How You Can Repair Aluminum At Home With Aluminum Brazing

Posted on: 9 August 2016

You might think you need to hire a professional welder to repair aluminum car parts, but there's a way to repair aluminum at home without the hassle. Many kinds of aluminum can be brazed. 

What Is Brazing?

With brazing, you're repairing aluminum using a secondary metal with similar structure and melting point. Using the second metal, you melt and bind the aluminum that has been damaged, repairing it in the process. 

How Does Brazing Work?

Brazing works by using gas-generated heat to heat up the metal. Then, a filler metal is used to join the two parts of the damaged metal part. In the case of aluminum repairs, you can actually use aluminum as the filler metal, which means your piece will be back to normal after the repair. 

How Can You Braze Aluminum?

Brazing is a technique that beginners can use easily, which is why many people use it. You don't need to use chemicals or cleaners on the metal, so you don't need to have exhaust fans or specialty protective gear. 

The first thing you need to do is to choose your filler metal. For repairing aluminum, choosing a thinner sheet of aluminum is best. It will melt sooner than the thicker aluminum that creates your car part. 

Next, you need to heat both pieces of metal that will need to be repaired. For instance, if there is a crack along a muffler, you'll want to heat the crack until the metal is red. At that point, you can heat the secondary filler metal and place it along the hot section of the crack for the repair. 

For smaller cracks or holes, you may heat the secondary metal, which may be a wire or shim stock, until it melts. Dripping the hot metal onto the damaged area seals it.

Next, you'll use tools like a gas torch to smooth out the brazing and connected points. The metal may bubble or even run like a drop of water, so make sure you have the piece you're working on clamped to a table or work bench. 

Final Thoughts

This is a simple technique that doesn't take long to learn; make sure you protect your hands and eyes before you work, since some of these metals can give off steam or smoke when they're heated and become hot to the touch. Once your work is done, allow the metals to cool before reinstalling your car part. For more information, contact companies like Exoticar Paintworks Inc.

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