I’ve gone through every speed/voltage combination the welder allows me. I’m guessing the problem is the irregular feed causing it to either pull the arc away or short against the piece. I’m using positive on the tip as instructed and I am using 100% argon. The Aluminum was scraped with a stainless wire brush, cleaned up with aluminum oxide sandpaper and I even polished the surface to see if it helps. My distance is about 3/4" and I’m using ER 4043 alloy wire, 0.9mm. And the welder is an older snap-on wire feed 110V MIG.
The regulator is bad, had it checked today and I can’t afford a replacement right now. It leaks through a breather hole just under the adjustment knob. It pretty much needs to be rebuilt or replaced. Travel speed I went for was the same I saw in just about every mig video available on youtube, I also tried faster and slower variations.
I use flux core wire for steel since I never actually had a tank for CO2. The welder I got in a trade, I re-upholstered a pair of motorcycle seats for a guy I used to ask [all the time] to weld stuff for me. He bought me a new spool as part of the deal as well.
I wish I could afford the spool gun, but I am very afraid that even with that investment, my welder is too crappy to handle the job. One day I’ll be able to make enough to buy a TIG welder.. I just saw a guy weld together two soda cans!!!
Or maybe I can just do this and forget about buying a welder..
Looks like an oxy-fuel setup, though I’ve never seen a torch like that before.
I don’t think it’s that your welder is crappy. I’m having an afterthought (my bad! I never said I was smart :walterpeck: ) Once you get your regulator fixed, look into getting a nylon liner for your mig gun’s whip (for use with aluminum.) If the feed is irrigular, it generally means that you need to change the contact tip or the liner (ie, a liner designed for steel wire won’t work with aluminum) The other possibility is that the tensioner on your roll of wire is to tight or that the tension on your drive rolls needs to be adjusted (to loose and it won’t feed. Too tight and it’ll flatten the wire and cause problems at the contact tip)
In my experience with my little 110v I use in the garage, 3/4" tip-to-work is to far for a 110v wire feeder. try 1/4" to 1/2."
Tig welding aluminum requires an ACHF (Alternating Current, High Frequency) power source.
Here’s some welded pop cans and razor blades. I’ve never tried it, but I’ve always wanted too.
IMO, I havn’t said anything yet (got destracted by the term “Weld!”) The pack you’re working on, the aluminum block on the arm as well as the V hooks look great!
The torch in the video is a newer setup from what I’ve researched.
Uses 4PSI of each gas and can be used to cut and weld aluminum, steel, stainless Either with rod, or fuse weld. Lots of videos on youtube of people using it and seems fairly straight forward. I am pretty confident I could built a complete gun with that torch.
Also, here’s what I’ve been cooking in my mind after talking to the guy at Aerogas.
If I get a spare gun cord, I’m looking into shortening the length of the cord (liner and gas line) to about 2 feet long. And just have the welder really close to the piece being welded. I figure it should be short enough to free the wire to move without much effort.
Or better yet, get a new one and just shorten the old one I have now.
Ok, so I’m back again to dish out on whats going on in my welding drama..
Tonight I finally plugged the darn thing in and tried to tig some scrap pieces together. Nothing!
I tried to get a decent looking pass on a single piece… Nothing…
Apparently things started to resemble the same poopy welds I was getting with the mig welder.
So slightly frustrated, and with arms slightly burned from UV exposure, I come back to the wonders of the internet and look up my problem…
It seems that I am supposed to switch the settings from DC, to AC, which in turn automatically cleans off the pesky layer of oxide that laughs at me every time I try to weld…
Duh, why didn’t I read that on the instruction manual? Oh yeah, it doesn’t have one… Haha.
So tomorrow, I’ll have to go shopping for the correct electrode (Lanthanated Tungsten), refill my little gas tank but this time with Argon/Helium and I’ll try again…
Meanwhile, lets all watch how this guy, makes it look so easy… LOL
It seems that I just can’t figure out what the problem is. All settings, default and recommended were used. I either get a nasty gray coating from the arc, or if I get a puddle going, it tends to keep growing and growing as I travel the arc.
Here’s what I got, nothing pretty like in the video yet. And its still impossible to get a puddle when joining two metal edges..
No matter how low the settings (even at 9-12 A) if I try to weld a butt joint, both edges get instantly eaten up and melt away. On a flat piece, its not even hot enough to start a puddle. I may also try a thinner tungsten rod. I’m using a 3/32 right now and i think its a bit heavy for 0.063 thickness.
So I had to resort back to the solder rods. I’ll try a few more times after I get another Argon refill. But for now, I might have to just accept that its going to take a ton more work to get a pretty weld. I still have the O2 torch method I can try someday. Or if I can find a smaller brazing torch tip, it might help too.
Here’s what I got with the solder rods… Smooth welds, oh well.
You’re learning though, so that’s a good thing! The gentleman in the video has quite a few years experience on you and Tig aluminum isn’t one of those things that you’re going to master overnight. I’ve never tig welded aluminum, but like you said, you need to use ACHF. The thin metal doesn’t make things any easier, mind you.
I’ve worked with a few pipe welders that could lay the nicest pipe caps that always left me baffled as to how they managed it! Laying a nice weld on plate in position is one thing, but on a pipe welded in position? Man…
Regardless, the gun looks good with the blended joints. keep it up!
There is a fellow on the following forum that does quite a bit of tig aluminum.
Maybe I’ll end up building the whole thing out of stainless since its not such a pain the butt to weld.
I mean, I could even just fusion weld it on stainless if I wanted but this aluminum thing is really a challenge. I just hope I can afford getting to the point I where I figured out how to remedy the problem..
I’ve welded/soldered many different metals, with different methods. But this one takes the cake!
Kudos to jimbo7 for hooking me up with the handles.
I had the chance to talk to a professional. He told me that tig welding 1/16th" aluminum is extremely hard. He’s been welding for 30 years and even he has a hard time with such thin material.. That made me feel soooo much better
I am also very impressed with the work done on the original packs and all of the beautiful welds on them… Now I need to find out what thickness metal was used on the packs…
He also told me the gray ■■■■ is from oxygen messing up my shielding gas flow. meaning, now I have to move the welder indoors.. I’ll try again.
this build is turning out great man. you really did a good job rounding the front of the gun infront of the vents to match the screen used guns. not a lot of people do that.
That body is actually all one piece just folded to shape. I have to do the front section separate (also noticed the real guns are separated there as well) because the machine I have only bends one way if less than 2 inches long.
That’s good too because I want to use a slightly thicker plate up front to avoid any bending of the front handle.
If I build myself a 3" 90 degree corner press, I believe I can bend the whole gun box as one piece.
I’ll be stopping by Skycraft for the thicker plate and finish the base body. I still need to bend the two pieces that go at the front of the barrel and find a section of the same pipe for the short cylinder up in front of the box.
Or palm rest as some call it.
Meanwhile I’m trucking along with the tig to see if I manage to improve my welding dilemma.
