Aluminum Welding

[Texas_Signmaker]

How difficult is it to pick it up? I have experience soldering electronics back in my computer/tv repair days and it seems like it could be a similar, but more complex version of that.. running hotter.

 

[Gino]

You can learn overnight. It's how good do you want to become ?? I never got any good at it, but I have a guy who is a master at it and his real job, has nothing to do with welding whatsoever. It's a sideline for him, now.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Definitely much different than soldering. Mig would be easier to learn but tig looks better.

 

[Pauly]

It depends how strong you want it to hold and how good you want it to look.

You can use a TIG Which is the most common method. Or use a MIG with a spool gun.
And it also depends what it is as aluminium needs to stay hot to weld properly. Aluminium being aluminium, a good heat sink, keeping heat in aluminium can be tricky.

It's definitely nothing like soldering, i can say that much.
Solder has a much lower melting point, so once the copper is hot enough, the solder will just melt. easy
Aluminium (and anything else you're welding) needs to be hot enough to melt, so yeah if you dont do a good job, you'll be blowing holes in it instead of welding them together.

 

[rjssigns]

TIG or MIG with spool gun is the first question.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

TIG or MIG with spool gun is the first question.

That is a good question.. I was looking at both and they seem to be pros and cons for each depending on the situation. I was mostly looking at TIG

 

[MikePatterson]

Call me if you want to ask any questions. We run Miller equipment , both spool gun and TIG.

It will take to long to type out the pros and cons of both.

 

[rjssigns]

TIG has a steeper learning curve, is slower, has more heat input and larger heat affected zone, but welds are cleaner and look much better. You will also be able to weld other ferrous and nonferrous metals.
Silicon bronze on sheetmetal works a treat.
Spool gun for aluminum if for production/structural type welds. Gotta stick it together quickly and have it last.

TIG rigs??? Friend just bought a YESWELDER AC/DC rig. Inverter type rig weighs about 45 pounds. I think they're still offering a huge discount. Had a bad bottle of argon so he borrowed mine and the welds were much better. Haven't talked to him since he bought my bottle back.

Everlast is another one I'd take a look at along with PrimeWeld. Everlast has a cool waveform for hoggin' thick aluminum. Haven't tried it myself but would like to. You can find vids on YouTube.
In between the AC pulses it adds a DCEN pulse. DCEN pulse is for penetration.

Whatever rig you get look up WeldingTipsandTricks(Jody is an incredible teacher) and Pacific Arc TIG welding.
Then practice, practice, practice. Start out running beads with no filler. When you get good at that start adding filler

Good luck!

 

[Notarealsignguy]

With the thin garbage that signs are typically made of, TIG would be more versatile. You're not going to make 063 look remotely pretty trying to weld it with a spool gun. Either way, aluminum is more difficult than steel. You should learn how to mig carbon steel first and then move up to a spool gun and then onto a tig. I bought a Hobart 180 with a spool gun, havent used the spool gun yet but it was a pretty decent deal to get with it. Our tig broke and haven't had any real need to replace it.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

TIG has a steeper learning curve, is slower, has more heat input and larger heat affected zone, but welds are cleaner and look much better. You will also be able to weld other ferrous and nonferrous metals.
Silicon bronze on sheetmetal works a treat.
Spool gun for aluminum if for production/structural type welds. Gotta stick it together quickly and have it last.

TIG rigs??? Friend just bought a YESWELDER AC/DC rig. Inverter type rig weighs about 45 pounds. I think they're still offering a huge discount. Had a bad bottle of argon so he borrowed mine and the welds were much better. Haven't talked to him since he bought my bottle back.

Everlast is another one I'd take a look at along with PrimeWeld. Everlast has a cool waveform for hoggin' thick aluminum. Haven't tried it myself but would like to. You can find vids on YouTube.
In between the AC pulses it adds a DCEN pulse. DCEN pulse is for penetration.

Whatever rig you get look up WeldingTipsandTricks(Jody is an incredible teacher) and Pacific Arc TIG welding.
Then practice, practice, practice. Start out running beads with no filler. When you get good at that start adding filler

Good luck!

Thanks for the info. The guy I was watching had steps to learn how to do it... He said first start the weld pool right, then practice running straight lines keeping the weld pool the same width, then once you have that down you can add the filler. Seems like it would take a lot of practice to get the feel of it. I'd like to get to where I can weld some braces for an aluminum wall cabinet extrusion.

 

[fixtureman]

We have both and our Mig welds look just as good as our TIG welds. Mig is easier to learn and if you get good the welds will be great. We do a lot of aluminum trusses for Trade shows and they have to be pretty strong

 

[Signscorp]

We're also looking at doing this. My local university runs a 1 month night class that teaches it so I'll likely take that.

 

[rjssigns]

Thanks for the info. The guy I was watching had steps to learn how to do it... He said first start the weld pool right, then practice running straight lines keeping the weld pool the same width, then once you have that down you can add the filler. Seems like it would take a lot of practice to get the feel of it. I'd like to get to where I can weld some braces for an aluminum wall cabinet extrusion.

Can always check into a local community college. Many of them have night programs for beginners. Best part is for a small fee(that you can write off) you get to burn up their materials and have an expert right there to ask all the hows and whys.

Another thing to remember is to keep exposed skin covered. You can get away with it for really small jobs, like a few minutes or less. If you weld any longer than that with exposed skin you'll wish you had sunburn. Sunburn is easier to deal with. Learned that lesson a loooong time ago.

And get yourself a decent auto-darkening helmet. Cheap ones don't always darken when they're supposed to leading to arc flash of your eyes. Remember the last time you got a speck of dirt in your eye?
Imagine both eyes being covered in those specs and it lasting for hours and hours. Good times. Learned that lesson way back when too.

Wear ear plugs too. Not so much a concern with TIG but better safe than sorry. One small BB from a weld pop gets in your ear and you'll invent a new dance, possibly go deaf as a bonus.
I know folks that has happened too.

Since I'm on a safety roll, wear your safety glasses. Don't care if you're behind a welding helmet. Blind is forever. I happen to know too many of those folks too.

Overall learn what the correct PPE for welding and grinding is and use it every time.

On a lighter note. When TIG welding aluminum you will learn that hot aluminum is "magnetically" attracted to a hot tungsten.

 

[Gino]

Here's something I always heard about welding from when I got into this business and kinda wondered if it was true or not.

I know lotsa old-timers who welded and some wore the helmets and some didn't all the time. Anyway, 2 of the old guys I knew developed epilepsy and they claimed it was from welding...... all the bright flickering light and did something to brain waves or something.

Any truth to that ??

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I have never heard of that but it's a good way to go blind and get skin cancer. It is also bad on your lungs but very few welders wear respiratory protection

 

[netsol]

You can learn overnight. It's how good do you want to become ?? I never got any good at it, but I have a guy who is a master at it and his real job, has nothing to do with welding whatsoever. It's a sideline for him, now.

aluminum is a difficult material to weld and do a job you can brag about...

i welded fairly often, years ago. i recently discovered it is not like riding a bike.
i got up to speed again, but it is good that we had a dumpster, my first couple efforts were terrible

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

To get into the fab game? Do you plan on getting into shooting paint too?

 

[rjssigns]

I have never heard of that but it's a good way to go blind and get skin cancer. It is also bad on your lungs but very few welders wear respiratory protection

Good point. Forgot about that. I wear a Miller LPR-100. Works a treat. Was at a clients shop burnin' wire and the owner stopped and asked how much more there was to do. Told him about a days worth of work. He looked straight at me and said: "You can go home now". I asked if I did something wrong he said we're all gagging up there. Managed to smoke everybody out of the second floor offices and never smelled anything.

If you want to get grossed out look at the filters after a week of welding. Absolutely filthy and that would have been going in your lungs.

 

[Scotchbrite]

We've been MIG welding aluminum with a spool gun for the 22 years I've been here. I didn't see anyone mention, you should use straight Argon gas. Our welder is set up with 2 bottles and regulators; one for aluminum on the spool gun and the other CO2/Ar mix for steel.

Unless you're making welds for some sort of show piece, MIG should serve you well enough. Just like any welding, it works best if you have some scrap material to test things out and get the settings dialed in.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

So, the consensus is start with MIG welding? I don't think anything I would do would have welds showing. Eventually I'd like to be able to build an aluminum wall cabinet by myself, so all that would be internal welding I assume.