| Wanna learn how to TIG weld aluminum? | | | | without quivering at max amperage. |
| First you need a decent TIG welding machine. Not a | | | | Remote amperage control...you need a foot pedal. |
| great one, just a decent one. Already got one? You | | | | Period. |
| might have an old Synrowave 300 or a DialArc, an old | | | | - Once all the settings are ok, and assuming you are |
| Hobart CyberTIG or you might have a brand new | | | | welding on 1/8" thick aluminum, grab a piece of 4043 |
| Miller Dynasty 350. | | | | filler rod in 3/32 diameter (rarely will you use a rod as |
| Know what? It doesn't really matter. The same | | | | thick or thicker than the metal you are welding) |
| principles apply. If you have an old as dirt TIG welding | | | | - extend the electrode tip about 1/4" past the tip of the |
| machine, you can still make good aluminum TIG welds. | | | | TIG torch cup and pre purge the gas by tapping the |
| Weld beads that look like a stack of dimes. | | | | foot pedal. |
| First lets look at machine settings: | | | | - hold the torch like a big first grade pencil. touch the tip |
| - Set the polarity to A/c (alternating currrent) | | | | of the tungsten to the metal and then pull it back about |
| - Make sure to set the high frequency to continuous | | | | 1/8 inch. flip your helmet down and press the pedal to |
| - Set the amperage to about one and one half amps | | | | initiate the arc. |
| per one thousandths of inch of thickness. (up to about | | | | - don't melt the aluminum right away though, watch the |
| 250 amps then things change quite a bit) | | | | black stuff cook away from the arcs cleaning action |
| - Set both the contactor and amperage switches to | | | | before you melt the metal. Then press the pedal far |
| the remote positon. | | | | enough to create a puddle that is about 3-4 times the |
| - Set the argon or argon/helium torch shielding gas to | | | | thickness of the metal you are welding. |
| around 15 cfh. (if you are using a #7 cup) less if the | | | | Now comes the part on how to achieve the "stack of |
| cup is smaller. | | | | dimes" look. You get that by adding the same amount |
| - Notice I said argon or argon/helium? Argon is not the | | | | of rod and by moving the torch the same distance |
| only game in town. In fact, if you TIG weld any | | | | each time you add rod. Add rod, Step ahead 1/8 |
| aluminum over about .063" thick, adding helium to the | | | | inch,Add rod, Step ahead 1/8 inch,Add rod, Step ahead |
| mix makes a huge difference. | | | | 1/8 inch, lather rinse repeat. If you do this consistently, |
| Now lets talk tungsten electrodes | | | | you will get evenly spaced ripples that look like a stack |
| - 2% thoriated have received a lot of bad press for | | | | of dimes. |
| the radioactivity issue but they do work. | | | | Of course it looks different from underneath the |
| - 2% lanthanated electrodes are a really good all | | | | welding helmet and it is harder than it sounds, but this is |
| purpose electrode...good for TIG welding aluminum as | | | | really how you do it. All that is left is the doing. It takes |
| well as steel. | | | | practice and lots of quality seat time. |
| - Use the smallest electrode that will get the job done | | | | |