The Worst Casting I Have EVER Welded

[@JamesB_JamesB]

Very admirable of you not to charge. Will be hitting Like to help you out!

[@dinutzu100]

+1

[@kasuraga]

I've had shops drop over 2000 dollars worth of labor because they were having such a difficult time with my car they didn't feel it was right to charge me for them not being able to figure it out quicker.

[@popanollie1]

@@kasuraga lucky

[@kasuraga]

@@popanollie1 not luck. Just a highly respectable shop that tries their best to do what's right for their customers. Their labor rate is a little on the high side compared to some shops in the area, but the quality of their work and customer service speaks volumes imo.

[@IrieFabs]

"Like"wise

[@mattbundy4900]

I was a welder for the government. We did all aluminum TIG. They made the awesome choice to purchase castings from China. The irony to find out they would put all types of garbage in the casts. I’ve had everything from the sand missiles to fiberglass. And it would just keep floating in the puddle. The money saved on cost was spent in additional grinding and leak repairs. I’ve been a master welder for 18 years and I appreciate the solid content ! Keep it up!

[@surfingcavachon]

You just described government procurement to a tee. Penny smart (or so they think), pound foolish

[@KuK137]

@@surfingcavachon Only thanks to right wing screeching imbeciles barking government is too expensive. Sane part of political scene wants the job done well first time...

[@rawbebaba]

Well...as someone who works in an American foundry, I can tell you both things are exactly the same

[@ryelor123]

How is that even possible? I'm guessing it must've been sand-casted parts since I don't think you can get contamination into die-cast parts due to the nature of the operation. I'm guessing they re-used their green sand so much that it started contaminating the parts.

[@ryelor123]

@@surfingcavachon/videos The real fools were the ones who owned the factory, got a government contract, and still cut corners to the point where people complained. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

[@danieleltis7972]

I had the same issue with a thermostat of an old camper, customer couldn’t find a replacement anywhere, I didn’t want to charge as I was on it for way longer than I should have been and I thought the layered welding looked a mess, turns out customer was over the moon and give me what I originally quoted even after I said there was no charge thankyou for sharing

[@markfryer9880]

I think that in your case the customer had invested so much of their own time in trying to source a replacement part that your weld repair felt like a gift that finally solved his problem. I think that we can all relate to those sort of searches for that one special widget that we need for something and the relief that we feel on finding either the widget or a close cousin of it.

[@D3nn1s]

Thanks for being so considerate. I think thats what his customer should have done too or at least pay half of it. Then again not everybody has the money for it, as a student i have taken people up on similar offers simply because i couldnt afford it. It feels bad but not much i could do about it :S

[@eflanagan1921]

Ford Engine tstat or something else ?

[@Bleideris0]

@@markfryer9880 definitely, one i needed to search an engine it was pain. They just welded similar one in order for mw to use

[@h8GW]

As someone who tried to become a graphic artist, this reminds me how artists can think their art is total crap, whilst most other people will compliment it.

[@chaunster]

Samurai t cases are very prone to cracking at these mounts especially when people put lower range gearing in them. They make aftermarket cradles that hold the t case by the bolt pattern instead of the factory 4 bolt mounts. If the customer puts one of these on, then they will never crack at that same spot again

[@quartfeira]

Exactly!👏

[@user-tr1gn7ox7e]

i just started a welding company over here in the UK because of your informative videos, we are currently doing very well. Best of luck for the future!

[@JamesB_JamesB]

Hi William. Where are you based in the UK?

[@user-tr1gn7ox7e]

@@JamesB_JamesB South Yorkshire mate

[@JamesB_JamesB]

Great! I have family in the UK in Morley

[@danl.4743]

Best wishes. Good luck.

[@anthonydomanico8274]

Hey, William. I’m in the US, but I’m always curious how welders charge for labor as I do some welding on the side. Got anything to offer in that regard?

[@danbeck7071]

That’s a craftsman and business man that cares about his reputation more than just a few bucks. Knowing it wasn’t a rock solid repair and letting your customer know you couldn’t put your name behind it so won’t put a bill on it speaks volumes! Good stuff!

[@ryelor123]

Its also smart legally. You don't want to get sued for a repair that failed and caused a loss of oil situation at highway speeds. Even if the owner of the bike understood the issues of the repairs and was willing to take the risk, his surviving family members might not respect his wishes especially when every greedy lawyer in the area will be whispering in their ear that the welder was a greedy crook who deserves to get sued. People make the mistake of thinking that every plaintiff in frivolous lawsuits is the problem but its more often the case that they're just being misled by attorneys who trick them into thinking that everyone else is evil and greedy but themselves.

[@jeffreylynch3203]

I was a field service engineer for GM. At one of our training sessions the guys from the plant informed us that they were adding iron powder to the aluminum used in casting transmission case halves, because aluminum has an affinity to the ferrous based molds, which was transferring material to the molds, which caused a lot of work to clean them more often than they would like, eventually ruining the molds, at a cost of over $650k per half. Adding the iron powder to the molten aluminum made the issue much less of a problem. When I earned this the light went on and then I realized why I was having so much trouble welding these castings, just like you are in this demo. Knowing this also made me understand why some of the castings I was seeing were very smooth, and others were not, and that;s because of the aluminum skin being pulled off and attaching to the molds. That's mt story and I'm sticking to it.

[@CanadianDirt]

@jeffreylynch3203 thanks for posting this. I found it very interesting. I think I have experienced working with one of these exact parts that you speak of. It was a tail housing to a transfer case on a Chevy. Another welder had tried before me on the smaller of the cracks, and told the customer it was not weldable. I figured that they just didn’t adequately clean out the cracks since the tail housing piece has multiple webs and some of the sections can be quite thick. I decided to run some pre-heat and did a light wash pass over one of the cracks to see just how bad it was, and the reaction I got was unlike any type of hydrocarbon contamination in aluminum that I had dealt with before. I then tried baking the piece, after thoroughly degreasing it. Sometimes if there’s some stubborn oil stuck in the crack, and you can’t completely get it all out, at least baking the part seems to render the hydrocarbon much less volatile when welding over it. This time however baking it made no difference. I started to think that perhaps there was particles of anodizing or somethings going on here that I didn’t realize, and so I decided to lay in multiple small beads just like the poster of this video did. I intended to float out the contamination, remove the welds, re-groove and re-weld. Unlike the poster of this video however, I discovered it not through advance thought, but more of trial and error followed by more error and then a little luck. Once I kind of got this to work, I clamped the flange end of the housing hard onto my thickest steel welding table and proceeded to build up the external areas approximate 3/8 of an inch and weld out the stress riser areas that was causing this tail housing to crack in the first place. As you can imagine with so much weld going into a cast aluminum piece like this I was doubtful of the piece lasting and not re-cracking once it had some stress applied to it. I told the customer to take the piece for free and if it was still holding in a year to drop off some money for whatever he thought that it was worth. A few months later the customer came by and paid me double what I quoted him originally to do the part. As far as I know, the part is still holding, but boy did it ever try my patience!

[@ryelor123]

Its also the issue of die-casting in general having porosity issues to the point where there's TSBs that talk about patching leaking cases(that aren't leaking from gaskets or seals) with epoxy or some other sealer. Also, the surface finish for die-cast is also affected by the temperature of the dies so some that looked like they had the surface finish of a frosted window were made early on in the runs before the dies heated up. Die casting is great in terms of efficiency, speed, and cost but its terrible when it comes to repairs since porosity means that every part is imperfect to a degree. Maybe this will improve when we put factories in outer space.

[@clintparker1881]

I ran into the same issue with a customer's cast patio table leg that had broken off. I went in thinking "well this will be some easy money". It was my first time messing with cast aluminum and I almost promised it would be my last. I kept thinking I was doing something wrong or my machine was malfunctioning. Just chasing junk, losing gas coverage, and cleaning soot over and over. Had a couple of short hotness issues where I almost lost a chunk of the part while trying to lay down a bead smoothly. Finally got it done, and regretted the whole process. Now after watching this video, I understand just how dirty some casts can be and I don't feel so bad. Thank you!

[@hueyley3182]

Boss, I teach at a college. Have my own shop. Have been welding for 40 yrs. There are some casting that just suck. Lol

[@hueyley3182]

Just wanted to say I tell students to watch your videos. They are good.

[@cr500_conversions]

Try inconel, or Sandvik... they look horrible while welding 😄

[@mikerieck306]

Repairing motorcycle cases from the 60's and 70's really sucks....they are saturated with oil and loaded with zinc and who knows what else.

[@cr500_conversions]

@@mikerieck306 that zinc is the killer

[@wtfftw24]

@@cr500_conversions zinc MUST be removed indeed

[@bfflorida2311]

My friend you just made mine nightmare experience from 2 year's into great video.... Lol... I had identical problems when I tried to fix mine Yamaha outboard lower case... It was just like you explained... Luckly I had a friend of mine that is professional welder like you and he came over and did exactly that. I just gave up. This video is GOLD... Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge... You are correct, when situation gets heated up, walk away for a while.

[@Mototardpaul]

You’ve gotta be one of the humblest guys out there. Thank you brotha keep up the great work.

[@nickpowers2528]

Been there delt with that before many times cleaning acid does help but has to be done more then once

[@vanmann8347]

Thanks for being honest and showing that even an expert can hit a brick wall.

[@MuzzahA1]

Being a hobby welder you just empowered me with so much quality information and backed it up with images and descriptions. Thank you so much from taking "welding cast aluminium is dirty" to why and how it that way. Demystifying the art of welding cast aluminium. Respect!!!

[@BlackEpyon]

I'm also a hobby welder. I sometimes have to repair cracks on my trailer (it's 25 years old), and I've found it nearly impossible to get a clean weld on a crack after it's had a chance to rust (if you don't notice it right away). Laying on extra beads, even adding more steel to reinforce it, may not look pretty, but it sure beats having the weld fail later.

[@b34rcr4ft]

That's a very respectable thing that you did. :) When I was younger, I thought I needed to make money fast. But, as I grew older and got my head straight about the fact that my passion is my joy, I started to charge my customers humbly. And guess what? Volume of my clients increased and I just get to keep on working. :) Metal working is a very rewarding passion and I am proud to have learned a lot from you

[@Oh6Torch]

Walking away and not having the problem staring back at you is often times the beginning of the solution.

[@DarkKnightofIT]

The problem mocks you, trying to get into your head, under your skin, don't let it. Walk away if you need to, think about it, and come at the problem with a clear head and renewed patience. Or at least, this is how I like to think about it.

[@austen9556]

@@DarkKnightofIT you know the psychology behind that is probably the same reason you get Anxiety because your brain realizes your socially awkward or can’t do something so it just keeps telling you there’s a problem in till you fix it and become truly confident to do something

[@DarkKnightofIT]

@@austen9556 y'know, I've pondered this for a while now, and I... Can't find how this is relevant to the joke I made? Could you explain?

[@Kurimi13]

Excellent advice, but what if you work for a boss who is pushing you to get the job done? I hate when I get a job that gives me trouble, and not having the luxury of taking 5 minutes to step back.

[@roadtrippin2781]

Yes indeed, trying too hard is a real thing, most of us don't know when to take a break, walk away for a bit, recompose, make a cuppa joe, just stop. Smoke a doob then go back at it.

[@FreeCandyGuy]

Endless respect for not charging the customer. Had to subscribe because of it. Thank you for being an honest man.

[@QUICKSHIFTtv]

It’s so comforting to know the struggles I have with cast parts is not necessarily my lack of skill. Good video

[@justanotherdarnell]

Always good to share what we know with others knowledge is power 😄

[@ryelor123]

Welding die-cast parts is like trying to open a factory in a 3rd world country: you may get lucky but most of the time its more trouble than its worth.

[@ryelor123]

@@justanotherdarnell/videos The issue is die-cast parts. Sand casted and lost-foam parts, from what I understand, don't tend to have the same issues. The problem with die-cast stuff is that its full of pores to a degree. Also the parts might not have the release spray completely removed or it might be slightly embedded in the metal. There's a reason why die-casting hasn't replaced all other alternatives.

[@sproutandmerc1941]

Thanks so much for this video! So many people only post when everything comes out perfect and goes their way.

[@1963wheeler]

With all due respect, I've had the same thing happen to me and I remember my instructors in welding school telling me that if you can't get the parosity or the junk out then you simply have to lay down more metal because a weld that holds will impress the customer more even though it may not look good. Functionality over good looks always wins. Good job!

[@danielengsvang3126]

Functionality always wins, YES sir!

[@MacroGamingStudios]

Not charging your customer, yet still doing a damn good job is something rare today! Definitely a great thing and that's what keeps customers coming back or brining ya new ones. Keep up the amazing work! You've helped me out with welding things up a ton!!

[@DCweldingAndArt]

Is absolutely love that honesty. "Smash that like button so I can make a few bucks back, After doing this part for free" I'd be glad to sir

[@ZebonianJustice]

Tack!

[@ZeroFoxENT]

Excellent information as always. Its hard to believe this channel started in a 2 car garage with a really cramped setup. Super happy for your success with the channel and the growth of your company.

[@tedmagnum6968]

I'm not a pro welder. I'm a motorcycle tech. But I sure as hell charge people to "try" with fixing stuff which really needs to be replaced. Because it's still my time and consumerables. I think your fix is good. I hope my like helps. Loving the channel. Best I've found in a long while.

[@milehighboost5521]

Thanks for posting this. I’m new to welding and was contemplating doing this type of repair to a project car’s cracked aluminum oil pan and slightly corroded aluminum head. Now I’m thinking it might be best to hand it over to someone with more experience so I don’t mess it up.

[@SteadArcFab_Ministries]

Give it a try! You can’t mess it up! Worse case, you grind it back out 😂👊

[@ionstorm66]

If it doesn't need to be super strong, just hold oil, braze it.

[@DukeNukem74]

And that is EXACTLY why I enjoy watching your channel so much. You, sir, are a Legend and a World Champion.

[@weldorman8495]

Although I have had several castings like these, usually I've found Japanese and German castings to be a dream compared to a lot I've come across. The casting you were working on almost looked like a repaired porous casting that had absorbed oil. That's no fun. Congrats with sticking with it ... and sometimes walking away and taking a break is the best thing you can do.

[@SergeantExtreme]

It was from a Suzuki, so you better believe it was the lowest quality part out of any vehicle manufacturer on the face of this planet.

[@kevinkevinski5101]

@@SergeantExtreme ever heard of Lada ?

[@SergeantExtreme]

@@kevinkevinski5101 At least Lada has the excuse of being Soviet owned. Suzuki is a Japanese company, and as such is held to much higher standards (think Honda/Toyota/Subaru).

[@Knotaro_bot]

earned another sub for not charging the customer even after the headache. what a dude!!

[@kirstenspencer3630]

Had something similar a long while back. Tha part was 5052 marine fuel tank. The aluminum was sooo corroded it would not wet under the arc. Remember the oxide layer MELTING point is over 3500 degrees F. As it was a one off tank and fab a new one was $$$$. I decided to flood the area with filler rod to dilute the oxidation. Of course it took a long while so would stop to allow area to cool to prevent warping. After repeated flushing with filler rod and cooling I was able to establish a weld quality puddle. As I was not happy with recasting the area by " hand " I did not charge him. Welding is just local casting fyi. It held and never gave any problems. My take away was no more salt encrusted aluminum repairs ! Whew! Still remember the intergranular corrosion under my magnified hood.

[@jimmytodd1269]

Thank you for posting this video. It took me back to the early days in my welding adventures where I was entrusted with welding cracks and such in parts for Harley-Davidson motorcycles that dated back to 1936 i e a Harley Davidson 36vl etc. The old man who I have to say is perhaps one of the smartest people I've ever known devised a technique of literally baking the component in an old oven at around 400 for a couple of hours.it helped to draw out embedded oil and grime from the pores. Granted I still had to fight at times but once we started doing that it helped a lot.

[@consaka1]

Yeah I've gotten into some stuff that just seems to spiral out of control. I feel yah there.

[@Flumphinator]

*cries in 1984 E30 325e*

[@dustinwhaley870]

As a professional mechanic & fabricator, and owner of a suzuki dirtbike and geo tracker, NONE of this surprised me. Good on ya for taking a break to clear your head. Ive been there.

[@next0845]

I’ve done the exact thing in the past! Ended up having a one and a half inch wide weld 😂 I have seen the job since and it’s holding up fine. I expected it to fracture along the edge of the weld, but all’s good.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

At what point do you just make a mold and recast the part? 😂

[@next0845]

@@MarcosElMalo2 👍

[@subcoolman]

I'm not a welder, and I stumbled across this video simple because it was in the "recommendations" (my term) on the RH side of my KZbin page. Thus, no comments on the welding, but I have to say that you have a voice for radio! Seriously!

[@BIG_WAVE_RACING]

I've been welding castings for a bit and this video made me have flashbacks lol.

[@timebert6141]

I have used brass before. I have stacked small beads like you did. I appreciate the effort you put into the part. You were honest with the customer and smart money would start looking for a new casting! I say that without any disrespect. You ice skated uphill into a headwind to wrestle a bear at the top of the hill. Some of us been right where you were and truly admire the fact you didn't quit.

[@MeatandTatersGaming54]

In the early 2000s I was a welders helper for almost a year working 6 days a week in a shop with 5 professional lifelong welders and another welders helper like myself and when aluminum caterpillar parts would come in for them to weld the shop foreman Scott did most of that welding and at times he would get so pissed off he would throw one of his tools all the way across one of the companies pipe yards or just leave for an hour or two then come back and get the job done. I live in Texas by the way and the company was Patterson UTI.

[@joepierrepierre8104]

I'm not a well experienced tig welder and I'm having that same problem... thanks for the suggestion... gonna try it for sure

[@WrenchChill]

Thanks for making this video!! I've only done cast aluminum welding a couple times, and it has been tricky ever time. The torch/heat trick will be super handy for future projects!! 🙌 - Autumn

[@REDRUBY170703]

I am welding a porsche engine block and it is by far the worst casting to weld on that i have come accross and it was stressing me out so this video has helped me out alot thankyou !

[@44hawk28]

It actually looks like a pretty good Weld, and I actually expect that that weld is a little bit softer than the casting because of the inclusions in the casting. That may prove to be a godsend with the stressors at those points. And allow that casting to actually survive longer. The problem may be that they're using sink within the mix of the aluminum has they cast it. Some Firearms are cats with aluminum and zinc to create a little bit more durable product. But the zinc plays havoc trying to weld. The high fractal structure of aluminum is not fun to play with especially in a casting. My only other suggestion, might have been to mig weld it. It will lay it down without causing some of the reactionary expulsion, but to be fair I've never tried MIG welding that particular type of casting.

[@showinUPtoCasuals]

I saw the Facebook post from this dude. He broke it installing a cradle. We have repaired these with a torch and aluminum filler rod with lasting success. The last one that was done was a decade ago and is still holding.

[@ricardomontes373]

Hey Justin, I hope that you find a technique on how to weld this type of crack with confidence so that you can charge your customer for the weld and rebuild. On a crack like that, the transfer case ran dry and plenty of damage was done. I come from the auto repair environment and I know that this repair is going to cost a pretty penny. Great video, two thumbs up!

[@ricardomontes373]

@The Truth of the Matter Absolutely!

[@markfryer9880]

@The Truth of the Matter Given that the part is soaked with hydrocarbons, would slowly heating the part up in an oven like environment cause the hydrocarbons to in effect sweat out of the metal?

[@eweunkettles8207]

OXY , ACETYLENE IS THE ANSWER

[@Decayrate-of-Ravn-Rike]

@@markfryer9880 Was about to ask the same question, it seems pretty obvious to bake the part, but maybe that can cause other problems.

[@bradhaines3142]

@@Decayrate-of-Ravn-Rike my guess would be severe warping, its not designed for the heat of an oven

[@pronoe]

passionate, knowledgeable, dedicated and honest. Great content!

[@thejabberwocky7558]

Glad you shared this! I do custom paint and sometimes we do custom rims and I had a similar issue with a polished aluminum rim after we cleaned very very thoroughly we painted it and heated them up a bit to help the drying process but when we heated them up it caused the aluminum to sweat and of the waxes and oils in the metal out under the paint and it caused it to flake off, luckily we caught it before the customer got it and fixed it, but we learned to heat up aluminum after cleaning to force it to sweat out all the oils and waxes then clean it again and after we did that we've never had issues

[@Gu1tarZer0]

4:35 my boss taught me this, calls it "buttering up the edge"

[@brianswing5997]

I really like your professional Outlook of a no charge repair on a non guaranteed repair , and all that shows what we as welders to hold a standard and still give a fixed repair aka band-aid to what we are working with

[@UnitSe7en]

We call those particles of random stuff _"inclusions."_ - That's where they decided to include a piece of crud.

[@ui4lh]

I learned so much from this video. I've been welding a turbo intake piece in my duramax and noticed all the behaviors in the video where when heated, the aluminum all the sudden would just become like a sponge, and by me being so persistant and messing so much with it, I, without knowing, created that solid layer of aluminum and welded good. Lol, now I look back and understand what was going on.

[@bigdaddy741098]

I would be interested to know how well it holds up to use, coz the finished repair looked great to my completely untrained inexperienced eyes 🤣👍👊

[@raulduke85]

The look of the bead has almost nothing to do with the strenght of the joint, especially on aluminum: you don't have to trust my words; you can cheack a video about this on welding tips and trick, where they illustrate that most of the instagram looking beads are not full penetrated beads

[@mjc2ride336]

I've shared your frustration with castings, but honestly, your weld looked pretty darn good in the end anyway.

[@PJBonoVox]

Every 'bad weld' video I've ever seen still put my own attempts to shame.

[@5roundsrapid263]

Looked good, lots of “dimes” in it!

[@maksimb3267]

Thank you I'm a trucker but I like learning this stuff my buddy just had his axle rip off he made it back safely but now that whole section needs to be re welded... a little weld can hold quite a bit of weight it's crazy.. we heavy haul too so it's no joke..

[@peterkennette9865]

Just like welding outboard lower units! Ten minute jobs take an hour or two. I love your solution of multiple small passes, beats using filler rod to flick junk out of weld pool.

[@bquade70]

Yup 🍻😎. Lake Havasu ☀️ AZ

[@TheRealSKMike]

As someone who has done alot of welding this was very informative for me. I would have given up on it and have on items in the past. I love how you figured it out and also didnt charge for the repair. Thats speaks loudly at the type of person you are.

[@xzouix]

I thought this problem only happens to DIY cast aluminum. Thank you for sharing your experience and tips!

[@mackadresse6095]

Great Job, you are a honest, humble and competent professional!

[@alec-s]

50/50 current ratio and cleaning the pool every now and then with flap disc and you get the job done. I weld a lot of that junky stuff!

[@zuhalfast3388]

Add some video man so people can learn. I still can't understand how to setup this frequency, arc balance, start/end etc etc. What I always do was adjusted all that bit by bit till I feel it has a good puddle. Of course it's a time wasting but I haven't found a good teacher.

[@tke7mu0u]

@@zuhalfast3388 that is the best way to learn what the welder does is by wwlding and adjusting to see what it does on the weld

[@alec-s]

@@tke7mu0u absolutely right man, nobody can give a chart to see amps, you should learn by yourself by trying and wonder wich is the correct amperage for you are going to weld.... You are doung great Zuhal

[@OriginalNortad]

Kudos to you about being honest with your customer and not charging him.

[@anthony10370]

I tried to weld up a pressure washer pump casting. The aluminum looked like melting styrofoam under the torch. I decided on fubar.

[@ferrumignis]

The cheap home gamer pressure washers often use some kind of horrible pot metal for the pump housings, not surprised you had issues.

[@jasomkovac9115]

@@ferrumignis , really, not sure I'd really call it aluminum. Just enough to make the zinc hard.

[@rolandspreth1113]

Pleasant and calm voice. Well done.

[@brandonoliver1336]

The decision not to charge is courageous and sometimes correct, hope this like and comment helps on his behalf!

[@sgrasmick82]

Perfect time to have stumbled on to this video. I was welding a skeg back onto a Yamaha lower unit and ran into the SAME issues.

[@splinky99]

Sometimes you have to SOAK the part in acetone to degrease it..... the oil can seep into the aluminum and it’s really hard to get out. The cleaning action only works on oxide, not oil.

[@zuhalfast3388]

And sometimes that's gonna be more inefficient if the weld area needs a very big container to fill the acetone

[@BeefaloBart]

The choice to not charge the customer is noble and proves you are a true professional and care about your work and not just the paycheck. This will end up making you more money due to your honesty since the customer will remember that. They will then come back and refer you to friends.

[@chrisobrien9334]

Almost as bad as trying to weld up a corroded water jacket hole on a cylinder head. Very frustrating lol lol

[@lordweldatron.9955]

Had a similar problem repairing underneath a headstock casting on a 88 gsxr 1100 , the oil cooler had come loose and wore a groove in it so went to weld and grind back flush , hit an air pocket underneath and all hell broke loose, just unbelievable amount of oxidised shit came floating up, just a had to keep running over it with plenty of cleaning action , pulsing with the foot pedal and then grinding out the shite had to repeat it about 6-7 times on both sides , it was an absolute nightmare, got it good in the end , for a job that started out as just a cosmetic one! Live and learn I guess .

[@mikescherrer4923]

I was sure it would be a cast Mitsubishi part before I watched haha.

[@johnwiza5740]

I had a similar issue doing repairs on pressurized talc trailers. they were made of plate and not cast but the previous repairs that someone had done to it were mith an aluminum mig welder running argo-shield mix as opposed to pure argon. this created a highly porous area to weld. Well when the tank was pressurized with the previous repair all that talc got trapped inside the base material and created these trash welds that would just blow open. I worked a ways back from the crack on the clean material and built up my welds moving closer and always cleaning as I went in to keep as little trash in my weld as possible. once that was done I was able to apply a patch plate and finally seal everything up.

[@Workmule4ever2day]

Well, personally that looks pretty good. I would have charged them. The layering itself is stronger than the casting. High five man

[@Grazzo77]

Good info, Thanks. Great work as always.

[@danielesilvaggi]

strength over beauty, sometimes we don't have a choice. lol Oh I can't wait for June 13.

[@goodanytimej8688]

This is awesome! I'm a new CNC machinist, have been in the field for about 2 years and I've been wanting to start learning about welding forever but can never find the time! So glad I found this channel, your a great teacher☺️

[@Herbybandit]

Ever get that feeling your trying to weld Swiss cheese?

[@wint3rsmith42]

Recently welded an old 1960s Jag inlet manifold and was really surprised how little junk came out, it was a clean weld from the start, a lot different to most I've tried. Great job and very informative video as always, Thanks for sharing.

[@MadsWorld34]

i have never done anything like this until a friend gave me a almost new dart block. it was cracked between freeze plugs. and i couldn't find anyone that would even try to fix it for me. i had a tig and the right gas. so after cleaning it over and over. i tried it and it looked great and didn't leak. and 5 or 6 years later i never tried it again. and as far as i know that block is still being used. and pretty sure some of your videos may have helped me do it. because i know it had to be alot of luck on my part.

[@der_conni]

Thanks for posting, I had those problems last week and just had the idea to search for it on youtube. Was not disappointed.

[@mattkunesh9862]

I used to work at a die casting plant and we would impregnate the castings that had a lot of porosity and a high leak rate. The impregnation process was basically to take the parts, put them in a vacuum bath of a solution of water and plastic. The plastic penetrates the casting and solidifies in all of the porosity. It does such a good job it will even fill in threaded holes. On our type you could take a black light and shine it into the holes and it would be purple if there was too much in the threaded holes. I would image this plastic inside of the casting could cause major issues also.

[@lifeof-sj5wg]

Wow this was so fun and interesting to watch please upload more, im 13 and started welding about a year ago im getting a job at a metal workshop and i love watching these kind of videos i learn so much from them. Im building a 500cc 2stroke buggy by myself and learning about how to repair cracks like these will def help me in the future

[@CurtisGurley]

I weld lots of aluminum castings. A mercury boat foot was the best casting I have ever welded on and the worst was a Can-AM UTV transmission. You have shown several cast aluminum weld videos on your page and always do a great job.

[@patrickfougere0001]

That's really cool of you giving it the good old college try!!! And not charging the customer was a classy move bro! respect....

[@stevenvandoren3390]

Always love to see your content helped me a lot to not ruin parts with bs methods

[@micjr21]

Awesome job. Can't believe you spent all that time n hard work n didn't charge the customer. Good way to get ur customers to spread the word on how great ur company is

[@davidshettlesworth1442]

Man! I just got humbled by seeing what you had to do to get the weld done correctly! Great educational video. Thank you, I learned a lot!

[@youria2559]

first time ever on youtube, and i´ve been here awhile... that someone makes sense why i should like it, here you are Sir.

[@allistairdoeppe]

I have watched a lot of your videos and i have to say i love the amount of detail and terminology you provide when teaching or showing a process a lot of people don't understand the science behind welding and its awesome and super cool to learn keep it up

[@stancochran702]

Great video! On a smaller scale I have the exact problems with Silver from Countries that use Zinc and other metals rather than copper to come to the .925 purity that is required to make it Sterling Silver. I use a 100 joule Laser Welder that makes metal work with several metals in the Jewelry Industry so much easier than it has ever been. Traditionally if a piece of Jewelry needed metal work on it, you have to in some cases remove stones such as Opals and other stones, use several chemicals which some are cyanide based and then use other harsh chemicals after the repair to return the piece to it's original luster. You had to pass on working Platinum(18K solder can be used just not ideal repairs made), Stainless Steel and Titanium and could not join dissimilar metals. Now I can do all metals.

[@Pappaoh]

Real talk. Aluminum castings can be such a confidence killer. Nice job and nice description of the fight.

[@Jonodrew1286]

I find this with cylinder head welding - I start the cleaning and prep (cutting out- grooving), preheat but start with the torch only, no filler at all. As I pass and all the crud pools up or does not - I cut it further until I can weld it..... the problem with ally casings and ally in general is the alloying agents and porosity, as it traps dirt and oil - Also welding elongated water ways and surface corrosion, is sometimes a laborious and time consuming effort and sometimes fruitless exercise to recoup the money lost - but we carry on regardless........ Like the vid and discussion - could feel the pain and frustration 👌👍

[@stevemchadd]

Thanks for the video I had the same problem with a Honda XR 600 casing quite a few years ago and like you after spending too long chasing gas pockets and crud I almost gave up. When I cooled down and actually gave it some thought I bit the bullet and cut the crud, the weld and the crack out completely using a 3 mm burr, I then cut a shaped strip of 1.0 mm 3000 alloy and backed the slot and just like you I turned the power down and fired up onto the backing strip just allowing the edges of the slot to fuse giving it a few seconds to come off the boil between passes, the casing was pretty thin, around 4 mm. After doing the outside I tapped down the strip on the inside and fused some spots along the edges of the strip to help keep it together seeing as it wasn't as strong as should have been but it passed the dye test. But unlike you I did charge the guy but only for a standard repair, what should have been a fifteen minute job took me three and a half bloody hours.

[@rainbowkitty1996]

I had a similar issue when welding an orthodontic appliance. I used the same line of thinking to fix the hole in the molar band that just kept getting bigger. I reduced the power, used a lot more filler wire and fixed it within an hour.

[@gregoryboon9902]

In a pervious profession as an aircraft part fabricator with a major airline, and a Federally Licensed A&P Mechanic, we learned, to be certified by the manufactrerer of the airframe part needing welding, we had to chemically cleam the aluminum part , not just solvently or phisically clean, whether it be of 356 cast alloy or 6061 alloy, prior to welding, with Phosphoric Acid or "Alumiprep". This remdred the part to be soundly and purely welding ready. This eliminated the impurities eliminated that solvent could not.

[@asciimation]

I was recently trying to weld a 90 year old Riley 9 cast inlet manifold. I gave up in the end. OK, I am a new welder when it comes to TIG but I couldn't even get a nice weld pool to form in the stuff. Maybe I had some setting wrong but I don't think so as I have successfully (so far) welded up a gearbox and aluminium diff cover on the same car no problem. But that inlet casting was so full of muck it was unweldable. It turns out it was already also full of cracks which I discovered after I gave up. Obviously old cracks as they were black all the way through. Thanks for these tips, will bear them in mind next time I try similar!

[@splays3422]

Watched full video and only liked and subscribed due to him not charging that customer for all them hours of hard work and dedication . You the man 🤘🏾

[@TheoTHERON_SA]

I can totally relate. I had to repair my Kawasaki VN800 Classic's engine cover behind the front sprocket. The chain came off the rear sprocket and 'snaked' on the front sprocket, breaking off a little 'finger' , causing a massive oil leak. It was NASTY!! I soaked it in acetone. Baked it. And repeated the process a few times with the hopes to get rid of most of the oil soaked in the aluminum sponge (as you call it). It helped a bit. Well, I would like to think so! But the casting was NASTY. I did however managed to fix it, and it holds to this date (about 3 years or so later).

[@Leon-Servant-of-Christ]

That's the best repair I've seen on junk AL! Well done Justin!

[@danielharrah9984]

My tig skills are a dumpster fire but I love the info and techniques you show off. This is so valuable to try to find the problems I create

[@mr.know_it_all]

This is cool, I have a lot of transmission cases come through here basically bad designs to handle large power. After I’m done welding the crack, I try to help the area by welding a .060-.120 (depending on the room availability) piece of 5052 over the crack for some added strength.. some parts are just engineered poorly and you can usually see when the next year or generation of transmission comes out what has been redesigned. Awesome videos 🤙🏼

[@MadMaxx570]

The bead-on-bead welds reminds me of old hotrodder intakes for 4 cylinder engines here in scandinavia. When you want to make the ports larger than the actual intake you started with, so you build it up with weld bead alone, old dirty trick from when parts werent readily available!

[@rh-cv3nr]

Nice diagnostics and applied problem solving techniques

[@johnfarmer3374]

I remember doing a couple repairs with a spool gun at a plastics plant with a good friend many years ago. Same problem. Finally did the exact same thing. Not perfect, but got the machine up and running again.