I checked an couldn't find anything about this so im asking you. I went to Airgas the other day an the sale's man said that you can Arc weld aluminum an from the last 7 years of welding i have done i have never heard of Arc welding aluminum, was this guy just that dumb or am i just that uneducated?


Thanks Blackcatn2o

 

Its true, I've done it, but it sucks. Better off doing wirefeed or tig.

 

i been hearing about wire feed alum welding to but all these years i have yet to anyone do it , so im scared to waste my money buying all the parts to try for my self, i know it cant look as good as tig , but how bad is it? , you have to buy a spool gun right?

 

right here mang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_MiG...TF-8&sa=N&tab=

 

wirefeed alum can turn out pretty good but it's a lot easier on thicker material. Some newer machines with pulse mig can actually look just as good as a tig weld. Spool guns work okay but i prefer a push pull setup over that any day.

 

even with pulse i dont think mig aluminum can ever look as nice as tig on aluminum.

 

Aluminum is almost always arc welded....

If you are thinking SMAW then yes, it can be done but it's not typically the process of choice.

 

Wouldn't you burn right threw the Arc rod in like seconds?

 

You need to search and see some people that are handy with a spool gun.

 

its mig... its never going to be as clean as a tig...

 

any one know the price of a spool gun , it just see, like it would to so much faster then using a tig, i have a mig and tig miller , i guess i just love the speed and how simple it is to use a mig welder lol

 

Spool guns can range from like 250 to 2,000$$$

Good type of welding for production style work with thick material...Most of the aluminum sub frames on vehicle today are all spool welded, ive noticed.

Tig would just take to long to prep, set up, etc. spool you can just burn it on...

 

..no?



DLB1994 - what machine do you have? maybe we can find you a deal.

 

sure can, don't go thinking you're going to make 16ga catch cans with it.

can even do stainless too

 

I believe a stick (SMAW, "arc," even though all electric welding is arc welding) welder needs to be able to reverse polarity to weld aluminum. Not sure about that, but My attempt to stick weld aluminum was a failure, and a friend told me it would never work because my stick welder does not reverse polarity.

 

o i knew that we used stainless to take out broken bolts at caterpillar.

 

the spoolmate 100 for my millermatic 140 is i think $200

 

When you tig weld Aluminum it use's 100% Argon but how do you use the gas when you Arc weld? b/c that is probley the best question here.

 

thats pretty good, but no where near tig. theres still little spatter and slag spots... nice find though

 

Pulse mig right here. You can tell it's not tig but it's pretty clean.

 

Thats looks really good that's how i do when i weld with solid wire.

 

i belive nothing, just burn flux as you have always been doing.

 

Personally, I wouldnt use ARC for aluminum. ARC is meant for steel and just gets to hot. TIG is clean but tidious. We use MIG aluminum at work everyday. It can still look clean. Depends what application you need it for. TIG will be stronger. MIG will be faster.

 

well said. i look at it as the application your welding for the welder you use. like if im welding aluminum tig all the way. stainless tig all the way. but for mild steel i would most of the time use my mig. i just love the art of tig. so clean and perfect looking

 

i think i heard somewhere that flux core is the cheapest for production welding, so switching rods, and tossing 2" of the 14" rods away. maybe they use mig aluminum ato your work becuase it is cheper? and if you're welding thinner aluminum?