How to fix aluminum boat holes with Alumaloy Brazing Rods. No welder needed. Cheap Aluminum Welding

Heres how you can easily fix your aluminum boat holes and leaking rivets. Aluminum brazing is a step below aluminum welding, and anyone can do it. No fancy tools, or welders needed. There's several brands out there. I used Alumaloy brazing rods in this fix.

Link to the rods and map gas I used I used:

My Camera Set Up:

[jondavidmcnabb]

To make this a whole lot easier here are the steps for a future rivet repair.

1. Use an angle grinder with a stainless wirewheel that is brand new
2. Then clean with acetone
3. Then use a flux to break up the oxides
4. Then heat up the area and apply the brazing rod
You will be amazed at how much quicker the rod “flows” when you do these steps

[Antique_Outboard_Revival]

Great how to on how to aluminum braze. But as far as repairing rivets, it’s best to drill the out and replace with another solid rivet. Bucking bars, air hammers and solid rivets are all cheap on amazon

[thesleep]

I'd drill the rivets and put new solid ones in, maybe add a little epoxy of something to the shake of the rivet before installing.

[beebob]

I bought brazing rods years ago. The directions said nothing about flux and the ad never showed flux. I cleaned the area and applied the heat. It just wouldn't melt. This is why I'm so skeptical of the brazing rods.
But as I'm watching more and more people using them I'm picking up on a couple of things.
One: I may have had a low quality product
Two: I used Propane which some are saying takes so long to heat an area
Three: I should have used flux.
So, I'll pick up some new brazing rods and practice on some aluminum at home.
My auto body shop fixed the tear for me. It cost a little bit. The guys got to practice on aluminum with the welders. I was happy. The shop was happy. Everyone was happy.

[mountainbushcraftersallian]

Awesome repair....I've seen Kayak welding ( Plastic) but the first Aluminum repair...seen alot of make shift repairs but this is the ticket...

[Desert]

Very good. I have my own machine shop, I use silver solder and flux but you just taught me something.

[zpwzefn]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR VIDEO, NOW I KNOW HOW TO KEEP THE RIVITS STILL IN, AND WELD THEM, HAVE SEVEN RIVITS, TO GET DONE. AWSOME VIDEO👍😎

[HighcountryFlylife]

A very informative video here buddy, but great to know out there with people having an issue as far as expenses goes for doing this by welding etc, because I would expect it would be fairly expensive, great to be back watching more of your content again, its been a little while. Thank you for sharing, thumbs up #11 by me

[shermrock]

Good to see this done. Just a thought. Wouldn't it be better just to replace the rivets. Drill them out then just pop them off and replace with a larger one if needed. But i guess if you gotta buy the rivet gun and the right rivets it probably cost about the same to do it the way you did. The brazing was certainly faster though

[Sportsman]

Nice DIY! Never used this method myself but have fixed several boat holes by inserting a machine screw in the hole with a washer on each side, rubber cement to provide a seal.

[wgikwis]

Great video. I was looking for exactly this because ive never used the brazing rods before.

[michaelschranz]

Not to be that guy, but rivet repair maybe should be done by rivets. They don't just keep water out but actually hold the structure together. I too have a boat from my childhood. 45 years or more, a few years back, I had ice pop 5 rivets. I replaced them with buck and bang style rivets. I watched your video because I acquired a hole from a rock on a beach landing and the jb weld fix is starting to look aged. You did a great job showing the aluminum brazing technique but you may think about loose structure. You probably can get several videos on the subject. Thanks, God bless.

[RedefineLiving]

Good Job. I have a neat aluminum canoe. The inside was lined with a rubber type paint like flex seal, that works good also.

[boogerwolf]

just a tip for anyone doing this, put your boat on saw horses and fill it up with water to find every place that leaks

[mudpro]

Very nice, thanks for taking the time teach us this way of doing it.

[beekeeper]

The way your doing this works just as good. But you can buy those rivets to replace the old ones. You install them not with a gun but by bucking them in watertight

[AppleTechPro]

Another thing you can use solid aluminum rivets with rivet impact gun. If you little bit scared to do brazing. And apply some epoxy or marine grade adhesive. And if the leak is from loose old rivet.

[bushman]

Good video. I am about to tackle the same on a 1950's Grumman 8' aluminum sailing dinghy.

[stephboeker]

Great idea & good job. I wonder if it would be possible to smooth the puddle out w/ a grinding wheel, wire wheel or sand paper in order to paint and have a smooth finish ?
Thanks for your generous opinion,
God bless,
Sincerely

[RUIZAGENCY]

Question.!!! Can I use a tin Soldering pen paste? to clean/sterilize the surface? (the one used for transistors with tin.)