Steve B

This is what a real MIG welder should look like

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I have not decided if I should sell it, my head thinks that I should, but my heart says keep it. I made up this for sale page, but have not actually put it up for sale and it's been almost 2 years.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus28342
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I have the exact same welder. I added room for two tanks (AR and CO2) and an AL spoolgun. Iggy, ain't no way I'm selling mine. You gotta be nuts to let this sweet a machine go.

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

I hear you~!!!

Karl, how is the spoolgun working out for you?

I tried to do AL welding with TIG, with fairly embarrassing results.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus4922

If the price is right, I'd be interested and swing by to get it on my next cross-country trip which will probably be in a couple months.

Reply to
Pete C.

Pete, email me before your trip. I just cannot make up my mind.

I wanted to sell it yesterday. I dragged it out, wiped the dust, did some test welds, took some more pictures etc. Then I had a big change of heart. I am not using it much -- I like stick -- but now I think maybe I should start.

Anyway, let me know when your trip comes up. I will decide then.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus4922

Get somebody who knows how to TIG weld aluminum to spend an hour with you. I was in the same situation, I struggled with welding aluminum several times and the results stunk. The metal club I belonged to had a meeting where they showed TIG welding aluminum and I went home and had MUCH better results. Enough that I could finish the job of learning it on my own.

It's not magic, it's a lot different than steel though.

BobH

Reply to
BobH

I had the same results with TIG.

MIG AL is easy. Not sure I'd do irrigation pipe to hold water pressure. But, joining a couple parts is just point and shoot.

I can't see a weld puddle at all with AL. So I try on a similar scrap piece to get heat and speed set.

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

That's surprising, I'm not a very skillful welder, took a class of it in High School some 30+ years ago, but my aluminum TIG welds didn't seem all that difficult. Clean seems to be the most important thing, get a new stainless steel brush and clean the aluminum, also clean the rods. I stomp the "throttle" pretty hard to get the puddle started and then back off to try to keep it consistent. I don't get much practice but I did enjoy Gas welding back in High School. My TIG and MIG experience has been totally on my own, with machines I bought and learned on. Due to not finding a good buy on a Syncrowave 250, I bought a Miller Diversion TIG 180? last year, it's great, 55lbs, runs off 120V or 240V, comes with a torch with control plus a foot pedal. I'm not very good with the torch control but it would be nice for something where you couldn't operate a foot pedal.

Just kind of curious as to what kind of trouble you were having, running beads on freshly cleaned aluminum seemed pretty easy with the TIG. I've attempted to weld aluminum years ago with a carbon arc torch, seemed more difficult than the TIG but I didn't clean it like I do now when trying to TIG weld aluminum.

RogerN

Reply to
RogerN

BobH is right. I've taken a couple of TIG welding classes which included welding Al. To be successful you have to use AC current and ceriated electrode. (If you are my age a magnifing lens in the helmet is also useful) The AC keeps the puddle adjitated and allows oxides to come to the surface. Its not magic but quite different from steel and stsinless.

Reply to
Grumpy

My lab guy reported that he couldn't get Tig Aluminum to work at all well. I walked him through the usual 'Ceriated', 'AC', 'Argon', 'pointed with ball', brush with stainless steel brush only, etc. Yes to all. Asked him how he sharpened the tungsten, he pointed to the grinder. I pointed out that I had seen students using that for steel and aluminum. Put a new wheel on, welds were smooth as silk. Moral of the story:

CLEAN!!!!!!!!!!

Reply to
RoyJ

I use a 1 by 42 inch belt sander with the belt used for sharpening TIG electrodes labled TIG on the back of the belt. A belt is not as expensive as a wheel for the grinder.

And remember to sharpen so any grind marks are lengthwise.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

Very good thought/quotation, who said it first?

ISTM we waste a lot of energy demonizing figureheads and "useful idiots" who are merely doing the bidding of others.

Just my .02

Reply to
Private

and you would have trusted the future of the nation to flip-flop McCain and a reality TV star for veep? We the people choose the best out of the field - whether you like the choice or not, it was the best choice we were given. Now, quit whining and provide an alternative who is not crazy, a religious fundie, or someone who swore an oath of allegiance to something other than the constitution (hint - Norwood)

Reply to
.

No, I believe that he was saying that he was the best choice that the voters were given.

Perhaps a better question would be made of why the Republicans can't field a more qualified candidate? Or a more charismatic one? Or a more smarter one? Or....

-- John B.

Reply to
John B.

That's a very good point. Just who -are- the puppetmasters who control CONgress and the White House, anyway? And why is it OK with them for the country to be in the sad shape it's in?

-- Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Reply to
Larry Jaques

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