stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 1/4/02 at 10:56 PM |
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Welding Aluminium
Hiya
Some of you may have heard me repeat my famous phrase
'im not building a standard locost, mine will look like a morgan'.
Well, im gettign ever closer to the panelling bit, when im no doubt gonna wish i wasnt building a morgan look alike cos of all the fiddly bits.
I know im gonna have to weld some bits in to get the shapes I want, but looking up welding alu with a MIG on the net, there seems to be a lotta
bo"£$cks about.
I know my Clarke welder, at 100A output, is ok for the steel bits, but even though the manual says it can do alu I dont beleive it.
So, I recon im gonna have to buy something bigger (which means my little un will be up for sale in the coming months). Most hobby - ie sensible sized
- mig welders seem to bottom out at 150a.
Has anyone any experience with MIG welding alu at 150a?
I cant afford a tig, so how wonderful they are doesnt count here
ATB
Steve
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Barker
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| posted on 11/4/02 at 11:35 AM |
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Welding Aluminium is like trying to Knit water - [slight creation of overheating spot and it boils bubbles and runs to nothing]. I would rivet
glue/bond or ask a professional!!
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phil.shelton
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| posted on 11/4/02 at 05:58 PM |
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have welded ali with a mig 90 if welding with .6 wire then need to use .8 tip. its a pig to weld if i was you i would get some sctap ali and spend a
few hours praticing. if you get i wrong you just get pools of molten ali on the floor
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CAlocost
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| posted on 15/4/02 at 07:42 AM |
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from what I have heard a spooler gun is required to weld aluminum reliably w/ a MIG machine, the AL wire will jam if fed through an ordinary MIG cable
and gun...and spooler guns are so expensive that an entry level TIG welder starts to look reasonable...
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twentyover
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| posted on 1/5/02 at 06:57 PM |
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Spool guns are not needed if the wire feed system is adequate
First, if you want to weld w/o spooler, wire size should probably be 3/64". Thinner wires will fold up in the conduit.
Conduit liner should be teflon.
Machine should probably be larger than 150 amp. 3/64 will run @ 125 amp, but you're cutting into duty cycle. Also, be aware that AL wicks heat away
from the joint alot faster than steel, so you need a comensurately larger system to keep the plate hot.
TIG needs an A/C system, DC tig is designed for steel apps. A/C cleans the oxide off the aluminum so melt temp is 1100F, not 8000F for the oxide.
I've tried DC aluminum TIG- No joy- but I'm not that good
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Nathan
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| posted on 6/5/02 at 12:06 PM |
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At work we've got a mig designed for ali.. it uses an inverter instead of transformers so it's a lot smaller.
This makes sweet welds at abt 106 amps using .8mm wire with ali thats abt 2 to 4 mill thick.
It has a small elec motor in the gun to pull the wire (as well as the feed from the mig) so you have to be having a really bad day for it to birds
nest!
Only thing is that it cost a few grand so it might cost more than the rest of the morgan project put together!!
One other thing.. we've found different wires can have a big effect on the quality of the weld.. we could only get harder wire for a bit and this was
too agreasive and made really shitty welds.
Hope some of that helps! 
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Viper
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| posted on 27/10/02 at 10:11 PM |
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welding
ok i know i am new to this site but there is one thing i know is welding i have been doing it for the last 25 years, don't even attempt welding alli
with a mig, its ok on thick stuff but even then looks shite. don't go near it with oxy accy unless you are very experianced you need a TIG set and
some real tuition. alli doesn't appear to get hot get it to hot and you end up with a puddle on the floor, i am not trying to put you off just trying
to save you a shed load of grief, if you do manage to "stick" it with a mig set you will not be happy with the results and as far as its strength
goes????who knows..if i can help you in any way just ask, you neve know..
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semi42
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| posted on 28/10/02 at 06:54 AM |
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I've welded ali with a mig a few times.
must use a teflon liner and must use pure argon gas. the secret is getting the power and feed just right. A fairly decent weld can be obtained this
way. I was told by a guy at BOC "dont be bothered what ithe welding looks like, just blast it in,you can easily dress it up afterwards"
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chrisg
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| posted on 28/10/02 at 07:21 PM |
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Of course i made my nose cone from ali using gas welding, but then I'm good
Cheers
The god of welding
Note to all: I really don't know when to leave well alone. I tried to get clever with the mods, then when they gave me a lifeline to see the
error of my ways, I tried to incite more trouble via u2u. So now I'm banned, never to return again. They should have done it years ago!
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 28/10/02 at 08:22 PM |
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for the little welding I did do, i discovered an easy way to do it.
A stuff called Technoweld.
Its basically braising / soldering for alu.
You can join alu with just a blow torch!
www.hindleys.com/technoweld
its says they supply it to education, but will sell to anyone.
it seems to work and is as easy as soldering large objects together with a blow torch.
atb
steve
ps - its about 20 quid for 20 1 ft lengths
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locodude
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| posted on 28/10/02 at 08:27 PM |
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Is this the nose cone on the car that's never been seen or ever likely to! Or am I just being cynical. BTW you have mail!
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