My Scratch-Start TIG Setup

[deereman75]

Aluminum Stick Welding rods work awesome as a Brazing rod as well. But..If you want to run them on an arc welder, You need to pre heat the material to 500 degrees. I turn on Acetylene and smoke the area with the black smoke. Then turn on oxygen and carefully heat until the black goes away..That is 500 degrees. Then take the stick and you Have To run it at a 90 degree angle to the work or it will blow out on you and look like crap. It will be consumed very fast so you need a quick travel speed.. Try a couple to get the hang of it and you will like the outcome. Rember though..Aluminum Stick Rods make Very nice brazing rods for Aluminum.

Which would be better for alum repairs, those stick rods, or that alumaweld solder stuff? I am thinking of picking one of the two up, because I know I will break something aluminum sometime.

 

[ChuckE2009]

Don't worry about hijackin' the thread, its all good. This is an interesting discussion :thumbsup:

Actually, I think I've seen the stick welding aluminum video... I think I might pick up some aluminum plate and a pack of electrodes and give it a shot sometime (and probably embarrass myself on camera for all the world to see, I hear its not easy) :confused2:

 

[CJONE]

I have actually done alot of aluminum stick welding. Not by choice, I was waiting for a teflon liner for my lincoln 255 and decided to try it. I ended up rebuilding my Legend trailer [all aluminum] with stick rod. It didn't turn out too bad. not as pretty as mig or tig but it is holding with no cracking. The thin 1" tube was a little difficult out of position but not bad. CJ

 

[undercut]

Don't worry about hijackin' the thread, its all good. This is an interesting discussion :thumbsup:

Actually, I think I've seen the stick welding aluminum video... I think I might pick up some aluminum plate and a pack of electrodes and give it a shot sometime (and probably embarrass myself on camera for all the world to see, I hear its not easy) :confused2:

That would be pretty cool as the only video I've seen was that guy and that didn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence in the process.

I have actually done alot of aluminum stick welding. Not by choice, I was waiting for a teflon liner for my lincoln 255 and decided to try it. I ended up rebuilding my Legend trailer [all aluminum] with stick rod. It didn't turn out too bad. not as pretty as mig or tig but it is holding with no cracking. The thin 1" tube was a little difficult out of position but not bad. CJ

Well that's the thing. I suspect if I need to do any aluminum, it won't be for looks. It'll be for functional reasons.

Whenever I bring up aluminum welding, I keep getting advice that TIG and MIG are better suited for aluminum. I KNOW TIG and MIG would result in better looking welds but I'm not going be able to afford either of those machines in the near future. Nice to hear you've had your hand in it and have used it. Anything special you needed to do in terms of preparation or technique?

 

[CJONE]

That would be pretty cool as the only video I've seen was that guy and that didn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence in the process.



Well that's the thing. I suspect if I need to do any aluminum, it won't be for looks. It'll be for functional reasons.

Whenever I bring up aluminum welding, I keep getting advice that TIG and MIG are better suited for aluminum. I KNOW TIG and MIG would result in better looking welds but I'm not going be able to afford either of those machines in the near future. Nice to hear you've had your hand in it and have used it. Anything special you needed to do in terms of preparation or technique?

Just like with the other processes the cleaner the better. But no where near a criticle as tig. The rod burns/melts way faster than steel. I did no preheating even on the 1/4" thick frame rails and toung. [toung was ripped off in the accident] It would have helped but it still worked. The weld puddle is like pushing jellow, hard to explain but it is just different. The weld don't look very nice but it is strong, lots of white flux/slag to clean up after the weld. I used my small portable rig a G8000 Lincoln set at about 80 amps DC+ from what I can remember. I'll look tonight and let you know what rod it was. CJ

 

[k0ua]

Just like with the other processes the cleaner the better. But no where near a criticle as tig. The rod burns/melts way faster than steel. I did no preheating even on the 1/4" thick frame rails and toung. [toung was ripped off in the accident] It would have helped but it still worked. The weld puddle is like pushing jellow, hard to explain but it is just different. The weld don't look very nice but it is strong, lots of white flux/slag to clean up after the weld. I used my small portable rig a G8000 Lincoln set at about 80 amps DC+ from what I can remember. I'll look tonight and let you know what rod it was. CJ

If you have any rod left and a scrap of material any chance you could take some pix. so we could form an opinion if we wanted to go down that road?
Thanks

James K0UA

 

[undercut]

Just like with the other processes the cleaner the better. But no where near a criticle as tig. The rod burns/melts way faster than steel. I did no preheating even on the 1/4" thick frame rails and toung. [toung was ripped off in the accident] It would have helped but it still worked. The weld puddle is like pushing jellow, hard to explain but it is just different. The weld don't look very nice but it is strong, lots of white flux/slag to clean up after the weld. I used my small portable rig a G8000 Lincoln set at about 80 amps DC+ from what I can remember. I'll look tonight and let you know what rod it was. CJ

Thanks, CJ. Appreciate it. Nice to know you only needed 80 amps or so with that weld. From what I remember of some of the electrodes I've found on the net, that is in the ballpark of what they required, I think. what rod diameter were you using?

 

[CJONE]

If you have any rod left and a scrap of material any chance you could take some pix. so we could form an opinion if we wanted to go down that road?
Thanks

James K0UA

Shoot me your e-mail and I will get you some pics. CJ

 

[CJONE]

Thanks, CJ. Appreciate it. Nice to know you only needed 80 amps or so with that weld. From what I remember of some of the electrodes I've found on the net, that is in the ballpark of what they required, I think. what rod diameter were you using?

1/8" is the size. CJ