i swear i knew this one

[adularia]

I was going to say something like "sculptural mesh is the best thing EVER and I want to have its amazing two-way expandable babies." But instead I will shake my fist at natural heatsinks that come with their own instantly forming oxide layers

Comments

[randomdreams]

sulfuric-acid-based anodization is pretty hard stuff, like case-hardening steel.

[adularia]

But over extremely soft aluminum? I would be tempted to keep re-bending it. Since it's so good at that.

[ilmarinen]

What about gluing it instead of solder? JB-Weld or equivalent?

-B.

cold connections ftw

[adularia]

I ended up sewing the halves together with waxed thread.

[rocket_jockey]

You should be able to beat the oxide problem with the right brazing material and flux. Aluminum needs special materials to solder, or it just falls right apart, again; otherwise, you have to inert-gas, friction-, or fusion-weld it.

There are a couple companies that offer brazing rod for aluminum, and some of them claim you don'd need flux. Check out Durafix.com, aluminumrepair.com, muggyweld.com (super alloy 1)and weldguru.com for ideas.

[adularia]

ISTR you telling me this before, or maybe it was randomdreams.

I don't actually have welding gases on hand right now (nor, uh, workspace that's not my 1960s apartment building. just sayin'.) I was just being dumb with soft solder.

[rocket_jockey]

This is torch soldering, not welding; a Micronox torch will do the job for all of the brazing materials I pointed you at, and one of them claims to flow at 350 degrees, which is well within the "soldering iron" range.

Given a choice between welding and brazing aluminum, I'd weld it, but brazing is sometimes easier and more than adequate for a lot of jobs. Of course, fabricating it in the shape you want beats them both, but that's a luxury.

[adularia]

Ok, that's really awesome. I should check those out!