Aluminum Welding - Here is the welding of aluminum alloys for beginners. This post will provide some guidelines in which if the basis for the beginner, it is still far from a comprehensive tutorial just 3 main tips and links to more complete resource for you.
The first equipment you need:
A TIG (GTAW) welders. Most sources say TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) welder, also called GTAW (Gas Tungsten Arc Welder), is the best method of welding aluminum.
Good welding gloves. I have a welding glove ugly and painful blisters to prove it.
A good welding helmet.
Argon gas. The mixture will not work for aluminum with the exception of a mixture of Argon / Helium.
Aluminum welding rod. which seems to be the most recommended is 4043.
A special stainless steel brush that is only used for aluminum.
A metal bench would be nice.
A spray bottle with water. This is not for cooling the work, was to extinguish small fires that are not large enough to use a fire extinguisher on.
The next thing is VERY important: heavy cotton work shirt sleeve length.
Clamps or Vise Grips or anything else you would use to save your work at a place and a few blocks or bars of aluminum or copper to be used as a heat sink.
Once the equipment is met, then the following is a guide for you:
1 - Clean aluminum are the most important tip that I have .. I read this in several places before I start practicing welding, but it does not seem so pervasive and I wasted a lot of metal with trying to weld two pieces of dirty aluminum together. ALUMINIUM WHICH LOOKS BRAND NEW AND CLEAN IS REALLY DIRTY. IT'S NOT LIKE STEEL.
Here are some signs that you are dirty aluminum.
An arc-wander you can not get a puddle started without burning through or distort the metal
Your charger will not blend into a puddle of water, instead of rolling it becomes difficult to re-melt the ball.
Aluminium appears to have a surface tension, such as beads of water on the surface of the wax.
When trying to join two pieces of the edges are curved away from each other and form a larger gap.
This is what happened: Aluminium quickly form a layer more or less visible aluminum oxide. Aluminum oxide melts at a temperature three times that of aluminum. When you try to weld aluminum koto, aluminum under a layer of aluminum oxide will melt but the aluminum oxide layer will remain solid and act as a membrane, like a water balloon. When you finally managed to penetrate the layer, the aluminum is very runny part flows out at once, like a water balloon exploding.
2 - Clamp your work to a heatsink made of copper or aluminum whenever possible. Aluminium transmits heat well. Once the area you are trying to weld gets hot enough to melt, the rest of the work may be so hot that it is shrinking and warping. Using a heat sink under the welded area will absorb some heat and helps keep the work from warping.
3 -. Preheat before welding it makes a LOT easier to weld aluminum. This is not a subject without controversy. The problem is that some of the aluminum heat treatment process, and with a heated aluminum heating and cooling will get softer. I've read opinions ranging from "heat treated aluminum should not be heated" and "pre-heating is a crutch for an experienced welder", to the opposite extreme, "aluminum must be preheated to prevent cracking." Recommended preheating temperature range from 275 deg. F, up to 500 deg. F. I suspect that a lot of opinion in the context of their own right. The exact procedure may vary for welding door spacecraft in a vacuum chamber and welding of cracked cylinder heads. One thing I know for sure is welding a thick piece of aluminum with our 165A welder without preheating is impossible. I've tried to weld two pieces of 8 mm thick aluminum with no preheating welding result is very shallow and weak, the circuit breaker tripped twice and welder overheated and shut down after every two inches welded. I do not have an oven handy, so I use a propane torch aimed at clamping my heat sink and work for an infrared thermometer to tell when it's hot enough. I usually can not get a job at any hotter than 350 degrees, so. I use that temperature. I've considered getting cheap used electric oven or electric hot plate but not yet. I do not use a torch directly on the job. I do not know if it will cause problems or not, I feel more comfortable heating heat sink instead.
Here above is a guide that munkin incomplete. If you want the completeness of the guide above you can see in http://www.artsautomotive.com/publications/8-automotive/86-welding-beginner-guide-to-aluminum. Similarly, a review that I can present to you.
The first equipment you need:
A TIG (GTAW) welders. Most sources say TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) welder, also called GTAW (Gas Tungsten Arc Welder), is the best method of welding aluminum.
Good welding gloves. I have a welding glove ugly and painful blisters to prove it.
A good welding helmet.
Argon gas. The mixture will not work for aluminum with the exception of a mixture of Argon / Helium.
Aluminum welding rod. which seems to be the most recommended is 4043.
A special stainless steel brush that is only used for aluminum.
A metal bench would be nice.
A spray bottle with water. This is not for cooling the work, was to extinguish small fires that are not large enough to use a fire extinguisher on.
The next thing is VERY important: heavy cotton work shirt sleeve length.
Clamps or Vise Grips or anything else you would use to save your work at a place and a few blocks or bars of aluminum or copper to be used as a heat sink.
Once the equipment is met, then the following is a guide for you:
1 - Clean aluminum are the most important tip that I have .. I read this in several places before I start practicing welding, but it does not seem so pervasive and I wasted a lot of metal with trying to weld two pieces of dirty aluminum together. ALUMINIUM WHICH LOOKS BRAND NEW AND CLEAN IS REALLY DIRTY. IT'S NOT LIKE STEEL.
Here are some signs that you are dirty aluminum.
An arc-wander you can not get a puddle started without burning through or distort the metal
Your charger will not blend into a puddle of water, instead of rolling it becomes difficult to re-melt the ball.
Aluminium appears to have a surface tension, such as beads of water on the surface of the wax.
When trying to join two pieces of the edges are curved away from each other and form a larger gap.
This is what happened: Aluminium quickly form a layer more or less visible aluminum oxide. Aluminum oxide melts at a temperature three times that of aluminum. When you try to weld aluminum koto, aluminum under a layer of aluminum oxide will melt but the aluminum oxide layer will remain solid and act as a membrane, like a water balloon. When you finally managed to penetrate the layer, the aluminum is very runny part flows out at once, like a water balloon exploding.
2 - Clamp your work to a heatsink made of copper or aluminum whenever possible. Aluminium transmits heat well. Once the area you are trying to weld gets hot enough to melt, the rest of the work may be so hot that it is shrinking and warping. Using a heat sink under the welded area will absorb some heat and helps keep the work from warping.
3 -. Preheat before welding it makes a LOT easier to weld aluminum. This is not a subject without controversy. The problem is that some of the aluminum heat treatment process, and with a heated aluminum heating and cooling will get softer. I've read opinions ranging from "heat treated aluminum should not be heated" and "pre-heating is a crutch for an experienced welder", to the opposite extreme, "aluminum must be preheated to prevent cracking." Recommended preheating temperature range from 275 deg. F, up to 500 deg. F. I suspect that a lot of opinion in the context of their own right. The exact procedure may vary for welding door spacecraft in a vacuum chamber and welding of cracked cylinder heads. One thing I know for sure is welding a thick piece of aluminum with our 165A welder without preheating is impossible. I've tried to weld two pieces of 8 mm thick aluminum with no preheating welding result is very shallow and weak, the circuit breaker tripped twice and welder overheated and shut down after every two inches welded. I do not have an oven handy, so I use a propane torch aimed at clamping my heat sink and work for an infrared thermometer to tell when it's hot enough. I usually can not get a job at any hotter than 350 degrees, so. I use that temperature. I've considered getting cheap used electric oven or electric hot plate but not yet. I do not use a torch directly on the job. I do not know if it will cause problems or not, I feel more comfortable heating heat sink instead.
Here above is a guide that munkin incomplete. If you want the completeness of the guide above you can see in http://www.artsautomotive.com/publications/8-automotive/86-welding-beginner-guide-to-aluminum. Similarly, a review that I can present to you.
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