Welding Magnesium

[SBK]

Had a go at welding a bike side casing today with 4043 rod.
Weld look quite good then pop the whole weld jumped right out !
tried again using clean alli rod not sure of the grade and turned up post flow
and it seemed to take better but when i ground it back down it was full of voids.

Any advice ?
Cheers

 

[Shox Dr]

Pictures?

 

[SBK]

just a min .

 

[SBK]

mag weld

here you go .

 

[chevy2]

Think you possibly should be using magnesium filler rods? which are apparently very pricey,
Langy on here had a magesium wheel repaired by a specialist last year,
he may be along to comment on what was involved.

 

[SBK]

it certainly is odd stuff it crackles as its cooling

 

[Shox Dr]

Could be Mag, they like powcercoating Mag in dark grey colours for some reason. Although like seen what ooks like its been hit with too many amps, in a very small area, with out first cleaning the area. I've also found in the past it's better to pre heat bike castings, a little, as it can go from solid to a hole in a flash

 

[Shox Dr]

Astro Al had some mag rods, but he wanted to get rid of the lot in a oner, and there were a lot of them.

 

[SBK]

Could be Mag, they like powcercoating Mag in dark grey colours for some reason. Although like seen what ooks like its been hit with too many amps, in a very small area, with out first cleaning the area. I've also found in the past it's better to pre heat bike castings, a little, as it can go from solid to a hole in a flash

Yeah its sure is mag it has Mg on the inside.
I remember years ago needing a case welding up and no one would touch it ?

Would be good if I can do it would save a lot of dough.

Yeah I also probably over did it with the power but wasnt sure where to start.

 

[Paul99]

Yeah its sure is mag it has Mg on the inside.
I remember years ago needing a case welding up and no one would touch it ?

Would be good if I can do it would save a lot of dough.

Yeah I also probably over did it with the power but wasnt sure where to start.

We had a few magnesium engine cases on MX bikes welded up several years ago - my brother used to send them to a bloke in Somerset if I remember correctly posted Monday back by Friday and he did a good job too. Those bikes have since long gone - I give it up and my brother now rides much newer bikes so no problems with bits failing or stress cracks forming. I'll ask him tomorrow if he still has the contact details...

 

[SBK]

thanks,Btw just read this eek
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/325614-help-tig-welding-magnesium.html

 

[500e]

Stoneman Engineering (S.W.) Limited
Park Works, Cullompton, Devon, EX15 2QA
Tel: 01884 820369

They are just of the M5
Rod Stoneman should help

 

[hotrodder]

As said the stuff is 'kin pricey but SIF sell it in packs of 12 as well as by the kg which helps for occasional jobs. I keep mag wire in stock if you only want one or two sticks (probably cut in half for postage reasons) or could send it to me if you don't fancy it yourself

The attempt with ally will need to be completely removed as it'll be brittle as glass now

 

[SBK]

As said the stuff is 'kin pricey but SIF sell it in packs of 12 as well as by the kg which helps for occasional jobs. I keep mag wire in stock if you only want one or two sticks (probably cut in half for postage reasons) or could send it to me if you don't fancy it yourself

The attempt with ally will need to be completely removed as it'll be brittle as glass now

I would like to have a go at it as am always messing with bikes.

Was the reason i got a tig really.

Can you pm me some details on cost mate, just a couple of rods just to have a play.

 

[SBK]

Stoneman Engineering (S.W.) Limited
Park Works, Cullompton, Devon, EX15 2QA
Tel: 01884 820369

They are just of the M5
Rod Stoneman should help

cheers bud

 

[langy]

Had a go at welding a bike side casing today with 4043 rod.
Weld look quite good then pop the whole weld jumped right out !
tried again using clean alli rod not sure of the grade and turned up post flow
and it seemed to take better but when i ground it back down it was full of voids.

Any advice ?
Cheers

You don't weld Mag with ally rods, very bad idea, you need Mag rods

 

[pedrobedro]

Clean it up and use chemical metal on the inside if it's cracked, save yourself a lot of grief.

 

[SBK]

Where is the fun in that ?

I like to know how things are done and its only an old casing that would normally be chucked.
If I can salvage the part and learn something at the same time its a bonus,if I fail at it
I will learn from it.

Know what your saying tho mate.

 

[langy]

Where is the fun in that ?

I like to know how things are done and its only an old casing that would normally be chucked.
If I can salvage the part and learn something at the same time its a bonus,if I fail at it
I will learn from it.

Know what your saying tho mate.

I had a wheel repaired a while ago and was gonna have a go myself but due to it being an important part and extremely rare wheel I passed on doing it myself.

Someone had repaired it with ally rod and as the guy explained to me it just ends up very brittle and porous, you can literally just snap it off with a pair of pliers, my wheel looked pretty good until we mounted the tyre and inflated it, straightaway the welded ally part flew across the workshop !!!

The guy that did it knew I could weld and offered an old rim and some rods to have a go, To be honest it was just like welding ally, he just kept saying don't get it too hot near its combustion point, apparently thats when it can ignite, had no problems at all and would do it myself next time without hesitation.

Here are some broken pics










Here are the repaired pics

 

[hotrodder]

A large chunk of the stuff is very difficult to ignite unless you're trying to i.e. surround it with heat from a 'kin big fire. The only fire risk when welding the stuff is from swarf/chips or the filler wire if you melt a blob off and while it goes up a lot better than steel wool it's not as impressive as the pure mag ribbon we all played with at school. Commercially pure titanium swarf/filler wire is more fun!

It's been a while so magnesium myth