OT-Welding Aluminum

[G6 at Snook, TX]

A colleague of mine asked me to weld back together to aluminum pieces of tubing from a trampoline. I have cracker box AC/DC Lincoln. Will a low powered 6011 do okay, or do need a different rod? Can I even weld aluminum with a stick welder? I assume I can, but I am not a pro. Just a novice.

Thanks.

 

[Dell (WA)]

Snookie........NOPE!!! crackerbox welder will NOT do it. You need an inert gas shield type of welder commonly called "helli-arc". .......Dell

 

[old]

NO do not even try you could end up with a metal fire on your hands and those are hard to put out. Ya not likely to happen but can. You could silver solder it or maybe braze it but not weld it with a stick welder. To weld that you need a mig or tig unit that is set up to do that job

 

[dahermit]

"NO do not even try you could end up with a metal fire on your hands and those are hard to put out."
Aluminum melts but will not burn. It is Magnesium that burns.
Aluminum cannot be welded with 6011 (that is a rod for steel). You can weld Aluminum with Oxy-Actylene, but takes a lot of practice. As the others have suggested, you need the services of a professional welder and his inert-gas setup.

 

[old]

Sorry but yes Aluminum will in fact burn and I have seen it done when I was still in the navy and it was not pretty to see. Ya not as easy to start as magnesium but it will in fact burn

 

[Welding man]

Trying to weld thin aluminum with anything but a TIG machine is like trying to poke butter up a wildcats hind end with a hot butcher knife, but some people will try no matter what you tell them. Argon is $140.00 per cylinder-Aluminum Tig Wire is 12.00 a pound -tungsten is 3.00 a stick and labor is 50.00 or more per hour. Probably cheaper to buy a trampoline,.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I went through the aluminum Gas welding seminar at the Expermental Aircraft Convention, it is not as difficult as people make it out to be. You need flux, a compatible rod (which means you need to know what alloy you are trying to weld) and some funny glasses that handle the sodium flare from the flux. They had my 14 y/o daughter welding aluminum together in about 20 minutes, she'd never touched a torch before that.

 

[dhamps10]

I have welded aluminum, with stick. Special rods and it looks bad, but it can be done, on thicker aluminum. I don't think you could do tubing at all.

 

[old-9]

Even "if" you did get it to stick together, how would you feel when it broke and someone got hurt or killed? Don't even try. just my 2 cents worth joe

 

[G6 at Snook, TX]

It sounds like it can't be done with what I have, and I would be inviting injury to myself or his kids when they jumped and the weld failed.

Thanks.

 

[Ultradog MN]

One of those tools I'd like to own someday is a good tig machine. It's been a long time now but I got to put a bunch of hours on a new Miller heliarc machine. Water cooled torch, plenty of amps, foot feed, etc. I didn't have to buy the helium or the tungston. Tig does some beautiful stuff and would be suitable for making repairs like you describe.

 

[Ed S.]

I went through the aluminum Gas welding seminar at the Expermental Aircraft Convention, it is not as difficult as people make it out to be.

Same here. Took me a couple tries to "get it," but it's doable. You heat the metal and watch for a subtle shimmer. When you see that, you have about 1/2 second to start moving your puddle, or else you're looking at the ground through a nice hole. My son was 9 at the time, and he made a really nice weld his second try.

Al doesn't glow red, either, so you don't want to grab the sheet you were just welding on with bare hands.

There are a lot of vintage airplanes buzzing around that were put together just that way... so, it's certainly doable, but the liability issue is a very legitimate one in this day and age...

es

 

[John (TR)]

I found some aluminum rod a while back for ac welders. It actually did ok on aluminum shapes I was playing with (angle). Tried some on cast aluminum and it was no go for sure. Didn't look the best but stuck parts together.

 

[teddy52food]

Those rods work fairly well with the gas torch too.

 

[dlplost]

Ignition temp for aluminum is just under 7,000 F.
By the time you get to that temp you won't have to worry aboout welding it.

 

[oldtanker]

Tube aluminum CAN be welded with a stick welder. I just watched a welder do just that the other day on a canopy frame. It has to be done in DC only. You get about 2-3 inches of weld per rod and it requires a lot of practice. Plus the rod is expensive enough to the point where it will be cheaper to have it welded rather than learning to do it.

Rick

 

[old]

Oh I do understand things have to be just right but it can happen and if/when it does your in trouble