Mig vs Tig for aluminium

[Richard.]

Double tig 190 each side allowed to cool between runs.

 

[Richard.]

Double pulse has got great pen right in the corner.

 

[Hood]

Double pulse has got great pen right in the corner.

Yes, I think probably single pulse would be the same but on such a small part the speed is killing me as I am not getting comfortable. The Superpulse just slows things down a bit so I can get into the swing quicker.

 

[Hood]

Double tig 190 each side allowed to cool between runs.

Nice even pen and unlike me you have it spot on in the corner

 

[Richard.]

Nice even pen and unlike me you have it spot on in the corner

85%/15% balance and 100hz to get the focus into the corner and keep balling to a minimum was the trick there.

 

[Richard.]

Last one from me I must get some work done. . If I did both sides no doubt they’d kiss.
210 amps 80/20% balance 120hz.

 

[arther dailey]

ok, so on vertical plate fusion has depth, on bottom plate its not near so much, is this down to technique? and or amperage.thanks

 

[arther dailey]

saying that on your next pic both have same equal amount of "fusion"

 

[Richard.]

Direction mainly. Keeping things in the corner and control against gravity.

 

[arther dailey]

cheers,appreciated.

 

[Richard.]

This might help mate.
Root penetration where the arrow points.
Every thing in the boxes is side wall fusion.

 

[Richard.]

The darker grey shadow around the very outside of the runs. (More elaborate on some of hoods mig runs)
This is not fusion or penetration. This is the heat effected zone. Often confused with the fusion line.

 

[Hood]

Ok last from me.

Cleared the floor so I was actually standing on it rather than rubbish I am supposed to be tidying
Mig set to 5.5mm/152Amps but +1 on voltage and +1 on focus, in other words where I would normally be set.
Tig set to 190Amps, 20% and 70Hz.

Using the polishing mop rounds the edges so maybe I should try just with a finer grit wheel on the angle instead so that the edges of weld and plate are square.

 

[Hood]

What surprised me is the low amperage of the Mig, I thought it would have been much higher. Maybe that is pulse Mig and standard would be higher? Will have to try the EWM in non-pulse mode some time and see.

 

[Richard.]

It’s actually very deceiving until you get it drawn out.
Hoods super pulse run actually doesn’t have as much “root pen” as we first thought. Stacks of fusion on the vertical but barely biting the flat which shifts the root pen. Now in this case I think all he’d have to do is raise it off the bench to eliminate the heat sink and we’d see that to be a very different story. My last one at high current with tig actually has twice as much root pen but that’s not because it’s a higher penetration weld it’s just displaced lower down thus moving the penetration level into the corner .

 

[Hood]

Probably more to do with how I am holding the torch, not use to working with tiny bits of Alu

 

[Richard.]

Ok last from me.

Cleared the floor so I was actually standing on it rather than rubbish I am supposed to be tidying
Mig set to 5.5mm/152Amps but +1 on voltage and +1 on focus, in other words where I would normally be set.
Tig set to 190Amps, 20% and 70Hz.

Using the polishing mop rounds the edges so maybe I should try just with a finer grit wheel on the angle instead so that the edges of weld and plate are square.

View attachment 127803

Your tig has hardly touched that one. No reinforcement either.

 

[Hood]

Your tig has hardly touched that one. No reinforcement either.

Too high a current for my liking to be honest.

 

[Hood]

Here is the last one again but off the mill rather than the polishing buff. Run out of pickle so was just using the dried remnants so it has not come up the best but at least the edges of the plate/weld are sharp.
Ignore the line above the drawn one, I had tried to scribe but it was too high.

 

[Richard.]

Cracking fusion all round on that tig run there. Lovely leg size to throat ratio too on both.
Nice example of fillets those.