For anyone who thinks that TIG wedling steel is difficult

Tried using my new welder today on aluminum. If you have a problem welding steel, try welding aluminum. It's like I never welded before in my life. LOL! But all it takes is practice.

You are using A/C and 100% helium aren't you?

I stopped using Argon.

A/C and 100% Argon

I'm welding on 110 volts. It has a 220 volt adapter but I didn't get my garage rewired yet. Welding at 120 amps. Pulse turned off.

Go here and watch some of his videos, I think you'll see the benefit of using pulse on aluminum. Your fine with argon.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com

Yeah. I subscribe to Jodi's site. Just haven't been on in a while.

With aluminum clean means EVERYTHING!!!!!!

Looks like you got it figured out pretty good by the last practice pass on be right! I just got an AC tig myself and hope to start burning some aluminum soon. And Jody’s site rocks!

110? Might be tough on stuff thicker than sheet metal Aluminum takes some heat.

Do Yourself a favor and get a MIG Welder with at least 250 in the Model # (scales with the thickness in mils (.001") for material) along with amps available from welder and get a spool gun to go with it. TIG welding aluminum is difficult and doesn't get any easier once You learn how. What do You want to fabricate?

I want to build up the normal stuff. Intakes, gas tanks, linkage, stuff like that. I'm planning on getting a 220 outlet put in soon.

I completely disagree. If you want to weld fast, with limited welding skills, with little regard for weld integrity or cosmetics, mig is the ticket.

If you have patience ( why women often have great tig skills), are willing to practice, and be rather anal on cleanliness ( solvent cleaning, ss sire brush right before welding, brush the tig rod, very clean gloves, etc) Tig is the ticket.

A comment was made earlier about 100% helium, that would not be a good suggestion, I often use a 80/20 Argon/Helium mix as it has better heat for thicker alum items. I use a 625A Miller Syncrowave Tig, my mig machine is used 98%? for steel.

Cover all your exposed skin, skin cancer is a [censored].

OP, I see worthy progress, be careful about grading your own welds until have broken a few.

Ya won't be doing that with a mig ... stick with your tig and practice, practice, practice. Pulse is your friend. Some of the inverter machines have a "clean" function for doing aluminum, this works like a charm - doesn't mean YOU don't have to clean the stuff first, it just makes it that much better.

For welding aluminum helium makes more heat at the weld. I even use now for steel. I wouldn't go back.

Helium is way too expensive to be wasting on welding anything other than heavy aluminum parts. Any ferrous metal you can weld almost any thickness with maybe 150-175 amps, it's going to be multiple passes no matter how much power you have.

I like a 50/50 Ar/He mix for heads, blocks and intakes. Straight He just seems to have crappy arc behavior.

MIG is for production, it's just a different process, no need for condescension. MIG takes plenty of skill to do it properly, a**clowns with a MIG gun have caused more "parts failure" than we'll ever know.

60+% of welding success is prep work. The most valuable welder's tool is probably his grinder. S/F....Ken M

If you used a stainless wire brush before that last weld on the right you would look like an expert

I have been brushing with a SS brush, but it was a Harbor Freight piece in the $1 bin, so quality might be questionable. It seems that there are a lot of personal choices on gas. I'm guessing that a lot of it has to do with technique. I have been using straight Argon, but also have a Ar/CO2 mix that I've been using for my Mig. Maybe I'll try using that.
I immediately noticed that welding steel is a very quiet, gentle process. Aluminum, I'm guessing it has to do with using A/C, is very noisy and seems to be a pretty angry burn. At least it's my perception. I think I'm backing out of the pedal to make it feel like welding steel, but what I am really doing is killing the heat and losing the puddle. I need to learn how to "Stay into the gas pedal". Lol!
And another thing I noticed, aluminum might dissipate heat faster, but it sure does transfer the heat to the rest of the material faster. I can feel it pretty well through the gloves.

As soon as the material turns shiney its ready
to lay the rod into it.. all I use on alum is
100% argon.. I've been doing alum for a long
time.. I enjoy doing alum.. yes a good SS brush
helps alot
EDIT
Also lean the tip of the torch to the heavier/thicker
material that will give you a better jump(jump is
the point where the second material or filler rod
joins as one.. at that time the heat is much more
consistent
Also on your tungsten.. dont grind it to a point
loke you do on the MIG.. use a piece of bronze and
flip the machine to reverse then hold the tip
vertical and hit the pedal for a moment.. this will
give your tip a nice round point(the current will run
around in a circle which heats much nicer and that
will make for a easier jump for the rod)

Are you shaping the tungsten into a ball for the aluminum? A/C will always make more noise.

I forget how much more I'm paying for helium but it want enough to bother me.

Yes.. you will feel the transfer into your gloves
pretty quick.. I use a couple of different materials
to keep that low.. either a block of wood or a brick
from a catalyst(the brick has very low transfer) they
were easy for me to get in the exhaust lab)

Don't do that !!

To get the ball tip on the tungsten, sharpen the tungsten then hit the power with it over a copper penny. Bring it straight down towards the penny and the tip will ball up. Now you're ready to tig aluminum.

Except that newer, inverter machines tend to like sharpened tungstens. My Lincoln Tig 200, is my first hand example. My Miller Syncrowave 180, transformer liked balled tungsten. Experiment with both, and check the tech tips from the manufacturer. For me, it's always a struggle with seeing. I'm extremely myopic, but can see great up close without glasses to about book holding distance. Cheaters don't work with me. I'm going to get a second prescription for 2 foot myopic glasses. I'm a home hack, so take it with a grain of salt. 😉

aluminum takes way more heat, and it raises as it turns molten, so you need more arc space. use the grey electrodes.

I've never had any issue using the red electrodes
and been doing alum for years now.. but I also
try to keep the cost down

Starting the weld has been the easiest part for me, especially after using my other welder with a scratch start. Using cheater lenses has allowed me to get really precise on some welds. The downside is that there is a short window of field of vision, so if I can't be the right distance from the joint, I'm better off without the cheaters. I welded my chassis with purple E3 tungsten. I don't know what the welder came with, but it doesn't seem to be working out too bad. In fact, I think the tungsten lasts longer welding aluminum than steel. I seem to always eat up tungsten on the C/M tubing. Worst that happens on the aluminum is that I accidently dip it in the puddle or touch the filler rod. The tungsten gets coated and quits working until I regrind the tip.

Before I forget, I just want to say thanks for all of the responses. You guys were extremely beneficial when I was learning how to TIG weld steel, so I really appreciate everyone and anyone that can share their experiences with an old dog learning another new trick.

I bought several different grades of cheater lens at my welding supply store and tape them on my hood with Gorilla tape.

Cheaters don't do jack, if you can see perfect at 10", but not at 12-24" welding distance.

You need these:

People who are near sighted

When I went to the Lincoln Motorsports Welding class (week long) they taught us sharp electrodes for inverter machines. I have a Lincoln Precision Tig 225 and use pointed electrodes for aluminum.

Yes, same with big blues.. The grey electrodes work well with any metal on inverters, I haven't touched red or greens since I sold my synchrowave.
Acetone is your best friend when welding aluminum, the more cleaning action you use, the less depth there is to the weld and the the less concentrated the bead is. I wipe everything down with acetone, and as others of said, stainless steel brushes, that only get used with aluminum and nothing else. I even have a set of gloves that I use for specifically for aluminum. I got my Tig training in Japan, with a guy yelling clean clean clean in my ear for 2 weeks..
Forget about that caustic stuff they sell in welding stores, doesn't work..

I use blue, 2% lanthanated for steel and aluminum.

I Tig welded aluminum at my job since 1986 and I agree with Mr P Body. And I never sharpen the tungsten.

As others have said, with aluminum it better be clean...also, keep your gaps tight.

Tungsten type and tip will depend on the type of machine. Jody's youtube channel offers a ton of good reference material.

I have used Acetone, but with a wider range of contaminates that I seem to encounter, I've found Lacquer thinner a better/wider solution. I also dedicate gloves for alum, I think some may forget just holding the tig rod as one is welding with a gloved hand, is contaminating the weld puddle thru a dirty weld rod..

Getting a little better. A little! I posted these pics on my Cuda build, but thought that there might be some people interested here instead. As I get more used to it, the Vulcan welder is starting to work much better for me. Still have a long way to go, though.

I cut the bolsters off of the Kirkie roundy round seat and reattached toe 3/4 round beads to the sides. Works much nicer now.

Same here. Don't need to ball the end on my inverter machine, Miller Dynasty 280.

I try if all possible to start my welds at the outside corners and work in. That way you're not leaving a stress riser. can be uncomfortable at times, but that's just me. As said clean the aluminum really good if at all possible. And find the most comfortable position to do the weld.

On that seat rim weld, do not discount that welding alum in most cases removes the original beneficial tempering decreasing some (50%?) of the physical properties in the welded material, ie its weaker. Which, more to the point, sometimes doing smaller separated welds makes a better stronger final assembly, which is the opposite of what I saw in your pic. Of course there are also situations where a continuous weld is the best solution. Pick your poison.

I matched the original weld lengths. Strength wasn't important. It's just a bead on the edge of the seat that the fabric goes over. I did notice that my puddling was smaller than what was done by Kirkie. Maybe they used a larger diameter filler rod?

99% of the time I use 1/16" dia filler rod..
that way you can keep the heat down.. you will
see how much heat to use