Anything welding

Do you use ac pulse at all? also what machine are you using for that aluminum tig?

 

You have a habit of knocking anything that isn’t mig and knock anything that is truely impressive as not being useful.

I use my tig more than just about anything. I also switch to my stick or mig machines if the job dictates one of them. Each job has a preferred welding type. If you have more than one trick in your bag or more than one type of machine you have the ability to choose. Those with limited equipment or skills don’t have these options.

I can do delicate work with mig and then grind the excess away or I can tig it and be done in less time. I don’t tig my deck on my lawn tractor or mig something I can’t get into to grind the poop off. I choose my machine based on the job at hand.

I would hate to ONLY have stick or ONLY mig or tig. They all have their place and I prefer one over the other depending on what I am doing. It gives me flexibility in what I am able to fabricate or repair. Some jobs are just about impossible with only one trick.

 

No problem. I asked to be flamed. I've never hid the fact I'm pro mig.

I know from experience the mig unit will be much more useful to the average home, hobbyist welder. I also know I don't have enough lifetime to master both.

I've often thought this thread was aimed at those wanting to learn welding to work on their Toyota trucks. I just don't see that many opertunities that TIG welding would be the choice.

I still stand by my opinion that mig welding is better for novice welders.

I would like to be convinced otherwise. I'm sorry that I sound so negative towards TIG welding. It was only meant as an opinion. I may have come across to harsh. Will tone it down... If I can.

 

I never use pulse, not really worth my time.

I use a Miller syncrowave 350, (https://www.millerwelds.com/equipment/welders/tig-gtaw/syncrowave-350-lx-tig-welders-m15700)

 

Preach brother

 

100% agree. There is a reason why the guys in the industry call them "Mig Monkeys". It's easier for training and logistics for large/small businesses to run mig because of the cost. It's easy / cheap.

However, move to an alloy metal and have critical tolerance, pressure testing, and show quality requirements, that cost quickly goes up. It's very easy to understand how GTAW is the go-to for certain applications.

We're not picking teams here. Use what you have and make it work.

 

The thread title is "anything welding" not mig welding for beginners. He did a kick ass job welding a Lambo intercooler, I would be proud too. Love seeing that stuff

 

Debating upon getting a hobart 252, my miller matic grew lega. Anyone have experience with these. Not in a big hurry cause my service truck has a hobart welder generator that is capable of 3/4 inch. Loved the miller but not licking the prices.

 

Mig Monkey
I might adopt that. Although I can stick weld as that is how I learned.

 

I agree mig is the most versatile IF you only will ever own one machine.



I personally HATED stick for years but that was mostly based on starting with a AC stick machine which is a real piece of work to master. There is a reason the cheapest stick machines are AC and there is a reason most who hate stick happen to own an AC stick. In trade school I learned how easy it was to master stick and for the most part it is all I use at work due to the fact our mobile welders are propane fuelled generator / stick machines. I stick weld in my sleep now.

I picked up a DC tig simply so I could learn on. It was my favourite machine up to recently. You can do some really delicate work with it or crank it up and melt metal. It really isn’t that hard to learn. On many decorative things around the house I don’t even bother with filler metal many times. My new favourite is my AC/DC tig. Bought it specifically for aluminum. Aluminum is tricky so I won’t downplay it but once you figure out the major tricks it melts and joins metal just like every other procedure. Aluminum is all about cleanliness and removing oxides. You make a few mistakes like having bad balance control and transfer tungsten into the puddle and then wonder why it is fighting you. You lose your mind until you realize that oxides take much more heat to melt and then move to the edge of the puddle and the lower melting point aluminum just drops out on you. Once you figure it out it is no biggie.

So it really comes down to your wallet and your patience level. My tools and fabrication are my hobbies so I spend a lot more money on these than most. I hate having to take stuff to someone else so I tend to spend more than I should just so I can be able to do it myself. Don’t limit yourself by restricting yourself to one discipline and don’t give up when it is kicking your ass. I look at how much my aluminum tig welding has improved after just 2 projects. Small stuff like changing size of filler rod is something you pick up as you go but in the grand scheme of things once you master one discipline each new one is much easier. A German trained welder once told me “The puddle tells you everything you need to know. You just need to earn how to listen”.

My biggest advice to anyone learning how to weld or learn a new process is stop the practice welding on scrap. Once you are past the basic learning start a project. That way there is no more I’ll do better next pass. Each weld has to be a good weld. You tend to slow down and focus. You grind out the shit and start over. Otherwise you tend to stay sloppy and never push yourself to the limits of your ability. Make a project you want to keep and you will plan, focus and execute better and your welds will show it.

Here are some different processes with some like the fertilizer wagon using multiple processes. I wanted deep penetration on the main frame so I went stick and mig for the top deck “boards” for speed. No use for tig on that one.

 

Solid advice

 

I learned how to weld on a Lincoln 120 amp weldpac from Home Depot, and i would say the main thing it took was patience and practice

 

If I had to choose to have only one process it would be SMAW

Myself I think Tig welding is much easier then learning Mig Back when I learned in the early seventies .

In fact we learned Tig before Mig

The only downside is 7.45 hours of prep work to 15 minutes of Arc time

 

I own an ac/dc tig/stick and would not have it any other way.

 

@NeonTaco, I got a question maybe you can answer, what could be causing these holes that keep appearing as the puddle cools down after I pass by. It did it on a couple passes on this pipe I'm welding. It's all 6061 that was ground down then brushed really well with a stainless brush.
And about half the time when I go back over it to get it to fully fill I have had to add a ton of filler, otherwise if I just added another dip it would reappear.

 

It looks like there is a few things that are giving you trouble.

First off, there is a little "heat sand" (not a technical term LOL) see the little bumps all over the weld that look like grains of sand? That tells you that the piece is too hot, this is caused by one of two things:

Not letting the work cool enough between passes - or - too high of amperage. (could be both too)

Another thing I notice is the "frosting" is a little thin for my own personal preference. I like to run my balance/dig at a 7 or 8 depending on the material thickness and tungsten size. So I suggest you turn your cleaning up/ penetration down. This will allow the arc to spread slightly and heat the aluminum more evenly, not to mention keep you from creating boogers on the inside of the pipe. Here is a weld I did a few minutes ago to show you what I mean:

(Ruler for scale, no need to measure the amount of arc cleaning.)

Lastly and most importantly, shielding gas. The most likely culprit of pinholes is contaminated shielding gas. There are a lot of factors here to check. Make sure your gas lines are intact, make sure there is no large amount of wind blowing at the weld, make sure you have the proper cup & tungsten (changes flow rate), make sure your regulator is set right for the size cup/type of gas. Try out post/pre flow settings, and see if that helps any. Verify tungsten stick out & arc length. (big cause of pinholes) the type of shielding gas is also critical for aluminum. And lastly, purge the pipe on root pass if you need to. (you may not)

Also a achohol based thinner or cleaner works wonders at removing grease and crap before welding.

I use 3/32 on 1/8 plate or less and 1/8 on 3/16+ with a size 5-8 ceramic cups, I use straight argon, but some mixed gases can work better.

I hope this helps you.

 

I use sodium hydroxide (lye) as my cleaning agent for aluminum. I buy it in crystal form and mix it with water. It is nasty stuff so ventilation and all proper PPE are required. Do your research as mixing it with water causes a strong reaction and can melt your container due to the heat produced and glass can explode so it is a big non no.

The reason for using sodium hydroxide is it melts the oxides including anodizing. It will actually eat the aluminum if left long enough in a strong enough solution. Wipe the remaining solution off and SS brush the oxides off. Dispose of the rags and any contaminated materials properly. It is a naturally occurring alkaline base (opposite of acid but just as nasty) that will “bio-degrade” as it is watered down and neutralized.

Aluminum is free of oxides if done properly and is so nice to weld after.

 

Hey man just lettin you know the Al Isnt exactly free of oxide after this, not to get too long winded, but aluminium is highly reactive with o2, so much so that after the sodium hydroxide removes the oxide from the aluminium, the clean Al pulls the oxygen molecules out of the water, and this releases h2, so be aware that the immediate environment is very flammable at best. (also as a result the aluminium re-oxidizes during this process, obviously)

 

I am not sure what you are trying to say or your actual point?

My point is I use sodium hydroxide as a cleaning agent to remove oxides from aluminum for welding. It has less oxides after cleaning chemically and then mechanically brushed which allows for it to be welded easier with less issues than trying to melt heavy layers of oxides. Does it succeed at doing this? Yes.

Your point is chemically it isn’t pure? It isn’t laboratory “free of oxides” as I claim? In the context of the topic of cleaning aluminum for welding it is “free” of oxides or reduced to insignificant levels. This topic is not about laboratory levels of purity or cleanliness. It is about welding prep which is the context and nothing else. I apologize if I have missed your point. But from my perspective you are muddying the waters in an attempt to reach a level of accuracy that is unwarranted for the context of this discussion. You could tell me how all this happens at a molecular level or subatomic levels and it would still have no place in the discussion about how to clean aluminum for welding.

 

Everyone just shut up and weld.