Tig / Mig / Aluminum / Stainless help

[woodlandfarms]

So what I am hearing is that any of the three additions will work, none jumps out as being particularly better than the other. No one has any thoughts on the 2000. The best I could do is just buy a TIG box but as I am going to have a heck of a time just buying the argon bottle and passing it off as something I have had for a while.... I can get a tig torch by the wife, will have to argue about the spool.

More questions. The tig torch mentions a foot pedal but it is not included. Thoughts on necessity?

No one has responded to Oxy for welding, but it seems to be an approved method. Anyone do it?

On the video, the guy says my tombstone will not work as it is a notched amperage (voltage?) and not infinitely variable. Anyone disagree? This will kill the TIG Torch and put me in spool only (or Oxy Torch). Wife will not allow a TIG box until I can prove the value of it.

 

[Arc weld]

TIG is the best for aluminum but that doesn't mean a spool gun won't give good results. There's thousands of shops using spool guns. To TIG weld aluminum you need to spend a bigger chunk of money cause you have to not only have AC current but high frequency to burn through the aluminum oxide. Any DC welder will work for TIG welding on steel or stainless steel and you don't have to have a foot pedal. A foot pedal or torch amperage control is really nice to have but you have to have a machine that is set up to use a remote amperage control. You could run a TIG torch off the DC side of a tombstone. You just couldn't vary your amperage.

 

[k0ua]

Here are my thoughts.. yes the stepped taps on your welder are less than ideal.. can you make good welds with it.. Yes you can.. Is the foot pedal for control a good thing to have.. yes you bet it is.. can you make good welds using "old school equipment and methods" yes you can.. The 2000. or henrob or cobra torch or the dillon torch or the million other names it has been marketed under. is to my mind still a torch.. Nothing magical about it.. can you weld aluminum with it.. Not without a heck of a lot of practice.. and don't forget the price of acetlyne and Oxy is not cheap. I have seen professionals weld aluminum with torches. But if you will notice, they are all older guys they have practiced a lot! The thing about welding is it is a journey.. This is not like going to Lowes and buying a drill, which you will be able to use effectively with a few minutes practice.. Welding can take years of practice, depending on how fast the individual learns. Here is another video of a tapped AC machine with an add on rectifier doing a pretty nice TIG welding job

Homemade Tig Welder - Tig Welding Old School with Scratch Start - YouTube

James K0UA

 

[Shield Arc]

On the video, the guy says my tombstone will not work as it is a notched amperage (voltage?) and not infinitely variable. Anyone disagree? This will kill the TIG.

You could try this old trick, I've never tried it, but have all the confidence in the world it will work! This was posted on another site by a member who passed away couple years ago. Rest in peace Ken!
I respected and admired this gentleman immensely! He was a weldor and engineer.

Dropper resistor trick for CC constant current machines only!
You need to use a dropper resistor made from a piece of 3/32" or 1/8" filler rod, depending on the amount of amps you want to drop.
Attach the 1/8" filler rod to the welding bench with a vise-grip and let it hang vertical then attach the ground clamp to the other end of the filler rod.
As the arc is established the filler rod (dropper resistor) will begin to heat thus lowering out-put amps at the torch / stinger.
CAUTION as the filler rod can become cherry red depending on the amount of amps being dropped.
To adjust for the correct amount of amps required of the weldment, one could trim the filler rod to different lengths or change the diameter although I've never found this to be necessary.

 

[k0ua]

Shield Arc, can you weld aluminum with a oxy fuel torch?.. I have seen it done, but I sure as heck haven't had any luck with it the couple of times I have tried. It seems to require a "touch" to know when that alum is going from solid to falling in the floor in about 1/10 of a second I guess the trick is keeping the torch moving just right or something. If I had to weld much aluminum I would have a nice HF AC capable TIG inverter welder. but I don't really need to weld much aluminum so far in my life.

James K0UA

 

[CNC Dan]

To TIG weld aluminum you need to spend a bigger chunk of money cause you have to not only have AC current but high frequency to burn through the aluminum oxide.

No. That's not true.
In older TIG machines that did not use square wave AC current, the HF had to remain on to re-start the arc that would go out as the AC current dropped to zero as it changed polarity.

Todays square wave AC welders change polatity so fast the arc can't cool off and it re-starts without any problems.

You do still need to use AC current for aluminum. But its the electrode positive part of the AC current that does the oxide cleaning.

 

[Shield Arc]

Shield Arc, can you weld aluminum with a oxy fuel torch?

No I've never tried it. One big reason I have a Dynasty 300, it Tig welds aluminum for me! All I have to do is turn it on!

You do still need to use AC current for aluminum.

No. That's not true.

Old school Tig welding on DC with 100% helium.

 

[chub380]

I would just save a little while longer and get a tig machine,I like miller tigs but alot of guys seem to like thermals and these new chinese ones advertised on here, Nice thing with a tig you can weld almost all kinds of metal plus you can stick weld with it for your heaver metal and outdoor projects, If alum is important to you i would get a tig ,if you dont care about that, a mig may be fine[.Edit] I should have read your post better didnt realize you alrady had equipt. to do alum on your buzzbox you would need hf box would not recommend that, you could eaisily use your buzzbox to weld s/s with great results with reg s/s rods Your mig would be great from anything super thin to about 3/16 mild steel You can get a different gas mix for your mig to do s/s but i would just use your stick welder

 

[CNC Dan]

No. That's not true.

Old school Tig welding on DC with 100% helium.

well, yes. You sure can do it. But for most of us mortals, AC works out better. If helium wasn't so expensive I'd have my argon tank filled with helium and give it a try.

 

[Arc weld]

Square wave TIG machines have been around for quite a while. I used to have a Lincoln Square Wave TIG 255 with the digital control panel. On a transformer rectifier machine you still need continuous high frequency on the AC output, even if it's square wave, when welding aluminum but on DC you can just use it for the start. On inverter based machines like a Miller Dynasty, which is also square wave, you don't need continuous high frequency for aluminum but do need it at the start. The reason you don't need continuous HF on an inverter is because inverters themselfs work on the high frequency principle. Transformer machines operate at 60 cycles where inverter machines operate over 1000 cycles. I've tried finding out the frequency inverters use but couldn't get an exact number except it can be over a 1000 cycles. That would explain why continuous HF isn't required. As far as changing polarity, the high end machines allow you adjust the balance/time between the - and + of the AC cycle. The electrode positive side does provide cleaning action but without the HF to cut through the aluminum oxide, that melts at a higher temp. than the base metal, you wouldn't get a sound weld. A tombstone is a very basic machine and doesn't have square wave. You can buy HF controls but they will cost more than the tombstone. I think a Miller 251 HF is about $800.