aluminum welding

[Lea]

Has anyone tried aluminum welding with mig welder, what kind of shielding gas is required?
Any tips or pionters would be welcome, I am a novice at welding, but someone told me that you can weld aluminum with a mig welder, comments?
Thanks Guys

 

[automech]

Straight argon gas, aluminum wire with teflon liner in gun. More preferable, a spool gun or push pull setup for wire feeder as aluminum wire is soft and tends to hang up.

 

[yomax4]

Much depends on the welder it's self. If it's 115v, You may be able to weld 1/8" Aluminum. No more no less. Argon Gas, Teflon Liner in the gun and U grooved drive rolls would make it "possible" with 5356 wire.. Always start with excess wire speed to prevent burn back until you get the hang of it. Best case is to add a spoolgun to your machine. Makes it a little more enjoyable and you can run 4043 wire for more fluidity. I run a twin pulse high def synergic unit that alows me to weld aluminum as easily as steel. I do remember the old days though and a spool gun is the most viable if you have a conventional mig machine. Just don't expect x-ray quality welds. Give it a try, it's fun stuff.

 

[Shield Arc]

I'll add this to the already great advice given, if you can raise your machine above the work, let gravity help you.
I had a Cobramatic I ran off my Mig machine for years, sold it when I bought the V350-Pro and SG spool gun.

Here is a picture of the Cobramatic and Mig machine.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

Keep the cable for the mig gun as strait as possible. Point the gun in the direction you are going to weld. Set the tension rollers loose so that the rollers will hopefully slip insted causing a birds nest. Make sure the liner is as close to the rollers as you can get it.
Bill

 

[crazyal]

The biggest problem I've had with smaller migs is they usually don't have a post wire feed option. Once you stop welding the wire can melt right up to the tip and stick to it. Once it does you need to break it free before pressing the trigger or you will end up with a birds nest.

 

[cowski]

lincoln sells a aluminum kit for their 110 mig welders.it works some.argon gas.

 

[flusher]

Here are a couple of videos showing welding of aluminum ramps. Looks pretty straightforward assuming you have decent equipment and a lot of practice:thumbsup:. But that's true for any type of welding.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=635ER9EH7pc"]Aluminium Ramp Welding Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdMZBaQiobo"]Aluminium Ramp Welding Part 2 - YouTube[/ame]

I bought a couple of these ramps (10 ft long x 16" wide, 48 lb weight) to load my parade tractors onto my Isuzu NPR stakebed truck.

 

[muddstopper]

I have boogger welded for years using stick and mig, but have never tried aluminum. I have been thinking about getting a spoolgun for my miller for a while but have been afraid I might not have the skills necessary for welding aluminum. Any rate, I was watching the welders hands, (best I could due to the flash), in the video and it seemed he was pushing and pulling the wire into the weld as opposed to weaving side to side. Is this the norm for welding soft metals or am I just seeing things. Sometimes I will use a circular pattern as opposed to a weave and sometime a push or drag depending on position of piece being welded. And going uphill I get bird droppings sagging. I call these gorillia wells, look like $#@, but hold like H@!!

I could use a few tips from the pros on just what kind of hand art they use when running a bead.

 

[Shield Arc]

I don't hardly ever work with aluminum. When I got my new Lincoln Invertec V350-Pro w/ pulse, and SG spool gun I gave it a whirl. First two pictures are with pulse, not sure I like the pulse, travel speed is really slow, compared to with out it. With aluminum I push. With Mig steel I try to push, but I'll pull / drag too. Anything with slag I'll drag!