Aluminum welding.

[Richard from SE AZ]

I am going to make a covered carrier that goes on the 3 pt. to give grand kids rides ( saw one an a for sale 'N') I want to use the aluminum tubing from an old satelite dish that the wind has been blowing around our property for a few years to make a sun shade. I could bolt it together but would like to weld it. Question: does anyone here have experience welding aluminum? Can I use a craftsman cracker box to do this? I can weld steel, how difficult is it to weld aluminum? What are the settings to use if I can use a crackerbox?

 

[Puddles]

I've only tried aluminum SMAW a couple times and it was years ago. I got it done but didn't like it. I'd much rather Tig weld it. Ram Welding Supply has them for $18.00 a pound.

Copy & paste this link to see. May have to sign up, I forget.

http://www.ramweldingsupply.com/products-list.mcic?c=88&m=

 

[Welding man]

Welding thin aluminum with stick, especially with an AC buzz box is about like trying to stick butter up a wildcats hind end with a hot butcher knife. Don't waste your money on the rod.To weld aluminum effectly it has to be 100% clean,no paint and no oxidation.TIG is the # 1 choice followed by MIG.If you want it welded, cut it out, clean it up perfectly and take it to a pro.Been welding the crap for close to 40 years and there ain't no short cuts.

 

[Wrench_one]

The aluminum stick rod can be pricey, but with a little practice it runs ok. I have used it to get out of a bind in the field several times.
I agree with the guys, tig would be my first choice. But not everyone has a tig machine handy.
There is an aluminum braseing rod out too, you just heat the work up with the torch and apply the rod. I have used it on air aftercoolers with success. With the stick rods you just have to make sure the metal is really clean and preheated properly. It kinda run like butter.

 

[Ken-Pa]

If it was me & my grandchildren , safety would be my main concern . So trying to use scrap aluminum thats laid around & then having no aluminum welding experience to boot , I"d think about having an experience welder do the job so that I could feel confident about the kids safety .It only takes a second for an accidental breakdown of poor fabrication & metal fatique ,but a lifetime of sorrow knowing I could"ve prevented someones injuries or worse, death if I would"ve had an experienced welder do it . I enjoy fabricating things myself , but when it comes to my kids safety , no way . Just my outlook . Good luck .HTH ! God bless

 

[Anonymous-0]

I didn't think there was anything more frustrating than learning to weld with a buzz box. I was wrong. Trying to stick weld aluminum is a crap shoot at the best of times. Trying with a buzz box? Forget it! I would agree with talking to an experienced aluminum TIG welder to see if he could weld it up if you had all the pieces cut and ready to go. You'd be miles ahead going this route. A good aluminum TIG welder can do a lot in an hour. Make sure who ever you take it to has done a lot of aluminum. I've seen a few people, welders even, claim to know how to weld aluminum but in reality didn't have a clue. Dave

 

[Richard from SE AZ]

Thanks for the info guys. Seems to be more complicated than I thought. Guess I'll stick with steel and go with what I know.

 

[Puddles]

I have read where people can oxygen acetylene weld aluminum, I've never seen it done. In fact I don't think I've even seen pictures of it done. Seen a guy O/A weld a 3/8 inch thick by 8-feet long sheet of lead one time. Made it look easy! 8)

 

[MarkB_MI]

Puddles, I've been experimenting with gas-welding aluminum since I attended a class on it at the Oshkosh airshow last summer. You have to use a flux for aluminum such as All-State 35. You use the same filler rods as for TIG. The catch is that the yellow light generated by the burning sodium in the flux is very bad for your eyes and goes right through regular welding lens. I picked up some Didymium glasses (used by glassblowers) off eBay. It's a bit tricky, since it's hard to see when the alumiminum is about to flow, but you can get very nice results with practice.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Just had some parts (broken ends on 6 pieces of a big tent frame) stuff was cast aluminum and 2" and 3" diameter. The piece´s were aluminum pipe but the ends were cast. Guy said he wasn't sure of the outcome. Picked them up a week later and it was the prettiest weld job you ever saw. Charged me 75 bucks which I feel good about paying after reading this. Cleanliness must have been the ticket because the ends all looked better than new.

Dave

 

[Anonymous-0]

Welding thin aluminum with stick, especially with an AC buzz box is about like trying to stick butter up a wildcats hind end with a hot butcher knife.

Don't know about weldin aluminum, but that's funny stuff, right there! Send it to the writers of all worked up!

 

[trucker 40]

It has to be clean.Plus you have to use a wire brush that never was used on steel to clean it.Then welding something aluminum with a welding rod is possible,but its not strong,its brittle,its hard to do,and probably wont work for what you want on this type of aluminum.If it was 1/4 inch thick you might be able to stick it together,but it probably would look bad and not be strong enough.
The only way to have a strong weld is to either TIG or MIG weld it.It has to be clean.Whoever welds thin aluminum has to know what they are doing or they will have a melted mess that wont hold.
Ive seen it welded with a torch on TV.Its possible to do,but I never have and dont have a clue as to how to do it that way or what stuff you use.
Welding aluminum with an aluminum welding rod is about the poorest way I can think of to weld aluminum.Ive done it and its hard to do unless its thick aluminum.
Welding with a MIG is easy and it looks good,but it has to be as clean as possible.TIG welding is good too.

Welding aluminum is way harder than welding steel.Even if you know what you are doing you may have to grind it out and weld it again because any little impurity in the weld is going to make it look bad and not be strong.Once the weld goes bad,all you can do is grind it out and start over.Once you get it right,you can make a real good looking weld with MIG or TIG,or a torch.

 

[Puddles]

MarkB if you have the ability I'd love to see pictures of your O/A welding on aluminum!

Hate to beat a dead horse, but this is another perfect example of what 135Fan and I have being trying to convey to some of you. Sometimes there is just no substitute for buying good equipment. I know, I know money is a big factor to all of us, and we all have our priorities to where to spend it. This day and time food, house payments, and car payments have preference over tools / toys.

I'm not a Tig weldor by any stretch of the imagination, especially with aluminum! But I bought a top of the line Tig welder, look at some of my first welds with it. Not bad if I do say so my self. :lol: Trust me it's the machine not me! :wink:

 

[Anonymous-0]

You need a dedicated stainless steel wire brush for aluminum. Aluminum will pick up carbon from a standard steel wire brush.

"Welding aluminum with an aluminum welding rod is about the poorest way I can think of to weld aluminum".
I think you mean stick welding aluminum is a poor choice to weld aluminum. Dave

 

[PJH]

Puddles, I have no pics, but I had a welding instructor who did a slick job using O/A on aluminum. He used an electric rod for filler. His demonstration was flat plates and flat position. I tried it and failed miserably.

Also had an old local guy who had a welding shop and did a slick job on the aluminum john boats that us kids would tear holes in. Used O/A outfit, but used strips of aluminum cut from worn out grain scoops for filler. I tried that and also failed.

It's amazing how big a hole you can make in a john boat hull with a welding torch. And how quick.

Paul

 

[trucker 40]

Right,I mean stick welding with an arc welder.Im sure I havent seen all the rods to weld with and the last time I welded any was in the 1990s.
I dont want to give an impression that aluminum cant be welded that way,it can,there are lots of better ways to weld aluminum than with a stick on an arc welder though.Even O/A done right would be better.But if you had to have something welded and an arc welder was all you had,and it was thick aluminum,it might work.It would look bad,and any of the other ways most likely would be stronger.

 

[JOB]

Dave welding aluminum with a stick welder is not my first choice. Our tig machine is tied to a wall and has 12 feet of cable. We had a mig that we ran off a portable AC/DC miller. Had the push pull wire feeder worked real good. Someone needed that at home so now if we can't get it to the tig machine it will be a stick.

What I have found is if you preheat the aluminum first you can lay a pretty nice looking bead. To pre heat light your O/A torch and don't add oxygen. Blacken the area you want to pre heat. Once black open up the oxygen valve and heat the area until the black is gone. Now you can run your aluminum electrode. I would not try this on anything lighter than 1/8 inch.

I did have a welding instructor at Dunwoody many years who was a pro at O/A welding aluminum. I was not too interested then so I did not pay attention (always had a tig machine). A young man at a food packaging plant picked it right up.

That instructor was good at pot metal also. It can be done, takes a good instructor or a lot of trial and error.

 

[fort67]

Can"t help on input , but we had an ag teacher who welded 2 Wrigley gumwrappers together with a dc welder. That was about 27 years ago . Stll have a hard time believing it today. Funny part was you couldn"t rip it where the weld was. Just the way it should be.

 

[Anonymous-0]

If the wrappers were aluminum, it would need AC and high frequency. If they weren't aluminum and some kind of tin, you'd still need a very fancy TIG welder that goes down to about 5 amps or less. I know a couple of guys that could that. Dave