John McCoy wrote:

I have an aluminum casting which has broken. Does anyone have any
experiences or recommendations on the likelyhood of success, glueing
it back together with epoxy? I have West System on hand, and can
fairly easily get other products (e.g. Aluminax). Any tips,
techniques, or pitfalls I should be aware of?

thanks,

John


We usually suggest sanding then coating immediately with epoxy. Another
possibility would be sanding the aluminum then priming with a moisture
cured urethane prior to the epoxy.

If you have extra pieces of the aluminum you can send them to me and I
will try a few different approaches and send back to you for your "testing."

paul oman - progressive epoxy polymers


-- ===========

Well, I tried it, without success. The main problem being that I
was unable to clamp the two parts securely without removing the
"fixed" part.

So, I've ordered a replacement part (which, Murphy's law being in
effect, is back-ordered). I may try glueing the broken one again
after it's removed, to save as a spare, perhaps with the Metweld
or 3M DP810 which have been recommended in this thread.

Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions.

John

you're dead right in your views about welding cast parts... its
tricky, as noted by one other poster noted due to the manganese and
silicone content. I've done a fair bit of work repairing cast exhaust
manifolds, some with tig, but mostly with a torch. The tig can be made
to do it, but you usually need to have at least 3-5 layers of weld to
get a satisfactory result. exhausts are complicated a lot by the
deposits on the inside of then though, so other casts are not as
difficult. I've had good success with lawn mowers. If you are going
into a shop, call around and see who will do it with gas. its true
that using the flame is harder, but in general i think you'll find that
only a few shops will have anyone who can braze at all, and those you
find will be old school old timers who know their stuff. Just finding
someone like this is a worhtwhile experience. You'll want to keep
their number as they will build up old parts with wear bronze, can
usually operate a lathe and mill and often undercharge for their time.
craftsment are disapearing