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Welding Aluminum?

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Has anyone here ever done it? I think it must be like voodoo magic or something. I can weld most anything and i felt like a short bus rider trying to weld aluminum plate.:D

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.

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What are you using? Stick electrodes?

For aluminium plate try to get hold of a pulsed MIG welder. I welded some 5mm thick plate and tube with that (a long time ago). I found that fairly easy to do and that turned out looking not too nasty. But a pro-welder helped me to set all the parameters on the machine, I wouldn't have a clue to do that myself. As I understood the pulsed welding allows you to weld at a lower temperature, not overheating the material (very important with aluminium). Otherwise you could use TIG (AC!).

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Did it for about four years in the mid 80's.
Mostly square tubing, building prefabricated greenhouse.

Alot of fun. Much cleaner and cooler than steel. I really just like the pretty blue light.
The quality of the welds really improves if you've got a foot pedal control. You can back the heat off as the weld gets longer. It keeps the bead even.

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I do it all the time. I only do it with the TIG process. I know geezers say they can do it with a gas torch but that looks like bird turd. And its why the TIG Process was invented in the 40's.

Little MIG buzz boxes can't do it, the bond is weak. You can do it with an expensive pulse MIG machine but the wire has to be pulled at the gun ( big wire spool gun ) and in the end it still looks like a MIG job, AKA a big point and shoot robot.

Cleanliness : everything, base metal, filler rods and associated tools have to totally cleaned. I have dedicated tools for use so as not to get bits or other metals in there grinding wheels for tungston, wire brushes etc. Melted AL is porous and will suck in any impurity.
In doing steals you can use solvents: acetone,thinners etc. NOT in Aluminum, no VOCs! You can use degreasers like simple green or dishwashing soap and these must be completely rinsed with clean water and dry.
Wave balance controls will help with penetration Vs purity but they are not a requirement.

You have to be a pig for comfort. And it helps if you have experience acetelene welding steals because the TEMP control is similar although not as forgiving with Aluminum. Hope this helps.

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For aluminium plate try to get hold of a pulsed MIG welder. I welded some 5mm thick plate and tube with that (a long time ago). I found that fairly easy to do and that turned out looking not too nasty. But a pro-welder helped me to set all the parameters on the machine, I wouldn't have a clue to do that myself. As I understood the pulsed welding allows you to weld at a lower temperature, not overheating the material (very important with aluminium). Otherwise you could use TIG (AC!).




Agreed!! I have to tig aluminium all the time and for people that have little to no time on a tig machine a wire feed can improve their results.

Remember that you have to switch gas to straight argon and make sure you are properly set up with aluminum wire and proper gun.

If you are tig welding ball your electrode on DC+ prior to starting then switch to AC with High Freq.
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Cant you use Crazy Glue? :ph34r:



Auctually with the new adheasive technology out there you can bond metal together without ever welding. You can even bond dissimilar metals with ease, or even Metal to Carbon Fiber. That is afterall how they put planes together now.
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If you are going to TIG make sure you have the biggest tungsten you can get in your torch handle also the biggesat collar that fits your cinditions { fillet , flat or butt .A green painted identifier tungsten works best over red 2% .get copper bar stock to strike an arc on to ball the tip round ,aim the tip towards the thickest metal strike your arc and wait until it starts to flow dip your rod in and let it fill the gap then bring the torch down the line asyou go . easy huh if you are welding 3/8 ti 1/4 you can preheat with a propane torch some .Ihope this helps ,my son wants to go to bed, good night.

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Has anyone here ever done it? I think it must be like voodoo magic or something. I can weld most anything and i felt like a short bus rider trying to weld aluminum plate.:D



I thought your leg was healing up well. Do you think all this welding is necessary?
Just take it slow the first few jumps.:P:P
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