[E-Type] SP135 MIG welder (pot metal)

Yup… I can testify to Wiggies welding. His department had a professionally built ground pounder, and Wiggie had to make about a hundred “upgrades” to make it useable.
LLoyd
Can anyone here weld pot metal??–
My driveway is long enough that you can appreciate the conflict between the desire for privacy and the terror of being completely lost .

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: “Wiggles” vrooomie@fastmail.fm

In reply to a message from Bill McKenna sent Thu 1 Feb 2007:

Al welding is just plain tricky, regardless of the setup and
by and large, you’re correct about TIG-ing Al. However, with
practice (and on heavier stuff, as you say) one can weld Al
quite adequately and strongly using a good quality MIG,
which is very precise and predicatable in wire feed rate… I
do it allllll the time here at work, on objects that
literally get the snot beaten out of them (portable
seismic source plates) and my welds, KOW, are still hangin’
in there!
Now thatt= I’ve opened my big mouth…!

Search the archives & forums - http://search.jag-lovers.org/
Subscription changes - http://www.jag-lovers.com/cgi-bin/majordomo
Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php

In reply to a message from soothsayer1@comcast.net sent Fri 2 Feb 2007:

Lloyd, a quarter’s winging its way to you…:wink:
I appreciate the ‘testimonial.’’ That ground-pounder has now
been COMPLETELY rebuilt by the original builder and should
work MUCH better this time!
As for welding pot metal (white metal) I’m not entirely sure
it can be…maybe silver soldered?. I’ve used JB Weld with
good effects on pot metal but, of course, no chrome can be
put over that.
Got me…?–
The original message included these comments:

Yup… I can testify to Wiggies welding. His department had a professionally built ground pounder, and Wiggie had to make about a hundred ‘‘upgrades’’ to make it useable.
Can anyone here weld pot metal??


Paul Wigton, '60 DKW 1000SP, '57 Chrysler Imperial, Tweety!
Keenesburg, CO, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–

Search the archives & forums - http://search.jag-lovers.org/
Subscription changes - http://www.jag-lovers.com/cgi-bin/majordomo
Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php

Welding Pot metal is impossible, However Caswell and a few other places
sell a special zinc tin solder that will work. I haven’t used this
myself but have watched someone do this at a plating shop to repair
pitted door handles and hood ornaments etc. Its done with a very fine
tip torch and usually heat sink putty if the part is thin. First you
must strip all the chrome. Electrically. Then bead blast the part to get
all the acid and dirt out of the pours. Then they heat the part up and
use some special acid flux on it before blending in the solder. I
believe they have a little section on this on Caswell’s site, try
googling them. Unless you have a bunch of this to do… its allot safer
and cheaper to sent it to a professional.
Thanks
Bill

soothsayer1@comcast.net wrote:

Yup… I can testify to Wiggies welding. His department had a professionally built ground pounder, and Wiggie had to make about a hundred “upgrades” to make it useable.
LLoyd
Can anyone here weld pot metal??


My driveway is long enough that you can appreciate the conflict between the desire for privacy and the terror of being completely lost .

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: “Wiggles” vrooomie@fastmail.fm

In reply to a message from Bill McKenna sent Thu 1 Feb 2007:

Al welding is just plain tricky, regardless of the setup and
by and large, you’re correct about TIG-ing Al. However, with
practice (and on heavier stuff, as you say) one can weld Al
quite adequately and strongly using a good quality MIG,
which is very precise and predicatable in wire feed rate… I
do it allllll the time here at work, on objects that
literally get the snot beaten out of them (portable
seismic source plates) and my welds, KOW, are still hangin’
in there!
Now thatt= I’ve opened my big mouth…!

Search the archives & forums - http://search.jag-lovers.org/
Subscription changes - http://www.jag-lovers.com/cgi-bin/majordomo
Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php

Search the archives & forums - http://search.jag-lovers.org/
Subscription changes - http://www.jag-lovers.com/cgi-bin/majordomo
Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php

In reply to a message from Bill McKenna sent Fri 2 Feb 2007:

There’s a low temperature solder called ‘‘Muggyweld’’ that is
supposed to work quite well on potmetal. www.muggyweld.com
I have almost a complete kit left over from a couple of failed
attempts to repair a door handle on an 88 XJ40. Maybe you’ll have
better luck than I did.–
The original message included these comments:

Welding Pot metal is impossible, However Caswell and a few other places
sell a special zinc tin solder that will work. I haven’t used this
myself but have watched someone do this at a plating shop to repair
pitted door handles and hood ornaments etc. Its done with a very fine
tip torch and usually heat sink putty if the part is thin. First you
must strip all the chrome. Electrically. Then bead blast the part to get
all the acid and dirt out of the pours. Then they heat the part up and
use some special acid flux on it before blending in the solder. I
believe they have a little section on this on Caswell’s site, try
googling them. Unless you have a bunch of this to do… its allot safer
and cheaper to sent it to a professional.


Pete 70 XKE (193K) 88 XJ6 (233K) 88 XJ6 (217K) 60 Mini
Severna Park, Maryland, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–

Search the archives & forums - http://search.jag-lovers.org/
Subscription changes - http://www.jag-lovers.com/cgi-bin/majordomo
Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php

This seems to still be the concensus.
The guy who taught me to weld (late 50’s, early 60’s) welded pot metal quite “easily”. The couple times I tried it, I blinked and it went from a solid to a puddle on the ground.
Clyde was said to be the best welder in a 5 state region, I wish I had paid more attention, but I was just a kid.
LLoyd–
My driveway is long enough that you can appreciate the conflict between the desire for privacy and the terror of being completely lost .

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Bill McKenna bmckenna@cisco.com

Welding Pot metal is impossible, …

Search the archives & forums - http://search.jag-lovers.org/
Subscription changes - http://www.jag-lovers.com/cgi-bin/majordomo
Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php

In reply to a message from soothsayer1@comcast.net sent Fri 2 Feb 2007:

When I was first into Jags I had a 120 and one of the
mirrors snapped off. I filed a chamfer onto each part so
there was a ‘V’ when they were held together, and a
friend’s father fixed it by putting some sort of special
flux on, heating it with a butane torch (pretty gently, as
I recall) and using some sort of special solder. The
process was very much like brazing.–
1969 4.2 Series 2 E Type
Brentwood Bay, B.C., Canada
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–

Search the archives & forums - http://search.jag-lovers.org/
Subscription changes - http://www.jag-lovers.com/cgi-bin/majordomo
Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php

Bill McKenna commented that “Caswell and a few other places sell a
special zinc tin solder that will work.”

Indeed it works surprisingly well. I’ve not worked on anything that
was/is chromed, but I have repaired quite a few things in the workshop
and even around the house. It is a different technique to gas welding or
brazing and as Bill indicated, is much more like soldering, but it is
also a very much harder material than any “soft solder”. Grinds easily
and can be shaped and polished with simple tools. It’s not expensive and
for me has been more than worthwhile to just fix “broken stuff” that
would otherwise have been discarded.

John (62 OTS)

Search the archives & forums - http://search.jag-lovers.org/
Subscription changes - http://www.jag-lovers.com/cgi-bin/majordomo
Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php