, etc. I've used it for years fixing aluminum radiators rather than replacing them, for example. Also soldered aluminum gear covers, aluminum water pumps, etc. Works well on thin material too, flows nicely.
F. B. |
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One example is DuraFix. Braze each rod onto the “hub” piece of .625” tubing, and braze (carefully) the wire onto the tip of each spoke. We found that the tricks to using this technique successfully were: 1) Clean the rod and tubing carefully with the stainless wire brush. Take your time, and do it just before you are going to do the brazing, not a day or two before. 2) Be very careful to heat the work, and then rub or scratch the brazing rod against the work, rather than heating the rod. Do it using the same technique you would use to solder a good joint – you wouldn’t heat the solder, now would you? If you heat the brazing rod with the torch, it will melt, but it won’t stick to the work. You must scratch it against the heated work to get a good joint. Dan |
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For those wanting info on aluminum welding here it is, this is the site with the product I use:
DuraFix.com Go down the page a little and you will see full instructions. I personally think this is the best kept secret in scale modeling. Luke |
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Worked great on an old jon boat that I had. It took a handheld torch, heated up the surface and let the rods met in. It works just like soldering but a much much harder patch when finished. It's ad [durafix] states that the finished patch is stronger than the parent metal. I found that to be true. It's real easy to work with. Seaman |
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Use the durafix, it is stronger than aluminium and is easy to use, it will take to cast alloy. Follow the instructions exactly and remember that cleanliness is the key to this stuff bonding properly. Durafix won't strip any sooner than aluminium. You don't need welding equipment, only propane, but you do need the right tip to get the heat where you need it. Also an understanding of where the hottest part of the flame is, just at the tip of the bright blue cone of flame in the middle of the big flame. I have succesfuly used this stuff on the head of my car's engine, and was able to fill the stripped hole and drill/tap a new thread into the durafix. The hole was for the ohc and needed to be torqued down to 30 pounds, is still working 2 years on from the repair. Lark |
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There's a product called Durafix which is a welding rod for aluminum that permits the weld to be be carried out with a propane torch. I have welded quite a bit with it and it is very durable, strong and easy to use.
K. I. |
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Aloha, There is a product called Durafix, I used it to repair some broken parts (serious and major), on a fishing boat. It is really
amazing stuff. Their web site is, http://durafix.com. You will like this product and you can use a torch. Have fun!
Christian G. |
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The first step was to reweld the corners (of the aluminum window frame) with aluminum alloy rod. It is a process that takes time to learn. A good source of the material is Durafix
vintageairstream.com |
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I just use a lincoln 125 arc welder, for a stick welder its all yer gonna need and i also use a product called "durafix" for my aluminum repairs,,,it works really well.
Unknown Landscaper |
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For home uses, I've also had success with Durafix rods, very easy to use & a good strong bond.
Computer Builder |
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use DURAFIX! yep...thats the stuff! use it. its easy! its like melting solder into a joint. that easy.
Bobski-former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, former navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction. NRA certified instructor. |
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...this case is from an old power supply and the front aluminum panel was chock full of holes I did not need and I had to fill them in with an aluminum alloy called sold under the name 'Durafix'. This alloy has a melting point of 732 F If you are trying to save a few bucks and have a hot torch, this stuff works excellent for filling in holes, welding aluminum and other stuff. Try it out sometime!
Jon's Homebuilt Lasers. |
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