Anything welding

don't feel bad kase, this is 6 attempts by people in my machine shop class from a number of years ago......

granted it's aluminum, but still.

 

I take it that that perfect bead was yours?

 

it would not be a false statement

little hot at the end, but i'll take it for a first go.

 

Once you have years of practice,,your welds will look like this. It really doesn't get any better than John's work.
http://marcellamanifolds.net/images/Images.html

This is all tig, done by one man for the most part, who has been in the biz for many many years. He is about the best tig welder I have ever seen.

 

that some great looking aluminum work. that's one thing I never got really good at was tigging aluminum. I can do it, and it looks ok, but nothing like that. and not like I can do with any other process on any other common material. I can wire-feed aluminum fine. we used to have some bad-ass push-pull guns when we were doing a lot of aluminum. run one of those and never want to pick up another spool-gun

 

Question;

When welding up spindle gussets to the stock spindles is there anything that should be done? I seem to remember seeing some info about heating them up in the over prior, due to being hardened. Advice?

 

If you are doing them on the truck and it's 4x4 be sure to cover the cv boots with a weld blanket. Preheating is never a bad idea but not a really big deal if you don't, just don't cook em.

 

Thanks, it will be done off the truck. Picked up a spare set from a prerunner guy a couple months ago.

 

Coming along nicely. Every time I finish a TIG weld, I bump the stop with a file just to make certain no crack can emerge from it. Not a very common problem on stainless, but worth the extra second or two. I've worked for companies that fire on the first failed xray or hydro. Lookin' damn good though

 

Probably more for the fab thread tho that doesn't get much play these days. There is welding involved...

http://vimeo.com/16435404

 

I wouldn't mind you as a teacher

 

there's a fab thread? didn't know that, probably where i belong

looks like it'll turn out nice. I'm gonna go super simple on mine and make it outta3x5 or something likethat.

 

Of course, after I call it slow, it perks up again The fab thread.

 

Not bad. You gonna add some recovery points or just use the hitch?

 

so i have a question for all you welding gurus. A few years back I took a few courses on tig welding through the community college and got fairly proficient at it. Now that I am on my own I want to get back into welding. It seems that most people prefer to mig weld vs tig weld around these places. A few projects I want to work on are some slots in my toolbox (aluminum) for an air compressor, bumper (who doesnt want to do this), and a bed rack to hold a high lift/spare tire or whatever else i decide to do. Also have some things I want to build that are non truck related but everything will be a max of 1/2" steel and a min of whatever guage i use for toolbox slots.

So i guess my question is how hard is mig welding vs tig welding, would i be able to learn without any more classes, and would a 110 mig be able to handle these projects. i know with the low voltage i will have to work with the corners of the thicker stuff to get good penetration but I have quite a few moves coming up in my future and im not sure if i will have access to a 220 plug.

 

You're gonna want a 220 machine regardless if you want to do aluminum. A 110 machine will struggle at 1/4" steel so keep that in mind.

As far as difficulty, mig is about a million times easier than tig. For mig aluminum look into getting a spool gun.

 

Dont get stuck with a 110v machine, they're underpowered. You can however pick up some newer welders that are dual voltage with an adapter plug and will run off of 110/220, obviously when connected to 220 it packs a bit more punch for the thicker stuff.
You can also find some multiprocess welders that to MIG/TIG/Arc welding all in one (like my ThermalArc 211i). One catch is they're usually DC only machines and not suitable for TIG on aluminum. You'll need AC tig for aluminum, there are a few lower end AC/DC TIG welders out there that are pretty solid for just doing some around the shop welding on ocassion.
If you get a MIG, then you'll need to pick up a spool gun for aluminum(you can also add this into the ThermalArc multiprocess machines) which is an added cost, so keep that in mind. Spool guns vary between 250-700 for the majority, and bump over a grand for a few of the nicer ones for the bigger welders.
MIG is very easy to learn(Alum mig is a little harder) so if you can TIG, just watch a few MIG videos and understand how to set up your welder and you should be good to go. Obviously with TIG, its a bit slow for long welds on a plate bumper or such, thats where MIG usually comes into play as it lays a lot of weld quick, but is far less accurate than TIG as the trade off.

 

so MIG welders can weld aluminum running on DC? I completely forgot about the dual voltage machines and will look into them. I won't be doing too much aluminum but still want the ability to do it. that was the main reason i had for TIG but a MIG would probably be better for my purposes. Thanks for the input guys.

 

yes, when wire-feeding aluminum, it is done dc, electrode positive. I have always used 100% argon. if you get a spool gun, make sure the wire you use is compatible with your material. that's where I get lost on aluminum is alloy compatibility and heat-treatable vs. non heat treatable. there are charts available if you google it I think

high-freq ac for tig as im sure you know.

 

interesting. Clearly I have a lot to learn about MIG