These aluminum welding tips should get you started in the right direction...
Welding aluminium can be problematic. The real difficulty when welding aluminium is that the metal itself heats up very quickly, it also has a fairly low melting point. The combination of these two factors make welding aluminium a tricky business, many an inexperience welder has burned away the metal they were intending to join instead of welding it the first time they tried welding aluminium.
Although welding aluminium can be difficult it is not impossible, even using cheaper MIG welding units it is still perfectly possible to weld aluminium if some care is taken. Below are some tips to help newcomers to aluminium welding when they are starting out.
Aluminum Welding Tip #1: Try pre-heating the aluminium with a blowtorch first. Aluminium tends to distort quite a bit when a local hotspot is caused by a welding torch. Pre-heating the aluminium tends to minimise this distortion.
Be prepared to move quickly. The last thing you want to happen is for a single part of the aluminium to get overheated and burn through.
Be prepared to move the welding torch much faster than when welding steel or other metals. Never stop moving the welding gun along the weld, as this will cause a localised area of the aluminium stock to heat up.
Aluminum Welding Tip #3:Argon is the gas of choice for welding aluminium although an argon and helium mix may also work, depending upon the equipment being used.
When it comes to equipment the general agreed standard for welding aluminium is a TIG welder, the problem here is the fact that they can cost upward of $6,000 to purchase. It is possible to weld aluminium with a MIG welder, although it is much more difficult.
Aluminum Welding Tip #5:If the tungsten electrode on the welding gun becomes contaminated stop at once. Electrode contamination is a common occurrence in aluminium welding and one that needs to be resolved as soon as it happens.
Don't be sloppy with the join. When welding steel it is quite possible to fill gaps between the joining surfaces with the weld. This is just not possible with aluminium, so all pieces must be fitted together as tightly as possible so that a nice clean weld can be made.
These are just a few simple aliminum welding tips and guidelines aimed at giving beginners to aluminium welding a head start. Welding aluminium can be a frustrating affair best left to professionals. If you absolutely must weld you own aluminium these tips above should help out.
