Welded Al mega

[retroman]

Hi, bought this off Taffy, hoping I could get it fixed cheaply. Guess what......I did!!! 20 squid at my local Blacksmith. I told him just to leave the welds raw rather than grinding them back flush, I think it looks better and must add strength. Unfortunately this won't see the light of day until next year (bloody recession). Need a few parts yet. Going bling,bling purple anodised and maybe white frame and if I can save enough pocket money purple halos,drool. Definitely grabbed myself a bargain here.

Cheers
Drew

 

[GT-Steve]

might be worth tidying the welds over, with some braze, just to smooth them... and I wouldn't flat the welds back, either.

Great start to a project...

 

[retroman]

cheers, cant wait to start it but its shed bound just now ,might spray if wife realeases some funds :roll: .

cheers drew

 

[Rio]

I've got no knowledge of repairing alu frames, but is this fully useable again?

 

[lewis1641]

I would put a few miles on that before investing any time or money in painting it and make sure it doesn't crack again. Aluminium is funny stuff when it goes through heat cycles. There is a great thread on here by frame the welder, think his user name is ft welder. Anyway hd explains it in detail.

Kudos for getting it repaired though, I am sue it'll last a few more miles.

I don't think a bulbous weld will add any strength to of at all - grind it flat. That will make it easier to spot any future cracking too.

Not trying to rain on your parade, just I have had 2 frames rewelded and both cracked again shortly after.

 

[hydorah]

You should get it re-heat treated afterward, to artificially age the metal backup where it has locally been heated by welding and lost it's temper (so to speak)

Someone on here said you can do it at home by sticking the affected part in the oven and leaving it for a couple of hours

Might work you only need 100-200ish degrees celcius, would make the house a bit hot and imagine what your Mrs would say?

http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=2540

 

[matthew71]

You should get it re-heat treated afterward, to artificially age the metal backup where it has locally been heated by welding and lost it's temper (so to speak)

Someone on here said you can do it at home by sticking the affected part in the oven and leaving it for a couple of hours

Might work you only need 100-200ish degrees celcius, would make the house a bit hot and imagine what your Mrs would say?

http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=2540

who has a oven big enough to get there frame in ?

 

[retroman]

hi, thanks for all the comments. I've got the utmost faith in the man that did this,he welded my RTS3 when the bottom bracket shell broke about 14 years ago. It's still going strong.I am not a serious mountain bike basher ,too old I'm afraid,I just like to rejuvenate them and ogle at them. They do get out but never really trashed. I'll post some more pictures when I paint the frame, rattle can rules,cheaper and more satisfying than letting someone else do it.
Cheers
Drew