A Flea Market Find

[rake60]

I have a thread on here about the Durafix Aluminum rods.
They work great and you get a pound of rods for $45 USD

Today the wife and I were walking about a large flea market and I saw a vendor who
was selling Low Temperature Aluminum Repair rods for $20 a pound.
If that's the same stuff, I'm buying it!

The vendor did a few demonstrations to prove that it was indeed the same stuff.

It works as easily as this.
(Please note: The legs in this video are spoken for! :big

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2rlkfhhQs8[/ame]

After the can cooled I cut the bottom off of it.

No drip through. It IS the same stuff!
And I only bought 1 pound! :wall:

I've been playing with heavier parts.
It works as well there but my technique needs a little work before I post any pictures of that.

Rick

 

[Paolo]

Hi Rick
..It seams works well!! Please would you send me any information for buying it?
Paolo

 

[rake60]

Hi Rick
..It seams works well!! Please would you send me any information for buying it?
Paolo

The Durafix rods can be found at this web site: Dura Fix

To find the same thing less expensive takes a lot of leg work and several trips back to the truck
carrying strange things. Like antique solid cherry wood end tables and 100 year old
porcelain figurines. Boring Stuff! LOL

Rick

 

[Paolo]

Hi Rick
..thanks...I'll... :big:
Paolo

 

[shred]

I found a very similar product and demo at a local show. The guy running it wouldn't stop with his sales patter long enough to answer real questions about it (or demo it on anything but soda cans with holes punched in the bottom, although he had a number of larger bits scattered around) which triggered my snake-oil sensor, so I wandered off. I'm sure he'll be back, so if the stuff is any good, I'll grab some next time.

 

[kf2qd]

Those "Aluminum soldering rods" are ok for non-critical repairs, but you can get flux and real aluminum rods to use with a oxy/fuel torch. It takes a bit of practice and requires a bit of polishing but iot makes good quality, and mechanically sound repairs. It's about like oxy/fuel welding steel.

 

[rake60]

Those "Aluminum soldering rods" are ok for non-critical repairs, but you can get flux and real aluminum rods to use with a oxy/fuel torch. It takes a bit of practice and requires a bit of polishing but iot makes good quality, and mechanically sound repairs. It's about like oxy/fuel welding steel.

Are there critical parts in home hobby model engine building?

I don't mean to be sounding like a smart a$$ but this is a home hobby.
Yes there are better options, but how many home hobbyist's can justify a Oxy-Acetylene torch in
their hobby budget?

We hope to keep that view alive here.

kf2qd I'd love to see a few pics of your home Oxy-Acetylene set up!

Rick

 

[rickharris]

The Durafix rods can be found at this web site: Dura Fix

To find the same thing less expensive takes a lot of leg work and several trips back to the truck
carrying strange things. Like antique solid cherry wood end tables and 100 year old
porcelain figurines. Boring Stuff! LOL

Rick

Noooooo: Think what great bases those cherry wood pieces will make, (Oh they'r for the little lady!) I guess you have to keep them happy as well.

 

[Kludge]

Hi, Rick,

Yes there are better options, but how many home hobbyist's can justify a Oxy-Acetylene torch in their hobby budget?

I have one - a Smith mini that I got as part of a horse trade. (The only downside was I lost a horse in the deal. ) It's currently set up for O/A but I'm converting it to oxy-propane as soon as I can get to my local friendly welding supply house or, as a few locals call it, "the gas house." If it weren't for having the Smith, I'd probably be doing all my gas work with one of Bernz-o-matic's oxy-mapp torches or an air-propane one instead.

However, I know this is not a usual case so I feel quite fortunate to have the torch, though keeping it happy tends to be a bit costy. As a result, I will likely pick up one of the air-propane torches for the cases when getting serious with the oxy-propane one is overkill.

Of course, I also have an itty bitty butane one (aka: a cigarette lighter with an attitude) but that's a separate issue.

Best regards,

Kludge

 

[Andrewinpopayan]

I have seen "barkers" regularly selling this stuff at shows. I does seem to work well on clean aluminum, I've never seen it used on old oily castings, such as car sumps, gearbox housings. I expect that getting a good joint on older metals is in the preparation of the joint.

 

[Stan]

It all depends on what you call critical. I have been using an aluminum ladder for several years with one leg held on with this type of low temperature rod. I have welded aluminum with O/A but his is brazing, not welding.

This brazing rod is weird stuff in that the rod is soft but the joint, after cooling, is almost file hard. It has to be some type of eutectic rod and the temperature required to 'tin' the base metal is critical.

I think I posted some months back that this kind of rod has been around since the 1930s when body shops used it to repair the big expensive cast grills.