Repairing Cast Aluminum...
A leg broke off one of our cast aluminum patio chairs while being stored for the winter. It's held to the chair by three bolts and the break is through two of the bolt holes. Is there a reliable way of repairing this type of cast? An earmark of quality aluminum furniture is welded joints (preferably full-circumference welds) rather than bolted. See http://www.aluminumrepair.com/ for info on repair. Click Aluminum Repair in the bar at the top of the page. Something you could try is aluminum brazing rod. You heat the aluminum with a torch (mapp gas is hotter than propane) and then rub the brazing rod onto the hot metal to braze the parts together. Sounds like the break is in the most critical area where the stress is the greatest. You also might be able to braze an aluminum patch onto the area and redrill your bolt holes. There's no way of knowing if it will work until you try it... and no way of knowing how much weight it will hold until you sit in it. A few welding shops can weld aluminum too. Welding is far superior to brazing. Is welding superior to brazing? Not a welder here. At http://www.aluminumrepair.com/ they claim brazing is stronger. Is that marketing again? That subject was discussed at: http://www.siletzbay.com/Bearhawk/3.1.4-Tools-Welding if you go down to the post (+++ #1745) Judge for yourself. As you pointed out, quality aluminum furniture is welded. I mentioned brazing only because it's a DIY fix. Excellent info. Welding would offer stronger, long-term repair than brazing. Brazing does sound more handy for a DIYer who could not locate a welder. Careful group. Brazing aluminum is like brazing stainless steel. It can give off a deadly gas if you do not have exactly the correct rod. It is best to have pro welders do this type of job. Hve a nice day. Just for fun I did a Google search for +brazing +aluminum +deadly and didn't come up with much, so I'm not sure what you're referring to, unless maybe you've seen some type of cheap rod imported from China with unknown alloys that doesn't have a warning label of some type. Any form of welding or brazing, even soldering copper- where one type of metal is melted will give off a certain amount of gas that is of an unknown makeup. Brazing is done at low temperatures, less than 840F. Ventilation is the key thing. Cars give off a deadly gas too, but you wisely use them with plenty of ventilation. Caution is a good thing though... keep us from completely wrecking ourselves at work, right? It is the combination of the rod melting and the metal melting, especially alloys, that give off the gas. Have a good day. It may snow there. Yes, its already snowing out west. We just expect rain here, at least until Sunday the way it sounds. It's amazing that we haven't had to scoop any snow yet this winter. Sure makes working outside more pleasant! Just a follow up to my previous weather forecast... that rain turned out to be FREEZING rain, and one of the worst ice storms to hit our area in years. I was at my in-law's in Central Nebraska when the wind came up and the power went out Saturday night. Power lines were almost 2 thick with ice, trees snapping, falling on power lines, power poles snapping because of the ice and wind, it was bad. We just made it home today, and they don't expect power to be back for weeks out there. We had to take a 4WD truck into town to fill up water tanks at the fire department for his cattle. (no electricity to run the water pumps). I think he'll be getting a generator ASAP! Originally Posted by WGW A leg broke off one of our cast aluminum patio chairs while being stored for the winter. It's held to the chair by three bolts and the break is through two of the bolt holes. Is there a reliable way of repairing this type of cast? Chances are it's pot cast. Pretty much worst of the worst. I've repaired them before using a mig machine, but they wont hold much weight. I've also repared them using cast rod, with a delicat hand but the specimen that I was working on was super thin, so it also lasted only so long. If it's thick metal, it's totally worth working on. If it's thin, go down to the store and buy some more.
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