expert TIG welder?

[thorborg]

I have an aluminum floor plate with a broken hinge pin hole. I contacted every known parts house I could find and followed their referals ( Brownwlls, Jack First, Nurmburg, Western Gun parts just to name a few) plus internet searches and gun shows over the last year and a half without success.
I need a Portland area TIG welder experienced in very small and precise aluminum welding.
The rifle is useable as is with much care but if the welding is done right I can redrill it and file it and all is well, but if it goes south, the rifle is will be no good without another floor plate.
Yah, No pressure here!
Does not need to be a gunsmith just a good Tig welder.
Any referrals ?

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[ridnjon]

What kind of rifle are you trying to fix. Pics?

 

[rcguy]

You might go talk to the guys over at AmPro in clackamas off of hwy 224. It is in the same parking lot as wichitaw pub. They are really good at welding aluminum. Ask for Steve

 

[Swedish K]

a good TIG welder can do it. I know a half dozen or so guys that do killer welding and work on guns but they are down south.

 

[thorborg]

Of coarse the battery died in my camera, will fix tonight and post a picture. Not real relevent weld wise but its an old Browning 30-06 BAR purchased from another forum member in Sherwood some time ago who just happened to forget the floor plate was broken, but then, one could look at it as I just happened to not notice it when I looked at it so I'll take 36% of the blame for that. I had ordered one from Brownells and after five months of waiting they shipped the wrong one and informed me none will be available to replace it. I did find one outfit that claimed to have one albeit annodized matt finish when mine is painted gloss black but darn it, I just can't see spending $126.00 plus shipping for it when 30 plus years of mechanical engineering and widget building tells me its repairable. I'll pop the pin and take it to AmPro & or Visit you rcguy if that turns sour, you can revisit that offer to help once I put up the picture.
Thanks for the response. I knew as a last resort you guys would'nt let me down!
Thor

 

[Velzey]

Ampro is going to charge you allot to fix it! I've tried having them weld a few things but they always quote way high...

I may have the floor plate your looking for.. I will check this evening. I have a drawer full of browning bar mags and parts!

 

[thorborg]

For the picture buffs-

obviously replacement is first choice but if I can get it welded I can re-mill it to spec. Wished it were ferrous, I could braze it myself.

 

[The Cheese]

$5 says thats a cast part. I am not sure if you can weld cast aluminum. And welding something small like that would be a major pain. The welder would have to have wicked mad skill to pull that off and have it still function well. Plus theres the issue of massive amounts of heat going into it that will also do unsavory things if not dealt with. You will probably end up $$ ahead just by buying the new part and leaving this one be.

 

[Velzey]

Nope I don't have one!!

Yeah I'm not sure about welding, as it is also anodized.. I asked my buddy that is an artist when it come to tig welding and he just gave me the finger and flipped his hood down and mumbled about melting it into a blob and it's anodized..

If you can get the blob of weld to stick you can machine it

 

[rcguy]

The anodizing can be removed before welding.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

I believe you can weld it. I once worked with a welder who could weld an aluminum pie plate. Just build it up, reshape it, and drill a new hole.

But aside from that, how about manufacturing a new plate out of mild steel or stainless? I have a Howa rifle that has an aluminum trigger guard on it, and it bugs me so much I will probably eventually pay somebody to make me a new one out of steel. I don't like aluminum (or plastic) parts on my guns.

 

[thorborg]

Bummer Velzey, I knew you were a tease.
Your TIG welding buddy seems to be a little condensending. His lack of confididence is showing in flipping you off. I'm assuming you must intimidate him.
As for some of the other opines.
Well yes it is a cast part as it would not be cost effective to produce otherwise.
No its not annodized, its painted, no electro chemical coating has been applied as tested with crude hardness tester. Were it steel, it would have been stamped.
Blob? Yes, that is what I intended. a small lump of aluminum applied that i may file and drill to replicate.
If I had a mill or even a drill mill I would machine a new one. I have a little X Y table big enough but my drill press has too much slop and runout to bother trying.
Buy? Really? Thats the whole point of this thread .None are available new. Browning does not produce this part any more and according to Nurmburg, Brownells, Jack First, Western Gun Parts and a few others there are no aftermarket replicators and any floor plates found will be reclaimed with Jack First and Western Gun Parts being ultra knowledgeable and helpfull for more years than I can remember in parts reclamation.

Thank you all, I value your input.
I'll keep looking for a used one or hopefully stumble on tig welder that can precicely drop a 1/4 inch blob I can turn into a functional work of art.
Every man needs a dream. It looks like I have ANOTHER one to keep me alive!
Thor

 

[netcarrier]

I had a room mate that is a great tig welder he welded my heads on my boat. Contact me and I will have him call you.
Tony
Portland, Oregon Area
[email protected]

 

[Jamie6.5]

Blob? Yes, that is what I intended. a small lump of aluminum applied that i may file and drill to replicate.

If all you are looking for is a "gobba-weld" that can be massaged into a reasonable facsimile of the original hinge loop with a file and a drill, it shouldn't be that difficult.
Get the coating stripped off it, buy some heat-fence and head down to the local irrigation company. Those guys weld cast ends on extruded pipe all the time.

 

[thorborg]

I had a room mate that is a great tig welder he welded my heads on my boat. Contact me and I will have him call you.
Tony
Portland, Oregon Area
[email protected]

I'll keep you close Tony if all esle fails that may be soon.
As for others who have kindly assisted in the search:
I just responded to another gentleman that messaged me via a conversation with a link for a floor plate.
his offering was the same as I just returned to Brownells. and is just different enough it cannot be modified to worked into submission. Though the ad claims otherwise. The give away was "Magnum" and when called to verify fit they backed down.
Mine was made prior to 1976 making it a type 1.
A couple sources like Midwest gun works and including Brownells list (or did) a type one / magnum but they're in error. (magnum yes/ type 1 no)
Search Keys that will not interchange are: Magnum. Safari, Lightweight, Long Trac, Short Trac or anything after 1976 all are indeed Browning Bar's along with several (orignal) full auto versions plus one for law inforcement; all not interchangeable with mine (floor plate wise).
All in all, there are at least ten versions of the BAR albeit not all are unique in their intirety of parts. (except the floor plate!)

 

[Velzey]

I have a very nice little miller tig welder that I use for steel.. It goes clear down to 5 amps and up to 150. I use it for fine little steel repairs like Luger firing pins, and various other little things ... I will mess around with aluminum this weekend and see if I can make a blob.

 

[rcguy]

I have a very nice little miller tig welder that I use for steel.. It goes clear down to 5 amps and up to 150. I use it for fine little steel repairs like Luger firing pins, and various other little things ... I will mess around with aluminum this weekend and see if I can make a blob.

Unless your tig welder will switch from d/c current to a/c current and also has high frequency that you can set to be on all of the time it is not going to work properly. You might get a blob but probably not. You also need to be using pure tungsten and know how to "ball" it if you try to use standard red 2% thoriated it will not ball properly.

Just my two cents. I am a tig welder for a living. Mostly stainless but do some aluminum.

 

[spectra]

$5 says thats a cast part. I am not sure if you can weld cast aluminum. And welding something small like that would be a major pain. The welder would have to have wicked mad skill to pull that off and have it still function well. Plus theres the issue of massive amounts of heat going into it that will also do unsavory things if not dealt with. You will probably end up $$ ahead just by buying the new part and leaving this one be.

I agree on this one. I have been welding for 25 years and when it comes to aluminum it is a whole different ball game I have a tig machine plus run aluminum wire through a spool gun and something that small is a PITA to deal with. Who knows what will happen to it once the heat gets to it? Good luck with the fix and wish you well!

 

[Velzey]

Ac/dc is an awesome band!! And yep mine will switch.. I actually just made a nice little blob using pure tungsten! I read the cliff notes that came with my welder ... But I will leave this to the pros..

I have lots of guns that need fixing!!

 

[rcguy]

Cool I just thought I would try to help you have a little more success by sharing my knowledge.