Can pot metal be soldered ?

[Jerry V Lape]

Attempting to fix a replica muzzle loader for a friend's grandson.  The piece is pot metal and I have no experience in soldering this stuff.  Can it be done and suggestions regarding heat limits for pot metal.   

[rich pierce]

Pot metal is not a technical term  .  I’m guessing you’ve determined it’s not magnetic and not brass. What piece are you working on?

[heinz]

Jerry, as Rich notes, "pot metal" does not describe a definite alloy.  The term comes from the early twentieth century where scrap non-ferrous metals were tossed into a large melting pot to form a low melting point alloy to be used for various manufacturing, maintenance and development steps. This was common in the automobile factories.  It is often mostly zinc , lead, and copper, but aluminum, some iron and any other junk scrap make it a very cheap alloy.

Soldering is hit or miss, because post-ww2 pot metal often has a lot of cheap aluminum scrap in it.  Depending on the part, various fixes involving epoxies and glues with some reinforcement fro sheet metal may be possible.  Be careful around any sort of heat source because it may melt at very low temperatures with no change in the metal color.

[kutter]

BernzOmatic brand,,and there are likely others, have an aluminum soldering/brazing 'rod' thats available in places like Home Depot and Lowes.
It's a flux coated rod,,looks like a flux coated welding rod.

For use on aluminum like fixing aluminum doors and windows, alum boats, alum castings like  outboard motors and they also state it works on Zinc based metal castings .

700F working temp so propane torch use.

Might be something workable.

[P.W.Berkuta]

I'd stay away from heat and use an epoxy. Most likely the part is toast

[Bob Roller]

 have heard the term "Pot Metal"for a very long time.I knew a man that owned a Duesenberg convertible
and he said there was a "lot of pot metal"on the engines.All of them I took apart had aluminum cam covers,
timing chain covers,bell housing and oil pan plus side plates (4) to make water passages around the cylinders.
These were all cast parts.Metal cooking pots were apparently pressed sheets that made a pan.
  Can some of the modern super whiz bang glues be used in this repair?Might be worth a try.
The man that owned the Duesenberg was not one I liked.He'd get drunk and go roaring off in that powerful old car
and years ago at the car show in Auburn Indiana I alerted one of the police officers and pointed out the car.I don't
know if he got caught or not but the next day,in the Parade of Classics he was a passenger and not driving it .
Bob Roller

[Dphariss]

Good chance its mostly Zinc. I would not try soldering it. Epoxy is the best bet.
The alloy has been used for a long time as an easily cast low melting point metal for toys.
Wikipedia and an article on it,

[AMartin]

JB Weld

[Stoner creek]

I would at least try tinning the smaller one of of the two pieces. If it won’t tin then JB is likely to be your only other option.

[redheart]

Good chance its mostly Zinc. I would not try soldering it. Epoxy is the best bet.
The alloy has been used for a long time as an easily cast low melting point metal for toys.
Wikipedia and an article on it,

I'm with Dan, You put a torch anywhere near this part and it's likely to quickly turn into a blob of worthless junk.

[davec2]

What part needs to be fixed ?  Photo ?

[Jerry V Lape]

The part is a piece of the forend entry on a cheap replica of a plains rifle.  I will just JB Weld the thing with a strip of thin metal backing. I could make a new one but it isn't worth the trouble. 

But post was worthwhile as I learned more about pot metal than I knew before.    Thanks for the discussion.

[Hungry Horse]

 Any “replica” brought to me with pot metal parts, I would refuse Tom repair.

 Hungry Horse