Need some advise on repairing a broken piece of aluminum

[FlyingPenguin]

I know some of you work with aluminum.

This is a presentation platter that we stored when we moved from Miami 20+ years ago and I guess the weight of some other bins on top of it broke it.

It's nothing fancy or pricey - it's just aluminum - but the wife wanted to know if I could fix it.

I CAN fit the two pieces together and you can barely see the crack, and there's a bolt holding each half to the wood platter. I was wondering it there's any practical way to glue/weld it? I thought about JD Weld, but it's thick and dark would almost certainly show up in the crack.

I know nothing about welding. Could a welder lay a bead on the back side? I'm not expecting it to be carried with a lot of weight. Probably only going to be used for table presentations at parties.

Thanks.

[Pugsley]

If it broke then it was cast aluminum. I don't know of much that can be done for it other then like you said to grind out the crack and lay a new bead on the back.

[FlyingPenguin]

Yeah definitely cast. You can see in the crack it has a grainy quality.

[Losbot]

Can you send me pics? I can ask my father since we're in the Aluminum biz and he has equipment onsite to weld just about any material.

[FlyingPenguin]

Oops, forgot to put photo in the original post.

[Pugsley]

Yeah that looks mighty thin and ornate to go and grind and braze. A thin coat of JB might be best, but I don't know much about cast aluminum repairs.

[FlyingPenguin]

I guess I've got noting to lose with a thin coat of JB Weld. I was also thinking about JB Welding an aluminum strap on the back side across the crack to strengthen it. No one will ever see it.

[Pugsley]

That could work.

[reno]

I guess I've got noting to lose with a thin coat of JB Weld. I was also thinking about JB Welding an aluminum strap on the back side across the crack to strengthen it. No one will ever see it.

I agree think it's your best fix .

[Losbot]

I'll show my father regardless to see what he thinks.

[FlyingPenguin]

Thx Los.

[normalicy]

Honestly, if you know someone with experience, brazing is the way to go. If you had something that could make enough heat, you could probably do it yourself, but a machinist would be able to make short work of it (likely less than 30 minutes). Search for some videos on brazing cast aluminum.