Magnesium TIG Welding Repair

[@6061]

Die grinder bits for aluminum/magnesium/non-ferrous metal removal: amzn.to/4eQMysy Magnesium filler rod: amzn.to/4hoL5eO TIG Button Finger controller (variable amperage, replaces foot pedal) : www.6061.com

[@Kashed]

Well I learned that, magnesium filler rod is not cheap!

[@EliteTruckRepairs]

In my experience breaks like this are usually the result of human error, not design flaw. Dude probably tried to pry on the casting with the bolt still in it, but I had never seen magnesium welded before, very cool.

[@tomc2748]

I appreciate seeing you get a bit outside your comfort zone. Thanks for sharing.

[@lucaseaston]

The finger under the trigger on the die grinder is a great trick. I’ve been porting 2 strokes for almost 30 years, and have been using that trick.

[@lanepeterson121]

2 things, you can do a magnesium/aluminum test with vinegar. Magnesium reacts to vinegar. And second, muriatic acid will clean your carbide bits of aluminum. Love your content, honored to share something with you that you haven’t ever mentioned, that I’ve seen…

[@G53X0Y0Z0]

A solution of water & sodium hydroxide (aka lye or aka caustic soda) will etch & eat aluminum too. A milder ratio (less lye per unit of water) may take a few hours, a super strong ratio will take minutes, depending of course on how much metal there is to remove. About 1 teaspoon for a cup of cool water is a good starting point. But, the stronger the solution is (like acid), the more caution must be used. ⚠Caution #1, Lye & moisture will cause chemical burns and remove skin and burn eyes. ⚠ Caution #2, if you mix it really strong ir use hot water it may react strongly & build a lot of heat, enough to melt plastic and cause heat burns (as in boiling water) and boil violently, even explosively. Powdered magnesium (as in sanding, grinding, or file dust) will also flash burn when you hold a flame to it. It's another method to identify magnesium. The sparks are also another way to identify it, but I forgot what they look like.

[@kravselj]

I ofted repair magnesium castings. For something important like car oil pan or transmission casing I use filler rods from store (it's hard to get and expensive in eu). I do some repairs on chainsaws, both husqvarna and stihl uses magnesium castings. I have some chainsaw casting parts that I use to cut out filler rods from. Works ok. Porosity is often a problem. I do some dry passes without filler with low amperage, high cleaning action and brush between passes. When everything seems clean then I use filler and make a weld. But again there are some weird magnesium alloys that doesn't weld at all.

[@julieannecharters6132]

Yep was thinking similar when I weld Ali castings do multiple "boiling passes" with stainless wire brush inbetween to get rid of the crap before attempting a bead.read magnesium is dirty too weld anyway and the rods are crazy money

[@rixogtr]

I had luck with welding a bead then grind off the soot and top layer of dirt the welding process brings to the surface, then peen it down below clearance level with a chisel or center punch that had been rounded smooth, wirebrush and then do another pass(es) and repeat. This effectively displaces the garbage that's in the casting with new material and supresses porosity quite good.

[@richardj163]

This channel is a wealth of information. Thank you for sharing.

[@jamesa7506]

Seems like a legit repair. You have an excellent work ethic. A fine job.

[@TRiToN219]

Glad you've found the rod and tried it out successfully!

[@RalfyCustoms]

Made the best of a tricky job there buddy, thanks for bringing us along

[@АлексейМихайлович-и1л]

В безвыходной ситуации, можно использовать магниевый анод из бойлера нагрева воды, резать на прутки о сваривать с их помощью. Присадку стараться подавать непрерывно, как бы заливая ванну. токи не большие, частота малая. 45-50 герц.

[@jasonsmith1140]

Yup, as a mechanic, had to Google the part number. Jeep power steering pump mount

[@abpsd73]

Did the same, about $100 for a used one on fleabay.

[@danielbuck]

that's one thing I love about air tools, with almost all of them you can feather the throttle. I like using pneumatic 4.5" angle grinders at a fairly slow speed if I don't need to remove alot of material. my electrics are full blast or nothing.

[@tsl7881]

I just picked up Hercules 20V from HF on their 2 for $99. It is huge and single speed so really, it will have limited use. Other than that is okay, just can't give up air.

[@jbs4radio]

I fixed a cast magnesium stator cover today before watching your video. I had some porosity issues like you experienced and it wanted to crack. The preheat helped with low amp passes.

[@TradeWorks_Construction]

While I know your focus is welding, have you considered brazing for the occasional jobs where the base material doesn’t want to bond well or has a lot of extra oxides/junk creating porosity? Magnesium parts from high performance or older vintage vehicles I used to consider off limits, that was until I had learned that they can be braised with an oxy-acetylene torch. I thought that it would burst into flames or need an all inert gas environment but I watched a video of an old timer demonstrating that it used to be common practice. He even ground off the material into small shavings and proceeded to light them on fire to demonstrate that it was in fact magnesium …. and not just a little with other pot metal, the entire shaving pile burst into white hot fire.

[@johncoaleii1423]

I work in the private sector, military and weapon development. My formal education was Metallurgy. Most of my career has revolved around exotic alloys. I do a lot with VLS or Vertical Launch Systems. When I started I definitely used to believe magnesium would ignite. It simply does not. However years ago a company I worked at had a mag fire break out. If left unchecked and a large source is present as it burns it can increase the size of material it is consuming. Mag is some scary stuff once ignited it'll burn under water. I use it a lot in my home hobby which is advanced amateur rocketry. I build every component down to the chemistry of The Rocket Motors. I have had a lot of success in Mag and Alum. I'd actually go so far as to say Alum is scarier it lacks the aggressive nature of mag shavings. Super fine Alum acts as fuel and oxidizer. The particle size greatly effects both of these metals. You don't wanna make the mistake of being ignorant near small particles. Both will definitely burn quite aggressively and pretty much uncontrollably. The only help is the source runs out once really ripping. 😆

[@jamesmihalcik1310]

Super interesting! I never thought that was possible. Always learning something new, thanks!

[@Rocksolidhandyman]

Great video! Your merchandise page on the website isn’t loading merchandise to purchase. Just wanted to let you know.

[@robostyle9773]

Thanks for another great video!

[@lxfguits]

Mercedes had power steering pump brackets breaking too. Some people thought they were too weak but the real cause was just lack of maintenance. The belt was tensioned by a spring with a damper next to it. If the damper was worn out it caused excessive vibration in the system and the weakest link was usually the power steering pump bracket.

[@t0m541]

I was going to weld up a part a few weeks back that I thought was plain aluminium, till I noticed that in amongst the part numbers etc was the metallurgy stamp. It was magnesium/aluminium/manganese mix, so glad I spotted that before trying the tig on it, likely will have lit up like a firecracker and dissolved into a blob on the bench.

[@EcoMouseChannel]

The only thing I know about Magnesium welding, is that you need to be a MASTER Aluminum welder to even be considered "OK" or "Good" at Magnesium I often wonder about those Magnesium bike frames and how they are welded so beautifully. I picture some Chinese guy with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and wearing a wifebeater that's been doing that same weld for 30 years, makes it look like child's play.

[@jonnygalante3623]

High quality magnesium parts are a lot easier to weld than poor quality. Same with any material. If you have a good understanding of welding aluminum you can weld pretty much anything, poor quality parts always suck. Can be fixed but never ideal

[@Jimmy-Legs]

I’d love to criticize your work, but I have never welded anything in my life, although I did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night.

[@nathkrupa3463]

Good work sir

[@SmittyAccess]

Didn’t know you could weld magnesium. Kind of thought it might burn. The only thing I know about it is don’t spray it with water when it’s on fire.

[@prodzektownia]

Very nice as always, i have a question, can You show me/us how will inside of thin wall aluminium tube look with argon backpurge? welded with full penetration. Thanks :D

[@AndySomogyi]

Just try the low temp zinc brazing rods at harbor freight, they work shockingly well for aluminum and bond to just about everything

[@6061]

Their "low temp aluminum rods" for magnesium? Please clarify and send a link. Those are the only ones I see on their site.

[@victormildew1717]

I use an aircraft industry piloted spot facer to give a flat face for the bolt to sit on, for similar jobs here in the UK. Pilot size the same as the hole, and a cutter face diameter of say 1/2 -9/16 inch..

[@8thmileluvr]

I weld magnesium sand-cast aero space castings, doing casting repair. If this is your first time that's damn good!!! Wonder if this is az91,92 or 101. Or which its closest to. Looks dirty like 91 they gas all they can out where i am so that helps. I run 95 amps 85 hz and 68% balance #6 cup 20 cfh stubby diffuser and have a peddle instead of button

[@2secondslater]

Looks like the top side weld had less flaws, possibly due to die grinding off the oxide layer?

[@dan4653]

At 3:00, you did a little scratch before your second tack. I'm sometimes have to do that. But why? I suspect oxides on the tungsten or part, do you know for sure why?

[@6061]

Tungsten oxidized over, electricity won't pass through it

[@4speed3pedals]

I do not trust power tools for finesse work. Good sharp hand files are way more controllable and will do this in the same amount of time. A round file for the hole, a flat double cut and a flat mill file for finish of the three sides of the flange. One thing, always keep a file card handy when filing for cleaning any clog and for cleaning when storing the file. It helps keep the file teeth sharp.

[@tubeonline629]

I've found that just about anything that looks like aluminum but is used for concrete work is usually magnesium. my guess is possibly cement may be corrosive to alumium.

[@Bakanelli]

4:28 The FLICKER might be caused by additional electromagnetic frequencies generated during this type of welding-hopefully non-ionizing radiation. It’s a really interesting phenomenon, especially from a safety perspective. If anyone has more information on this, please share!

[@alanarthur-ni3nw]

Would have been interesting to see the vinegar fizz/no fizz test on this, as well as an attempt to burn some of the shavings

[@6061]

Burned them in the previous video

[@travisschulz6342]

I’ve always ran helium when welding magnesium parts

[@keithjurena9319]

Looks like a zinc alloy. Density of that broken bit is easy to determine with a cheap digital scale.

[@darenscott1718]

What color are you seeing as you weld this? Is it true to what we see on camera? Because I'm seeing greens, blues and some orange. If it is true to camera, why do you suppose there are this many colors? Weird alloy? Or is this what magnesium does?

[@undaware]

Looks like it worked out. In the worst case you could make a toe clamp for that one hole.

[@petem6291]

Aaron how can you tell if it’s magnesium ? ( something I have never welded) if you did not tell us I would have thought it to be cast aluminum?

[@ypaulbrown]

Vinegar will make magnesium bubble

[@hijonocoul9485]

camera flutter is because of the hertz of the ac current and the camera's refresh rate conflicting

[@6061]

You are correct Tonight, I realized my camera's internal battery went completely dead a while ago and the camera started up in "auto" mode on the iris setting. I think that is the issue.

[@jakobv8]

Maybe it's off topic, but a guy that I trust repairs aluminium parts by brazing zinc. It apparently makes the part stronger than original. Is this something you know anything about? Zinc doesn't flow into the gap, so you need to agitate it with a piece of stainless rod, like a spoke.

[@billberger]

the design flaw is from the crappy casting. I am having flashbacks to when I had to weld on parts from a foundry that did not degass its castings.

[@octymocty132]

Oooh mag ive never palyed with that i can imgine its worse than cast ally verry bubbly and a bitch to flow ( im commneting befoer watching the whole vid ). I do love your work . Shame i gave up tig elding 10yrs back can you do a vid tonshow led being welded on a tig set summat i used to do

[@hmmm367]

What chisel were you using there?

[@brianmckenna998]

Chisel looks like a broken Cornwell ratchet handle.

[@seetheforest]

No wonder magnesium is so light. It's half air to start with.

[@kathysarmcandy1992]

How long can you wash the cleaning effect over it to get the inclusions out? Wait. TIG Button? Noice.

[@midbc1midbc199]

Magnesium copper alloys are a pain to weld

[@AMurph79]

You should check out using a low speed / high torque die grinder. Waaaaaaayyyyy more control at lower speeds without having to barely feather the throttle and having basically zero torque below like 10,000rpm. Not cheap, but you're only going to buy once - and every time you use it, you will love it. Check out St Louis Pneumatic - straight die grinder part # SLP-3030 / Angle Die Grinder part # SLP-3154

[@jheissjr]

Do you have the SLP-3030? Do you use it more than a regular speed grinder?

[@alexbuilds706]

Holy Cow he’s back. Must have gotten lost trying to navigate the trails with that big a$$ helmet