I'm in the market and the cheapest ac/dc boxes I've seen are around $1500 for the ESAB and aroudn $2000 for the HTB Invertig 200 - someone else chime in though please.

 

 

dumptube i presume?

 

here is a quick bead I did...It didn't turn out too good but I didn't wanna make any more beads, I'm running out a of gas and money to buy more

 

thats more my level of welding

 

yeppers

 

I will make abetter bead tommorow when I go get another tank of argon/co2

 

Here's mine: Miller MIG 135xp

 

thanks
with TIG, i've learned that preparation is really important.
-make sure everthing fits, no gaps
-deburr
-u can clean the surface with acetone to remove cutting fluids, grease, etc
-sometimes preheating works, it takes moisture out the material
-sharpen the tungsten correctly
-have "still" air around ur bench
-and lots of practice

if u think those are nice, u should look at some pics of jons welds! thats a charge pipe into my throttle body. i used thin rod without a lot of heat.

 

its possible to weld AL with a DC TIG. u have to reverse the polarity or something like that. ask dustin, he knows.

 

yeah, that's what I was just reading earlier today, although they reserved it to machines and automated processes for some reason.

quoted from http://www.welding.org/newsletters/s.../aluminum.html

"For automatic or machine welding, direct current electrode negative (straight polarity) can be used. Cleaning must be extremely efficient since there is not cathodic bombardment to assist. When dc electrode negative is used, extremely deep penetration and high speeds can be obtained. Cleanliness is an absolute necessity."

 

Your welds are awesome!!! I cant even fockin solder cleanly.

 

haha, I know you're not talking to me...

 

Yours arent bad! what is that dumbell looking thing anyways?

 

put a couple resonators in my friend's exhaust. Check the whole project: http://denniscraig.org/pics/Jordans_custom_exhaust/

 

aren't you supposed to do like .. circles or half moons to get the " roll of quarter" look ?

 

I have a Miller Maxstar 200DX TIG welder...

Welding aluminum with DC (yes, DC), electrode positive. Nothing beautiful but it's harder than it looks because you don't really have control of where the arc goes.

The Miller people @ Sema still say you can't do it. haha.



Dump tube, mild steel, you can see the max rev manifold in back (I did not weld the manifold, hehe)



Here is the downpipe, prior to painting, nothing to see really:



Jeremy welded this (I think?):

 

thats cool, im gonna have to try it!

 

no...to get the roll of quarters look with a wire feed, you do short pulses with low wire

 

so the style youu're weleding is juust a straight line ?? no circles or zigzags or half moons .. or are they blending in ?

 

Good info dustin, but given the option of buying an ac/dc machine, would you say it's easier with the ac option to do AL? You also say you did it with electrode positive where that article I found says to go electrode negative - what gives - does it work either way? What would you recommend for a rookie?

Thanks...

 

what's short pulses with low wire? Do you mean a short stickout? I usually do half moon's and almost get a TIG look but not as flat of course. I usually do my movements like the one showed at bottom left of the diagram.

 

It's going to be easier with AC, but you can do it with DC. I wanted an inverter and the lowest model Miller with AC & DC that was an inverter is the Dynasty 300 and it's ridiculously expensive. (Looks like they just recently came out with the Dynasty 200 AC/DC inverter, though -- didn't exist when I was purchasing and it's ~$500 more)

An inverter draws a lot less current and weighs a ton less. For example, the Syncrowave 180 weighs 238lbs and draws 68A max on 220v. My maxstar 200 dx weighs 37lbs and pulls 17A max on 220v. Since I only have 25A 220v residential service, I opted for the inverter. I can also drag it around because it is small and light.

If you have the funds, that new Dynasty 200 looks like the way to go. I bought my welder from http://www.cyberweld.com. Note that they don't come with a torch or foot control-- you have to buy those separately.

 

This is an exhaust that we made for a turbo S2000.



Our street/strip turbo manifold downpipe combo for the MKIV Supra




[Modified by kidkutz, 9:57 PM 2/5/2003]

 

dustin what about the invertec 205 from lincoln? looks like it has even more features than the dynasty 300dx. plus its cheaper $24XX.00 than the 300dx, and lighter than the 200dx, weighing 33 lbs.