welding a chainsaw case

[BILLSMOWERS]

Have any of the workshop guys tryed to tig weld the case of a chainsaw i see there are a few videos of this on youtube i would not like to take this on my self

what do you guys think? big cost involved as well the magnesium rods are £800 for a 2kg pack ( minium they will sale )

 

bill

[spudulike]

Have any of the workshop guys tryed to tig weld the case of a chainsaw i see there are a few videos of this on youtube i would not like to take this on my self

what do you guys think? big cost involved as well the magnesium rods are £800 for a 2kg pack ( minium they will sale )

 

bill

 

I havent tig welded but have used some of those aluminium rods that are used with a propane torch and flux, they look great on the vid but my experience is that you have to be damn careful not to melt or crystalise the metal and it doesn't work well, I would choose JB weld and a suitable aluminium patch any day.

[treequip]

Tried it once, the case twisted and wouldn’t seal, do what spud says and use a cold metal or epoxy, if they wont do it get a new case

[GardenKit]

As the others say, aluminium welding is not easy and best left to professional welders who charge professional prices.

 

The other problem is that you have to strip it right out in order to get it properly clean and for the welder to get access without melting everything else on the saw. Once you have done all this you may as well fit a new case IMO.

 

If you go with the JB weld type of repair you will save a load of time, and if it does not work you have'nt lost too much.

[BILLSMOWERS]

As the others say, aluminium welding is not easy and best left to professional welders who charge professional prices.

 

The other problem is that you have to strip it right out in order to get it properly clean and for the welder to get access without melting everything else on the saw. Once you have done all this you may as well fit a new case IMO.

 

If you go with the JB weld type of repair you will save a load of time, and if it does not work you have'nt lost too much.

 

i am a comptent welder in tig, mma, mig. to BS standered this is not the problem

as you say the time it takes to strip the saw down + the cost of the az91 rod to mach the magnesiam used in the saw in the first case ( £800 for a 2kg pack )

it would take years to get your money back. i am not shore if my insurance would cover this type of repair? so i think it will be a replacment case or the customer takes the saws away

 

bill

[Mesterh]

I suppose it would depend a lot on which saw needed repairing.

 

I cracked the case on a 3120xp which iirc cost me the best part of £300-350! ( you can't just buy one half, they come as a matched pair!)

[Rich2484]

Welding would not economically viable so it not worth it on a saw. Plus chances are it would still be a weak spot so if the saw was dropped it would just break again.

 

Stack it for spares or replace with parts. Probably end up cheaper to buy a second hand one and use the case from that.

[spudulike]

I would offer two prices, one for an epoxy repair and point out you can't tell if it will work for a month or years and then the full repair with new parts - up to the owner then if he wants to take a punt on a repair or replaced parts