MIG welding and advice

[Walter Deitzler]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

If welding steel is like stitches, welding aluminum is like brain surgery. It is challenging, and you absolutely must have competent instruction.

You cannot weld indoors without full and complete vetilation. "open a window" will not cut it. The room also needs to be essentially fireproof - sheetrock is not fireproof.

If you ever weld steel with that welder, it is useless for aluminum. If you dedicate it to 100% aluminum, and use the right supplies, then MIG welding (really, GMAW*) will work well for aluminum.

100% argon is not much different in cost from any welding gas. You will find that it is not a great expense, even if you rent the tank (common) and the regulator (usually you buy one), the cost of the gas is comparable to a nice dinner for four.

So, your next steps:
1. Can you really keep it?
2. Get someone who is an expert aluminum welder (not a steel guy who has done some aluminum. Trust me here) and have them help you...
3....find a good aluminum welding wire, and...
4. A source of gas, and....
5..Invest in a set of "aluminum only" tools (your welder will explain)
6. And personal protective equipment (mask, gloves, apron, etc)
7. Then find a location approved by the fire marshal (in most states you require a fire dept. permit to do indoor welding)
8. and practice, practice, practice. Then go and practice more. After 100+ feet of welding bead, you'll be passable.

This is NOT a lot of money, but step 2 for advice and instruction is critical...

Don

*Gas Metal Arc Welding
**Disclaimer: I know a lot about aluminum welding, maybe too much, but my eye-hand coordination stinks.

1. I think we can keep it, mostly due to the fact that the only keys to the room that was in are in possession of our captains, our coach, and our teacher sponsor (who expressed interest in giving us a MIG welder).

2. We can do this. The guy who welded our aluminum robot last season ( http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...light=Serenity) was a professor at the local Tech College, and is very good at his job. He can teach us.

3. What is an example of good aluminum welding wire?

4. We should be able to find some thanks to Justin

5. I will ask him tomorrow

6. We can get those

7. We might have an area in our school's wood shop (away from all of the wood) that would allow us to have ventilation and a curtain, and be fire-safe, we would check with this to be certain (to make sure it is no going to mix with the wood).

8. Sounds like a plan.

Thank you so much!

[Justin Shelley]

OzarkGas will be able to get you anything you need for welding; gas, wire, guns, etc.. And hope you have a great experience with your welder!!

[Scott L.]

I have done Aluminum TIG welding, I taught myself, (I think I did one steel TIG weld), I can TIG weld aluminum better than steel, which isn't saying too much.
1. clean the surfaces very good
2. use stainless steel wire brush( and only use it for this purpose)
3. electrode distance from material should be 1/2 the electrode thickness
4. when the weld puddle turns reflective, start inserting filler rod (you can melt through very quickly wspesially with thinner metals, so this takes skill)
5. practice, practice practice

not 100% shure on #3, been a while.

[DampRobot]

Always consult the manuals, and defer to experts. I am neither, just someone with a fair bit of FRC experience and a bit of welding practice under his belt.

First off, congratulations! Welding is a great resource to have, and although MIG welding is more difficult with aluminuim, don't let that stop you. Compared to TIG welding, MIG is faster to setup, so you can run more beads, but is more difficult to get right. Finding the right wire feeds and power levels are very important to getting good results. Think of it this way: although our main student welder and I love TIG welding aluminuim, he welded two full 1/16" alu frames last year with good results. MIG is still a great way to go.

I wouldn't recommend welding in there, at least not just with a window open. Others have more experience with this, but we weld in a dedicated booth with one of those welding safety curtains. The walls are plaster, I believe, but the floor is some type of concrete or sheetrock. We weld on an (unfortunately not flat) metal table. Keep in mind, technically, exposing even concrete to high temperatures can have disastrous consequences. (Such as when doing aluminuim casting, the molten aluminuim can vaporize moisture in the concrete with, shall we say, dangerous results. Welding shouldn't get the concrete close to those temperatures, though, even if you weld right on it.) So, be safe. We also use a fume hood. In your case, I'd consider welding outside. If you use appropriate safety equipment, don't weld tired, and have proper training, welding isn't dangerous, and it's quite fun. Don't be scared away. That said, consult experts and manuals first.

One last thing, this probably isn't the first time you've heard this, but welding is hard. Like really hard. Welding practice is not only a lot more fun than CAD practice, but essential to getting good results. You're going to need at least several days in the welding booth before getting even passable results. Also, warping is a real issue. Weld on a surface you KNOW to be flat, and check everything's squareness after tacking and every weld, squaring everything again if appropriate. Weld carefully, and be smart. Oh yeah, and in case I haven't said this enough already, listen to those with the most experience (the experts).

Good luck, have fun and be safe!