Aluminium armour?

[ChicagoSpartan]

You can't use regular welder for aluminium. You need special aluminium welder, which not may many people have around. You need special skill too..

You can do it with smaller MIG welders as long as they push enough current and you have a spool gun. You'll burn through a lot of wire fast. Although with a TIG machine tacking it all together, and then applying nice small fillets for structure would be a piece of cake.

 

[OptimusWang]

Wow, lots of misconceptions in this thread. Aluminum is much lighter than steel, can be bought on the cheap (hit any county or city auction and you can usually gets 36" x 36" sheets of it for $5-10... just make sure to paint over the "Men At Work" that's painted on one side ), and can be deburred & polished fairly easily with a bench grinder.

For shaping, a dead blow hammer and stump is all you really need. With a little practice you can get some really nice shapes from dishing; I made these greaves with that method:

My concern with the project would be the details. I think the easiest method would be to make your basic shape, build the detailed area separately, then weld it onto your base.

If you're serious about this, go check out the forums at http://www.armourarchive.org/ They're a mostly historical armoring group with a small bit of fantasy stuff, but lots of guys are working in aluminum and can give you plenty of advice.

 

[n1njqch1cken]

finally! somone who understands! i'm not to concerned about details because the pieces im making in this method are pretty basic: the chest, shoulders and forearms (these might be a problem..). i'm not planning on goin out and buying an mig welder, so i'll find another way to add details if needed.

 

[Sean Bradley]

Moved to Creation Discussion.

 

[FrostyTheSnowMan]

you dont ahve to use use aluminium. something like 1mm galvanised steel would be plenty thick enough. its possible to weld it with a mig welder too. only down side is the fumes that come off it when you weld cause of the galvanising, but if you wear a respirator and drink a big glass of milk at the end of the day you will be alright. extremely easy to bend and shape too.

 

[n1njqch1cken]

steel is a bit of overkill though, i don't have that much money lol, i got maybe $100 at disposal, $400 if i take a few weeks off holidays and go to work 5 or so times a week. i do have other parts of the armor to pay for, and each piece will take up at least 1 sheet of met each (1sqm) so i might stick with allum haha!

btw, can i solder other metal details on? not weld, solder.

 

[FrostyTheSnowMan]

maybe you could just drink alloooott of soft drink and cut the top and bottom of the can off. then use the flat side parts =]

 

[n1njqch1cken]

hmmm.... maybee try... NO lol

that metal would be a bit thin, bad for longterm usage.

 

[Loess]

The nice part of steel armor is that steel is cheap, and has a very convincing heft and sound, and you don't need special equipment (no special brazing rods for doing it with Oxy-Acetylene; no special gas, wire, or handpiece for a MIG welder).

 

[n1njqch1cken]

no, steel is not cheap. alluminium is the easiest because it is a few bucks a sheet and all i have to do is shape it, drill a few holes and put a few pop rivets in.

edit: my question still stands, can i solder alluminium???

 

[Loess]

no, steel is not cheap. alluminium is the easiest because it is a few bucks a sheet and all i have to do is shape it, drill a few holes and put a few pop rivets in.

edit: my question still stands, can i solder alluminium???

For cheap steel, go to your local steel yard and ask to look through their "drop pile" of sheet steel. All the odd ends and bits they trim off of sheets when they're cutting parts for customers are sold by the pound, and pretty cheap. (If anyone does go, make sure to get non-galvanized steel, the zinc fumes from burning galvanizing are really bad for you.)

As for joining aluminum, McMaster.com has a brazing kit, P/N: 7797A11. You'll need at least a propane torch to use it, an Oxy-Acetylene torch would be better.

 

[n1njqch1cken]

For cheap steel, go to your local steel yard and ask to look through their "drop pile" of sheet steel. All the odd ends and bits they trim off of sheets when they're cutting parts for customers are sold by the pound, and pretty cheap. (If anyone does go, make sure to get non-galvanized steel, the zinc fumes from burning galvanizing are really bad for you.)

As for joining aluminum, McMaster.com has a brazing kit, P/N: 7797A11. You'll need at least a propane torch to use it, an Oxy-Acetylene torch would be better.

yeah, i still think allum is best for me because i don't think we have a local steel yard in the redlands (city (actually a shire but gay council changed it to city for no reason) in australia) unless i have gone past without seeing it or it is hidden.

also, i'm not to interested in buying a welder, i only asked about soldering because i own a solder. i'll just pop rivet it together

 

[FrostyTheSnowMan]

you should sue steel. stronger/ less likely to get damaged/ bent. fusion welding would be the go too. you can hire a oxy-acetylene set from bunnings or something i think. i know someone who has hired it before. when you say soldering too, do you mean silver solder? like stick welder rods using a blow torch?

 

[Jester1014]

MonK: Do you know of any steel mills or Junk yards? those would be places to check. Or Tractor Supply stores for farm equipment repair. or even Fabrication shops will nice sized drop off pieces.

 

[Roadwarrior]

Jeez guys, lay off the "DO IT THIS WAY" attitude. I know you all are trying to help but 3 pages of saying the same thing gets kind of old :/ .

If he says it's cheaper and has a basic idea of what to do, I say let him do it.


I'm looking forward to WIP pics

P.S.
Also, don't forget, the internet has loads of information that could help you out if you need it.

 

[n1njqch1cken]

haha, thanks roadwarrior
no jester, i don't know of any places like that off the top of my head, but i'm sure they're out there. also, the solder i have is like one of the ones you would use on electrical equipment, so i was hesitant to think it would work, but people seem to think i'll need an mig welder, so i'll just leave welding alone.

one more thing, if i can get a good price on steel, i'll get it definitley, but if i don't, it's allum all the way btw, i should have a couple of days free at the start of the holidays, one more day to go!!!!, to scout for supplies. is there anyone in the moreton bay area of brissy???? i can't remember if we have a scrap station around here :S

edit: although i forgot to put it in the title, my odst thread (in sig) will be WIP as soon as the next phase of this build starts

 

[Nikosb13]

Hah.. whats up guys. So ive been working and practicing on my armor making skills on and off for like 2 years now.. Nothing special. I havnt finished a complete set of armor yet, because the first few pieces i have made out of fiberglass and bondo.. just arnt strong enough.. Ive even done 3 layers of fiberglass to a thigh piece, sit down and it just cracked.. So I though, metal. Im currently working on a method to make Pap, and incorporate aluminum plates into the fiberglass's weak points. Im testing it out right now on a hand piece, and its drying right now. Let me get some pics in here and explain a bit more, I think this might work

Yes, it looks terrible right now.. lol
Basically, what ive done so far is make the piece out of 110LB Cardstock.
Then, I just looked it over and found potential weak points in the piece, things like the very flat parts, edges ect.
I used a very thin aluminum sheet

The aluminum is fairly strong, but flexible. I could easily cut the aluminum shapes i needed with a pair of good scissors. I then just taped the aluminum on with clear tape.
(BTW, the hand piece is still very light, despite the aluminum. The Bondo makes it heavy

I coated the outside with Resin, and the inside with fiberglass. Its currently drying still.

I'm not positive how well this will work, but if anyone is still interested in this method, post back. I'll see how strong it is when its done drying and update

Thanks all

 

[n1njqch1cken]

haha, good idea man! i would be doing something like that, but entirley metal. you see, i can't afford the resin/fibreglass/rondo . someone else, i think jester, is making foam armor, then coating the foam with sheet metal!! i have just finished making my foam pieces, unless i decide to alter them a bit, so when i go to see harry potter at the movies today, i will duck over to bunnings to pick up some metal/strapping/buckles

hope it works!! it is a great idea!

 

[Nikosb13]

Well, so far its not bad. Im testing everything on the hand pieces, so i dont ruin anything major.. lol.. But anyways its not too bad. I was thinking today about figuring out how to make casts, and make these awesome perfect replicas people do.. but I have no idea, and no money >_< So im sticking with paper and household junk

I have the bondo on and stuff, and I tried something else DONT LAUGH

after the resin.. I didnt put bondo straight on the top, I found some Masonry **** called Dryloc.. I applied a VERY thin top layer, and its now hardened like.. cement Now that my piece is literally a rock, im gona bondo and detail. Rofl if this works im gona laugh..

 

[n1njqch1cken]

do you have a wip thread? i'm not kicking you out of this one, you can still post updates here but i'm just sayin, it might be easier if you had a thread dedicated to your build good luck again,

monk1junk1