Cluster 10 · The frame & welding

The frame & welding

Your frame cracked and the question is "can it be welded?". Before that there's a better one: what's it made of, and what does heat do to it? Every material —steel, aluminum, titanium, carbon— demands its own technique and leaves its own mark. We don't decide for you whether to repair; we give you the language to walk into the shop knowing what they're about to do to your frame and what to ask.

Map of what welding does to each frame material: steel, aluminum, titanium and carbon — The cluster map: which technique and which mark welding leaves depending on the material.

Aluminum 6061 vs 7005Start here if your frame is aluminum. The question that changes everything: which alloy it is and why one needs an oven and the other doesn't.

The process · what happens when you weld

Heat-affected zone (HAZ)The band where metal changes without melting. Almost everything hangs on it: why a frame sometimes breaks right next to the weld. TIG, MIG and brazingMelt the tube or join it without melting it. Which technique matches each material and why it matters. Filler metal: 4043 vs 5356The wire that fills the aluminum joint. Strength, finish, and why the choice isn't trivial.

By material

Cromoly steel: TIG, fillet, lugThe most forgiving to weld. Three ways to join it, and why "easy" doesn't mean "any blacksmith". Titanium and the argon purgeWhy the bead changes color, what that means, and why it isn't a job for any shop. Carbon: why it isn't weldedThermoset, it doesn't melt. What scarf relamination is and why "hardware-store fiber" is a red flag.

Deciding with judgment

Fatigue by materialSteel and titanium have a fatigue limit; aluminum and carbon don't. But design weighs more than the label. What to ask the welderThe four questions that, in thirty seconds, tell the one who knows frames from the one who only welds gates.