4043 + 3003 = ?

[Blown S-10]

will these be a good color match ? part will be polished

[HAWK]

Blown S-10,

It really depends because 3003 is a very finicky alloy. Sometimes 3003 will take 4043 and wet out well with good color match. I have not had much luck using 5356 on 3003. If your application is not structural or critical, then try 1100 series filler. It takes to 3003 like super glue. It has a beautiful smooth texture and a polished finish.

I would try both 4043 and 1100 to see what works better in your application. If you are short on base metal, let me know and I'll send you some 3003 .250" plate for the test. I have plenty of good ****** material.

Blackplague gave me a lead on some rods he uses on 3003. I have never gotten around to ordering them, but since you have me thinking about I will order tomorrow. Here is the post:


Blackplague
Member Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Michigan
Posts: 46

A company called Crown Alloys has just the filler rod

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For your 3003. I use crown alloys for all my aluminum filler rod. They have a rod { R4145 }specially designed for your 3003. I've used this rod on 3003 sheet {.045-.069} and i can tell you it works awesome, and your totally right about 3003 {less than stellar}!!

Crown alloys {248}-588-3790
30105 Stevenson hwy
Madison Hts, Mi 48071
__________________
Mike. R

Dynasty 300dx tig runner
Lincoln wirematic 255
Miller portable spot welder
MM135
Spectrum 500

[joebass]

HAWK, Let me know how that place works out. How much are you ordering? I have been looking for a place to get a few pounds of some 4047 and some Ni99 Rod as the local guys can only get 10 pounds at a time.

[Blown S-10]

thanx HAWK. sounds interesting. i'm going to try that 1100.
thanx for the offer, but i have some scap i can try. thought i would ask first.
how will the 1100 work on 6061 ?

PLEASE post when you have tried that 4345 !!! it looks like i will be using 3003 a good bit. the best filler will help this FNG a lot.

btw, none of my work is heavily structural.

[HAWK]

Blown S-10,

1100 is not recommended for many alloys: 3003 and some oddball stuff. I don't recall using it for 6061 and I cannot find any recommendations for it. I did some reading after posting this and found 3 fillers listed for 3003: 1100 and 4043, 4047. I'll let you know how the R4145 works.

[HAWK]

joebass,

My local dealer sells several specialty rods including NI 99 by Utectic in 1 lb increments. The Utectic rod burns very smooth w/o arc outages unlike a lot of NI 55/99 rods I have used. I am sure you could buy from them as well by Fed-x/UPS shipment. The TIG fillers are a different story. Nobody local carries anything other than 4043 and 5356 on a regular basis. There is one place I can buy the 1100 because it supplies a shop here in town that uses a lot of it, but only 1/16" diameter.

Email if you are interested: [email protected]

I will let you know how much of the 4135 I order and what else they carry. I will probably get 10lbs+. If Mike says it works, then it works.

[joebass]

www.weldingsuppy.com sells 1100 filler:

http://www.weldingsupply.com/cgi-bin/einstein.pl?Next::1:UNDEF:OR:terms::PE

I have ordered some hard to find things from them in the past. Good service and very reasonable prices.

[imported_Blackplague]

Thanks for the good words HAWK.

Here is a link to the Crown Alloys technical application guide:

http://www.crownalloys.com/page07.pdf

Blown S-10, is this going to be for a plenum or valve covers? Hawk is right on the 1100 filler. Because 1100 has a very small amounts of silicon, once you join it with 3003 {which has a fair amount of silicon} it should even out the silicon content around the weld area, which means if you go to anodize the part ,the color will be even through out. Silicon in the filler or base metal makes the color darker {when a part is anodized}, that's why most will recommend 5356 when welding say,6061 as opposed to 4043.

Now the rod {R4145} Hawk and i have talked about has way too much silicon if you plan on anodizing. If you plan on polishing the part it would be ok.

Hawk >> I'll give you a call this weekend if that would be ok.

[HAWK]

HAWK, Let me know how that place works out. How much are you ordering? I have been looking for a place to get a few pounds of some 4047 and some Ni99 Rod as the local guys can only get 10 pounds at a time.

Joebass,

I contacted Crown Alloys about the 4145, 4047, and 1100 fillers. They have all of them as well as the Nickel99 and several hundred other fillers from stick and tig to brazing rods and fluxes. They have a large SELECTION. Crown Alloys will not sell direct. I spoke with several distributors and found prices that seem to reflect "paying for a name". I have not had time to check, but I wonder if they manufacture or just warehouse the material under their name.

I did some searching and ordered the 4145, 4047, and 1100 from an AlcoTec distributor in the Carolinas. The prices are less than half of Crown and the specs are the same. I should have it all in 1-2 weeks shipped complete. I ordered 2 lbs of 4145 and 3 lbs each of the 4047 and 1100. I will let you know about the 4145 when I get it.

This distributor will sell in 1 pound increments if that is what you are looking to buy. Their price per pound in small quantities in competitive.

[HAWK]

Here is a link to the Crown Alloys technical application guide:

http://www.crownalloys.com/page07.pdf

Blown S-10, is this going to be for a plenum or valve covers? Hawk is right on the 1100 filler. Because 1100 has a very small amounts of silicon, once you joing it with 3003 {which has a fair amount of silicon} it should even out the silicon content around the weld area, which means if you go to anodize the part ,the color will be even through out. Silicon in the filler or base metal makes the color lighter {when a part is anodized}, that's why most will recommend 5356 when welding say,6061 as opposed to 4043.

Now the rod {R4145} Hawk and i have talked about has way too much silicon if you plan on anodizing. If you plan on polishing the part it would be ok.

Hawk >> I'll give you a call this weekend if that would be ok.

Mike,

[email protected] for the phone number. I don't know if you still have it??

Yeah. Give me a call. Anytime after 9 Eastern Standard on SATURDAY is good. I have to drop the Chevy off for trans service in the AM.


Also Crown told me today they do not recommend the 4145 for joining 3003 to itself. The say it is for joining 3003 to 2219, but I think they are hiding something.

[HAWK]

Blown S-10,

The 4047 is also a very high Si content rod.

[Paul Seaman]

I've only worked with the more common aluminum alloys, 4043, 6061 so if you have pics of the color match I would really like to see the difference.

Thanks

[Blown S-10]

one of my local supplies doesn't carry 1100 (didn't think to ask if they could get it ). i will call the other monday.

this is the part that i am (re)making, but better. square box on top of engine. as you can see, it needs to be polished and GOOD looking. i made some good progress on it last night.

[Blown S-10]

hey guys. is there a better aluminum that has the same, or better, properties as 3003h14 ? it needs to be bendable.

HAWK. i saw you post the price of that 4145.
i don't think i will be trying that for a while, if ever. how much does the 1100 go for ?

[HAWK]

Blown S-10,

I found the 4145 for $14.65/lb. From everything I have read it is not recommended for 3003 to 3003. However, Blackplague says it works well so I am going to try it and compare since I don't use 3003 for anything critical. If you are interested in the results and where to buy, let me know.

I don't bend aluminum, but here is a online metal bending discussion you may want to check out concerning 6061. I have read 6063-T53 had good bending properties. I am intersted in what you find that works.