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A new aluminium rig construction teqnique!

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Building Q&A / FAQ' started by Alexey, Oct 31, 2019.

  1. Alexey

    Alexey Well-Known Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    20191031_130901.jpg

    There is no welding in the picture above!

    Whilst it may look like welding, it is actually aluminium brazing.
    Using a MAPP/propane gass torch (cheap and easy to get) with a medium torch nozzle.
    I was surfing facebook when one of those adds came up showing the process of aluminium brazing and I couldnt really beleive that it was true. Being only $25 I thought I'd give it a try. To my utter surprise this actually works! The solder is even stronger than the alumninum as shown in the picture below. I did a butt joint using 1.6mm aluminuim tube soldered all the way around. I then got a 1 meter long metal tube and placed it on the end of the wleded on piece. I then tried to pry off the welded join. The joint did not fail! What you can see it that the aluminuim has stretched and eventually torn. Now one could argue that the act of heating up the aluminium has weakened it and sure it probably has. I could literally jump on this weld so for making a motion sim frame, it's good enough.

    20191031_131659.jpg
    There is however one downside. Because the solder material has a high zinc content the solder will eventually corrode and so the aluminium joint MUST be painted to stop the corrosion. An unprotected solder will last just over a year in outdoor/wet environments before showing excessive corrosion. (3 year later the frame is still standing) A painted join will last much longer and being that motion sims are usually kept inside it should last for a very long time.

    Where I got my rods from:

    https://solutionwelding.com/products/rods

    I will definately be using this for my rigs construction.

    Would be interesting to see if anyone else has used these types of rods before and what kind of experience that they have had.
    • Informative Informative x 7
    • Like Like x 4
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2019
  2. Qlittles

    Qlittles Active Member

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    Wow, pretty cool. If I had known about this, I would have made my rig out of aluminium and not wood - maybe if I ever make another one, I'll use this. Thanks for sharing!
  3. Zed

    Zed VR Simming w/Reverb Gold Contributor

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    There’s been some discussion of this here for building top frames on 6 dof rigs. It looks pretty sweet. Hadn’t heard about corrosion, though. I guess you want a sealed assembly so corrosion is minimized from the inside? No open tubes unless you do something to coat the insides of the tubes? Or in practice doesn’t matter? Might be just the ticket for 6 dof top frames, though.
  4. RacingMat

    RacingMat Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    congrats! it's not easy :cool:

    yes, aluminium brazing sounds nice
    http://www.weld-aluminum.com/

    but after investigating a bit few years ago, I discarded this solution
    - temperature range is short: the brazing is very close to the aluminium fusion temperature... and bam your aluminium piece is melted. Aluminium doesn't change color along with temperature on the contrary steel gives you hints about its temperature by changin its color.

    - And I have been told that brazing dislike vibration... in case of vibration, it needs gusset which makes the assembly even more complicated.

    - cutting the ends in "gueule de loup" is a pain

    upload_2020-1-23_15-20-23.jpeg


    This tools can help you to draw
    but cutting is tricky
    [​IMG]



    brasure à 380°
    Durafix www.durafix-easyweld.com/fr/ avec vidéo
    leur store eBay http://stores.ebay.fr/DURAFIX-EasyWeld
    10 baguettes 45cm de longueur et Ø 3.2mm = 35€ + 5€ FdP

    le même fabricant mais via un site discount -10% http://www.1001discount.com/new/fr/45-c-soudure.html

    TechN'Fast http://www.distripro-shop.net/kit-b...ture-brosse-inox-tech-n-fast,fr,4,ISOU001.cfm


    ALIA 382
    chez Conrad
    http://www.conrad.fr/ce/fr/product/076731/Alia-382-brasure-aluminium
    + petit article sur ce produit http://amfc.aero.free.fr/brasure.htm
    30€ les 4 tiges de 45 cm

    sur eBay
    • Informative Informative x 2
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2020
  5. Zed

    Zed VR Simming w/Reverb Gold Contributor

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    That cutting guide tool is wicked! Gusseting would be a hassle but if that’s the trick to make it take vibration better, it could still be doable.

    One ultralight technique with joining aluminum tubes is to use sheet gussets that get worked/hammered to conform to the tubing to be joined and then pop riveted in place with a fair number of rivets. Maybe another solution?

    F99EE154-117B-4079-B4A3-D068B5624187.jpeg
  6. 1oldbiker

    1oldbiker Member

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    Eastwood (and others) sells a fishmouth cutter tool. You use a drill with the tool. That aluminum brazing works good, you have to be clean, use only stainless steel brush to clean surface.