At 05:01 PM 28/10/2008 -0700, David Lester wrote:
>I have set of fenders which were on a Le Chemineau many years ago (not
mine, however). They are in rough shape. The front one is rather badly
deformed and dented, and the rear one looks like they tore it off the bike,
nearly tearing the fender in half.
>
>Has anyone had any experience repairing aluminum fenders? Would this be a
job for a frame builder? I have been unable to find any new aluminum
fenders that are just like them.
>
I've seen demonstrations at trade shows where torn beer cans were welded together using a propane torch and a special alloy rod. It looked easy enough. I bought some of the rod and tried welding a new skeg on an outboard motor, but it was difficult, the weld was very hard to file and didn't hold in the end. Anyone else try this stuff? I can't find this particular rod on the net.
If you Google "aluminum repair" you'll find brazing rod for this purpose.
Also, over at muggyweld.com there's a demo of repairing an aluminum rad
using a low temerature rod. http://www.muggyweld.com/
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada