AL can be tough sometimes. it must be cleaner part than say if your welding a similar steel part. IMO, i think that starting the "pool" on AL is harder than steel, but once you get going its way easier. the thick stuff is easy if your machine has the power, but thin stuff is really hard. ffgeon can weld AL soda/beer cans together

 

javier ive been admiring that weld for like 5 mins... u pimp u

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by javierb14 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ffgeon can weld AL soda/beer cans together </TD></TR></TABLE>

i do that sometimes when im sitting in my garage and have nothing better to do. i was making a welded can pyramid, then i lost interest

 

does grinding down a weld significantly weeken it?

 

not as long as you have good penetration.

 

Well I'm not embarassed to post these... My welds are getting better... First off, I love this helmet my girl's dad lent to me! Snap On Auto Darkening helmet.. $500 worth of welding protection ecstasy...


And here's me welding...


My welds are starting to get a little better... Not bad for my 3rd time welding...


They may not look good here, but they have GREAT penetration... I could look through the side of the exhaust pipe and see the inside of the pipe glowing nicely.




My open downpipe... Yes I'm running it like this...


Now the only thing that I must say is that I was being told to Zig Zag between the 2 pipes at their joining point... When I did this for more than 1 1/2" it would end up burning a hole through the pipe... Should I have gone side to side on the SEAM of the 2 pipes, not from pipe to pipe? Because what I began to do that worked out VERY nicely was to do a straight bead up the pipe, then add a little side to side filler...

 

well its looking better. Try and brace your self on something, i mean you wrist. That may help.

Rob

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rjardy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well its looking better. Try and brace your self on something, i mean you wrist. That may help.

Rob</TD></TR></TABLE>
2 hands worked out much better... only other thing I need is welding gloves... thats what most of the jump is from, but once i got going the splatter didnt bother me anymore...

I'm trying to teach my girl to weld too... She enjoys it, but has a hard time adjusting to the mask... i'm gonna get her a bunch of metal and say here... have fun...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ScrapinSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I'm trying to teach my girl to weld too... She enjoys it, but has a hard time adjusting to the mask... i'm gonna get her a bunch of metal and say here... have fun... </TD></TR></TABLE>
d00d, i WOULDNT. First, they start hogging the welder. THen, they start welding better then you. Its a viscous cycle that perpetuates in a crushed ego But hey, in my case, I just whip out a lil $, and sit back and watch her work for me. She LOVES it!

lol, not really, but soon, she will be my first "mate" in the shop She is getting terribly good

 

Do you guys think its possible to solder aluminzed steel charge pipes together with that plumbing solder and flux with a torch? I just saw that stuff at home depot yesterday and I was curious.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tinker219 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
d00d, i WOULDNT. First, they start hogging the welder. THen, they start welding better then you. Its a viscous cycle that perpetuates in a crushed ego But hey, in my case, I just whip out a lil $, and sit back and watch her work for me. She LOVES it!

lol, not really, but soon, she will be my first "mate" in the shop She is getting terribly good </TD></TR></TABLE>

Damn man you need to put a stop to that RIGHT NOW! Next thing you know she'll be handing you cash and telling you to go get the groceries and pick up some beer on the way back. Then she'll sharing welding stories with your buds while you out picking up tampons and midol. J/K Maybe if I teach my g/f how to weld she can justify it a little better for me to go spend more money on a better machine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tinker219 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
d00d, i WOULDNT. First, they start hogging the welder. THen, they start welding better then you. Its a viscous cycle that perpetuates in a crushed ego But hey, in my case, I just whip out a lil $, and sit back and watch her work for me. She LOVES it!

lol, not really, but soon, she will be my first "mate" in the shop She is getting terribly good </TD></TR></TABLE>

But if she becomes a better welder and learns to enjoy it, that means that she can help me more on my car, its less work that I have to concentrate on, and she can get dirty while i sit back and drink a beer...

 

I never took a class in MIG but do you want to create a puddle? Either my mask is too dark to see a puddle or it's not puddling. I've burnt plenty of holes through, but I've never seen a puddle?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ScrapinSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

But if she becomes a better welder and learns to enjoy it, that means that she can help me more on my car, its less work that I have to concentrate on, and she can get dirty while i sit back and drink a beer... </TD></TR></TABLE>
Good point. Shes already a good mechanic, she pulled a 4 bolt housing 60-1 off my Sol today, because I needed it for downpipe mocking

 

Sounds like she's becoming a good little apprentice

 

I didn't get to see the other thread. Does anyone have a link?

 

In the words of a used car salesman:

A little bondo.....

A Little Paint......

Make it look like what it aint!





BBQ paint... Looks GREAT! So much better than before!

 

Most excellent thread. Really getting me motivated.

Question though - Is MIG strong enough to hold structural bodywork? I need to rebuild the floor pans and floor supports in my Scout. Will MIG be appropriate for this? Should end up using mild steel stock. Don't think the new pans are very thick, but I'll have to weld the braces to plates, then to the frame

 

you will be fine with mig, as long as you get good penetrating welds.

Rob

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rjardy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you will be fine with mig, as long as you get good penetrating welds.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Any tips on how one might accomplish this? And what machine do you recommend?

Would something like this Hobart have enough juice?

http://www.hobartwelders.com/p....html

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sporkcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I never took a class in MIG but do you want to create a puddle? Either my mask is too dark to see a puddle or it's not puddling. I've burnt plenty of holes through, but I've never seen a puddle?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't believe you need to puddle. Depends on what you're welding, probably... I just took a course this last Saturday using MIG so it's still kind of fresh in my mind .

To do any structural stuff you'd have to get high ampereage welders - I believe they use 250amp stuff in shops.

 

i'll try to get some pics later on, but i just got a brand new miller tig, man is it sweet... i've been practicing soo much, i'll try to post some pics of my first tig weld (probably only 30 minutes of welding experience before that) i took it to our shop where we have some guys that do nothing but weld all day, they said it was pretty much as good as you can get... i was pretty proud of it..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Splat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Any tips on how one might accomplish this? And what machine do you recommend?

Would something like this Hobart have enough juice?

http://www.hobartwelders.com/p....html</TD></TR></TABLE>

That welder would be a great buy for the home hobbyist for doing body work and things on "thinner" metals. it is rated to weld up to 3/16" in a single pass but I"m not sure on the duty cycle.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ricodemus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you guys think its possible to solder aluminzed steel charge pipes together with that plumbing solder and flux with a torch? I just saw that stuff at home depot yesterday and I was curious.</TD></TR></TABLE>

As far as I know or have heard. Solder made for plumbing isn't designed to hold pipes together at a butt joint but rather lap joints. I would hold out and have it welded or use silicon connectors between the pipes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sporkcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I never took a class in MIG but do you want to create a puddle? Either my mask is too dark to see a puddle or it's not puddling. I've burnt plenty of holes through, but I've never seen a puddle?</TD></TR></TABLE>

What shade is your welding helmet? watching the puddle is the key to making any sound weld. when you are welding thin material such as piping and the like you should use a pulse technique if the welder doesn't have one built it. Its basically like hitting the trigger in bursts. you weld with slightly higher amperage but for less time and allow the puddle to freeze so that it doesn't blow through the base metal.