First Aluminium TIG Welding Project Done!

[FranV8]

Hello all,

I've finished my first bit of purposeful ally welding, although I think I'd give myself a relatively low mark on the absolute quality of the welds.

Successes
- Well, it's together!
- Some welds came out well
-Technique is improving

Not-so successes
- Caused material drop out in places, particularly the top piece which I welded with the hole stand upside down (legs onto top piece)
- Bach sides of the angle section joins look not nice!
- Some welds displayed a 'micro-bubbly' surface - don't know why

Learning points
- Get the weld pool shiny before doing anything with it
- The twisted filler wire tip to make an equivalent larger filler rod worked well
- Preheating (see pic) helped a bit
- Designing the piece so that I don't have a thinner (3mm) piece welding to a thicker (5mm base) in a perpendicular fillet.
- The better the fit up the better the weld
- Don't bevel every edge to make a vee channel to weld into.
- Ally sucks amps - if I were doing a lot of this I'd coonsider a machine with more amps! (although I haven't gone above 140 A yet since 'I got scared' - machine is a 160A)
- Higher frequency concentrates the weld pool
- Tight electode gap improves cleaning (should have played with cleaning/EP/EN balance instead of leaving it at 50% though)
- Give the arc time to get rid of the black floaty bits in the weld.

Any tips, particularly on the micro blisters in the wled surface, much appreicated!

 

[Engineer]

Looks fine...........keep practising as TIG welding aluminium really isnt rocket science!

 

[Delgado]

From my limited experience TIG welding Ally.....

Hello all,



Learning points
- Get the weld pool shiny before doing anything with it

Yes

- The twisted filler wire tip to make an equivalent larger filler rod worked well

Whatever works for you

- Preheating (see pic) helped a bit

Get a weed burner attachment for a propane bottle, trying to preheat with what you're using is a waste of time and money, although with 160 amps you should be able to just about get away with most of it without pre heat.

- Designing the piece so that I don't have a thinner (3mm) piece welding to a thicker (5mm base) in a perpendicular fillet.

Shouldn't be a problem, just use more amps

- The better the fit up the better the weld

Very true with all welding, not just Ally

- Don't bevel every edge to make a vee channel to weld into.

Certainly not the fillet welds, but won't hurt on the butt welds.

- Ally sucks amps - if I were doing a lot of this I'd coonsider a machine with more amps! (although I haven't gone above 140 A yet since 'I got scared' - machine is a 160A)

Crank 'em up

- Higher frequency concentrates the weld pool

Yep, tightens up the arc

- Tight electode gap improves cleaning (should have played with cleaning/EP/EN balance instead of leaving it at 50% though)

Should always have as tight a gap as pos. On your machine try setting the balance knob at 10 o'clock, it'll be easier on the tungsten.

- Give the arc time to get rid of the black floaty bits in the weld.

Shouldn't be any black floaty bits in the first place, try cleaning the ally more, or adjusting the balance.

As said, keep practising and asking advise when you get stuck, and you'll soon get the hang of it.

 

[hotrodder]

Any tips, particularly on the micro blisters in the wled surface, much appreicated!

If you mean a sandy/gritty texture on the surface of an otherwise clean weld then have a look at this thread... http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=24510

Usefullness depends on how comfortable/consistant you are but i'd suggest going back to running beads to get a better feel of the differences that AC frequency and balance can make...
Grab a decent sized clean offcut and run beads stopping and varying the balance in 5% steps noting the difference this has on the weldpool. Too much %EN results initially in a sluggish weldpool and then a pool with bits in it. More %EP than needed gives the tungsten a harder time as you're putting more heat into it (and less into the work). At some point increasing the 'arc cleaning' will have no noticable effect on weldpool cleanliness but a detrimental effect on the tungsten
Repeat the process but at different AC frequencies i.e. if you run through balance settings from 50% upto max EN then do it several times from say 60Hz upto the maximum offered.

 

[FranV8]

Thanks Engineer, Delgado, Hotrodder,

Great encouragement and some useful info. I'll have to stop being tight and use the offcuts I have for some more practice!

So, going from the linked thread on surface texture, it's a bit of technique and maybe some different non-silicon rods. Saying that, it looks like the 4000 rods can make a clean weld, but I guess they tighten the limits of good welding technique.

Thanks again!

 

[Burf86]

First bit of advice I would give you is to get rid of that torch!! My welder came with one and it was so big, heavy and bulky I could hardly use it.
With a smaller torch it's much easier and more comfortable to move it around. You gotta be comfy!

 

[FranV8]

Fair comment! I'd fancy a WP17 or WP9, but it's all extra cost, and I have been surprised at how much my "muscle memory" is developing the more I weld.

The chap who leant me his DC machine before I got this didn't run a sheath on the hose/cables either, which made for a more lightweight set up.

I'll wait until a job really demands a smaller lighter torch - I must stop buying tools that I don't really need right now!

PS - I see you've got the same machine!