Ahp Tig welder 200x

   / Ahp Tig welder 200x #61  
Are you cleaning/brushing the oxide layer off of the aluminum before welding? Hard to tell from the pic but looks shiny as tho you did not uses a SS brush to first clean the alum?

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No, not yet. I was mainly just experimenting with the pedal.
 
   / Ahp Tig welder 200x
  • Thread Starter
#62  
No, not yet. I was mainly just experimenting with the pedal.
A tip for laying a straight bead if I may...
Use a straight edge and an awl to score 2 parallel lines about 1/4" apart.

You can then lay your bead while following the score marks

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   / Ahp Tig welder 200x #63  
A tip for laying a straight bead if I may...
Use a straight edge and an awl to score 2 parallel lines about 1/4" apart.

You can then lay your bead while following the score marks

Sent from my iPhone 5s 64Gb using TractorByNet
Nice idea. I already said I refuse to practice and waste argon & tungsten. This morning I welded an old Lawnboy 2-cycle mower body for a neighbor. He knows you're not supposed to use those anymore, but they are so light and easy to load. It was broken near the front left wheel and the wheel was actually about to fall off. It is as good as new now. More interested in seeing how durable this machine is and whether it is worth the $720 for the average farmer or small rancher.
 
   / Ahp Tig welder 200x #64  
Well I tried 3 beads with the cleaning brush and they looked awful. Then I realized my Argon was turned off and I burned up my last little bit of Tungsten. Did quite a bit of welding with just that 6" piece Kenny had donated to me a few weeks ago though. I'll get some more in a few days. Thanks for the input. I need it.
 
   / Ahp Tig welder 200x #65  
An update: Machine still very solid. On my 2nd 150 cf bottle of gas. WARNING: TIG welding is addictive! Kenny told me that once I got familiar with TIG that I wouldn't use my arc welder anymore and I think he was right. Today I TIG welded steel to repair a foot peg for a Suzuki S40. 3/8" plate cut to about 3/4" wide. Set the machine on DC and 135 amps. Wow, I used filler on the first weld, but on the other side I just melted the two pieces together. Cannot even tell it was welded.
Found out one of the aluminum plates I have been trying to practice on was laying in a puddle of mud mixed with diesel for about 6 weeks. What a waste of time and argon. No amount of cleaning and brushing would stop dirty, porous welds. Now if there is some trick to cleaning a piece of aluminum like that I'd love to hear about it since I'll probably be asked to repair an oily chain guard or clutch cover at some point.
 
   / Ahp Tig welder 200x #66  
An update: Machine still very solid. On my 2nd 150 cf bottle of gas. WARNING: TIG welding is addictive! Kenny told me that once I got familiar with TIG that I wouldn't use my arc welder anymore and I think he was right. Today I TIG welded steel to repair a foot peg for a Suzuki S40. 3/8" plate cut to about 3/4" wide. Set the machine on DC and 135 amps. Wow, I used filler on the first weld, but on the other side I just melted the two pieces together. Cannot even tell it was welded.
Found out one of the aluminum plates I have been trying to practice on was laying in a puddle of mud mixed with diesel for about 6 weeks. What a waste of time and argon. No amount of cleaning and brushing would stop dirty, porous welds. Now if there is some trick to cleaning a piece of aluminum like that I'd love to hear about it since I'll probably be asked to repair an oily chain guard or clutch cover at some point.
Acetone, wire brush (not contaminated), and then Acetone again.
 
   / Ahp Tig welder 200x #67  
Yep, acetone, and a new stainless steel wire brush. And never use that stainless steel wire brush on anything but aluminum again!
 
   / Ahp Tig welder 200x #68  
Got the brush and acetone. Went to Ace instead of Home Depot. Also bought a wire rotary brush. It looks like stainless but wasn't labeled. That may have been the culprit.
 
   / Ahp Tig welder 200x #69  
Like everyone else said clean with Acetone and stainless brush. Plus heat it up to 400-500 degrees to burn off any embedded oil and dirt.
 
   / Ahp Tig welder 200x #70  
Like everyone else said clean with Acetone and stainless brush. Plus heat it up to 400-500 degrees to burn off any embedded oil and dirt.
Heating it up is a problem. This is 3/16" plate that was in the scrap pile. I cut the plates down to 4'x3' with the plasma cutter to make them easier to load. I made roof supports for one of Tina's barns last week with some of the stuff and the welds were acceptable.
 

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