Welding Armor?....

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vivalablake89

vivalablake89

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Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, so I've had this idea rattling in the back of my brain and I'm thinking most likely some others have thought of this as well. But has anyone ever thought of taking templates from a pepakura foam file and transferring them to a thick (2mm) aluminum sheet, and what I'm guessing would be welding them together?

I just figured we all use card stock and fiberglass or foam because its a more affordable option and probably a lot easier and faster to work with. Just curious to see if anyone has tried to execute this technique. If so I would love to get some info on it and how, because it seems like you would get a really nice finished product and one that will last much longer.
 
By the way, I realize another issue would be cutting those templates from the aluminum sheets but I have access to a laser cutter that can those cuts done. Though I have never done any welding or metal work, does anyone have any welding experience or time in a metal shop under there belt? Your advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
 
Yes! However it did not go over well.... I tried it with an iron man helmet. everything was cut and bent so it was a perfect fit. My first thought was TIG Weld it together, however, it melted the aluminum before it could bond. Then I tried aluminum solder and it did not work one bit. no amount of sanding, flux, or roughing up the edges would allow the solder to bond.Then it was on to brazing rods, which unfortunately failed because the brazing rods required a temp too high for the aluminum. So I tried brazing rods intended for aluminum and the complex curves and such of the aluminum that thin just let it all melt.

So things that could have caused my failure:
-Bad Metal (tried two kinds)
-Too thin aluminum (1.5mm I think)
-Possibly poor craftsmanship (I am no metal working, but know two experts who advised me when I ran into issues)

So an experienced metal worker could probably make it happen with aluminum, but from what I have tried, thin sheet metal aluminum does not work well. I have all the pieces waiting in a bag for me to find a solution. Let me know if you have any success!
 
Thanks for your feedback, I may try to do a small test piece like a knee pad or something small and see if I can find a thicker aluminum maybe 3mm- 4mm will be thick enough to work with. Hopefully I'll have some success If not I'll be glad I tried. There is actually a welding shop 2 blocks away from my house and they do fine welding for intricate stair hand rails so hopefully they can lend some advice ;), thanks again bro!
 
Welding aluminum is extremely difficult. If you're heartset on welding, I recommend you use a 6xxx series or 7xxx series aluminum. They have greater heat resistance and are actually what tends to be used in aluminum welded products. 2mm should be more than sufficient.
 
Thanks for the heads up mustang I'll definitely take a look into that aluminum, appreciate the feedback:thumbsup. Steveeemega do you recall the exact brand of aluminum you used?
 
Welding aluminum is trickier to my understanding, I'm no welder myself but they work along side us in the shop.

But as a sheet metal worker I can tell you that if you want good aluminum that is tough yet foldable (with Tools) use sheets in the range of .24 - .40 thick 7074 T-3 or O type. T-3 is tough to fold by hand, but O is bendable by a child.. Using either one will give you flexibility and allow you to heat treat harden it to T-6, giving you serious strength, provided you have an oven you can leave at 250 degrees for 22 hours :p

I had been contemplating making aluminum armor myself but I'm not exactly allowed to take sheets of metal home from the hangar haha.
 
If your not set up for aluminum welding it is not cheap TIG is a bit cheaper but a little harder too do and a spool gun for a MIG set up will run you at least $600 for a decent one. You could try brazing but when you get close to another "weld" you run the risk of the first one failing. Also you should look up Sandbagger's build if you haven't seen it yet.
 
Ive GTAW( Tig) and GMAW( MIG) for Years * got my first buzz box when I was 10 *

Welding Al is not that hard . If you get used to it . a spool gun is one way or just TIG.
Gear is not cheap. a good Al set up is about a grand or more.

If you do make some Al based stuff then practice on coke cans. If you can weld the and not distroy them. Its likely you can weld any Al you find.
 
vivalablake89 said:
Hey dirt dives thanks for the link brother appreciate it! And awesome meeting you at NYCC:D! Hope to see you again soon.
Click to expand...

Same here. I'm still waiting for my daughter to send me those pics so I can post........Next year, I will have my suit done!!!! Hell or high water.

I have a question for everyone who welds or know about metal-working: If welding aluminum is so difficult, wouldn't it be possible to attach each piece to an under piece. Lets say you first build your suit from foam or leather....or any material you choose, would it be possible to attach the aluminum plates to that and still serve the same purpose?
 
AdmiralTyrannus said:
Welding aluminum is trickier to my understanding, I'm no welder myself but they work along side us in the shop.

But as a sheet metal worker I can tell you that if you want good aluminum that is tough yet foldable (with Tools) use sheets in the range of .24 - .40 thick 7074 T-3 or O type. T-3 is tough to fold by hand, but O is bendable by a child.. Using either one will give you flexibility and allow you to heat treat harden it to T-6, giving you serious strength, provided you have an oven you can leave at 250 degrees for 22 hours :p

I had been contemplating making aluminum armor myself but I'm not exactly allowed to take sheets of metal home from the hangar haha.
Click to expand...

I'm so glad I started this thread, did not realize there are so many different types of aluminum haha. Usually my first instinct is to run to home depot and buy buy buy, thanks for the input I think I wanna work with T-3 because I'm not so keen on the flexibility. In my end result I would want something really solid. Is there a weight difference, because while I want a solid piece of armor I do also want light weight I figured Aluminum is pretty light weight or am I assuming wrong :wacko? As far as the oven goes I think I'm screwed there don't have a decent oven right now, I think its from the 70's and haven't used it ever since my wife is Nicaraguan and likes to store things in there lol.
 
Dracosfire83 said:
If your not set up for aluminum welding it is not cheap TIG is a bit cheaper but a little harder too do and a spool gun for a MIG set up will run you at least $600 for a decent one. You could try brazing but when you get close to another "weld" you run the risk of the first one failing. Also you should look up Sandbagger's build if you haven't seen it yet.
Click to expand...

Well that's above my budget, but I figured this might not be a cheap project either so I'll be looking into either compensating or saving up. Also the welding close to another weld would definitely be an issue seeing how templates on a pep are set up ughhh it seems like the cons are definitely stacking up against the pros here... I don't think I will lose determination over it but I do need to find some more pros, and thanks for the heads up, will definitely be checking out sandnagger's build after this:thumbsup.
 
peterthethinker said:
Ive GTAW( Tig) and GMAW( MIG) for Years * got my first buzz box when I was 10 *

Welding Al is not that hard . If you get used to it . a spool gun is one way or just TIG.
Gear is not cheap. a good Al set up is about a grand or more.

If you do make some Al based stuff then practice on coke cans. If you can weld the and not distroy them. Its likely you can weld any Al you find.
Click to expand...

Well the pricing may kill me, but I'll have to look at it from an investment point of view. At least its good to know that practice can make perfect in this situation, when I first started making foam armor I was terrible with my cuts and bevels couldn't get the hang of it, but after a few months of practice clean cuts where magically appearing in my work haha. And a coke can is a solid idea! I guess if you can weld aluminum that flimsy you can work with anything at that point, great idea! Thanks bro!
 
Nope you are correct, Al is a light metal, and a six foot by four foot sheet of .32 T-3 is only about 12 Lbs.. you can math how much you need too see how much it weighs being that each square foot of .32 T-3 is .45lbs per square foot. So if you need like, seven square feet or whatever, you get 3.15 lbs sheet.

I'll get you the actual chart for other thickness' if you want it.

As for the heat treating, don't worry too much, unless you plan on hitting your armor with hammers and bricks, T-3 will work perfectly as it is. It will dent if hit with say a hammer, but you can just as easily hammer the dent back out. (Do it every day at work)
 
AdmiralTyrannus said:
Nope you are correct, Al is a light metal, and a six foot by four foot sheet of .32 T-3 is only about 12 Lbs.. you can math how much you need too see how much it weighs being that each square foot of .32 T-3 is .45lbs per square foot. So if you need like, seven square feet or whatever, you get 3.15 lbs sheet.

I'll get you the actual chart for other thickness' if you want it.

As for the heat treating, don't worry too much, unless you plan on hitting your armor with hammers and bricks, T-3 will work perfectly as it is. It will dent if hit with say a hammer, but you can just as easily hammer the dent back out. (Do it every day at work)
Click to expand...

That works for me. I was actually checking out sandbagger's Iron man thread and he says the stuff is pretty light weight about as heavy if you are using fiber glass and resin and stuff of that nature, so that's relief for me and that chart would be awesome bro, thank you.
 
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