There was a stand at Stoneleigh showing off some new Aluminium welding product that looked pretty good. Anyone tried it? Is it any good?
i believe several people (not me!) bought it at detling where the same guy was doing the same demo. similar to lumiweld as far as i can make out. very
difficult to get good penetration, especially on thicker materials and you need one of the hotter blow torch gases to get good results from what
i've heard. happy to be corrected though.
Ned.
I think its ok on things that are not too highly stressed, Its more like brazing than welding.
The guy makes it look easy eh!
Steve,
The secret was to scratch through the oxide with a screwdriver blade - I believe that Lumiweld supply a stainless scraper / brush with their kit which
has the same purpose.
It was certainly a strong joint - I couldn't break it with two pairs of pliers!
Get someone with a TIG machine that accepts beer payment to do it properly for you!!
Gimmicks for the layman!
All things like this come and go.
There is a place for this product, but tig is the only way to go if you want the job done properly.
What does a proper TIG cost? One capiable of welding aliminum?
afaik about a grand for one thats any good.
Ned.
quote:
Originally posted by NS Dev
Get someone with a TIG machine that accepts beer payment to do it properly for you!!
Well I have just bought one that will make a lovely job on ally.
Incidentally it cost a lot less than a grand, (secondhand, £525) but then the associated costs mount up. An Argon contract with Air Products
isn't cheap, neither was getting the machine back from the other end of the country.
After doing a fair bit of research (and thanks to advice from those in the know on here) I came to the conclusion that it was far preferable to buy a
used industrial machine than a new inverter based machine made in china! There are a couple of industrial machines that can run on single phase 240v
(though you won't run em off a 13 amp plug!!! they need 30 amps plus), probably the two most common and reliable are the ESAB DTA 200 AC/DC
Squarewave and its almost identical equivalent, the MUREX Transtig 205 AC/DC Squarewave.
Also, the machine may be capable of a good job on ally but I am not just yet!!
i bought the lumiweld stuff for pottering about with. Luckily i know someone who lives nearby that accepts beer tokens for doing jobs and has just
bought himself a AC / DC tig welder. Unfortunately he's not very good yet. Give him time and i'm sure he'll be excellent 
Just thought Mike, your trailing arms will look quite nice tigged!!!
prefer migged ........ on the grounds i know you're really good at that 
maybe in a while !!!!!!
Nah Mike, my steel tigging is already better than Mig matey!!!!
Considering I've never really done much gas welding dc tig seems pretty easy to pick up.
Just got to improve my dipping skills to get the proper "fish scales" welds, I can get them, but not getting them perfectly even yet!
Ally is another story, but I'm getting there. I can run a non-fillered bead with consistent slight drop through, but dipping remains tricky!!
ok. i'll trust you!!!!!!!!
so when you selling the Mig setup?
(no i don't want it, really haven't got the space or the power supply into my garage)