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I am happy to report.......

That I am happy. I tried my first welding of aluminum today.

Setup: Millermatic 200, Miller Spoolmatic 1 gun, wire: .030 4043 (that is all that they had), material 1/8 plate of scrap aluminum, unknown alloy, pure argon @25 cu. pr. hr.

I ran one inch and burned a tip. I then got extremely lucky and ran a (to me) beautiful bead of about 8 inches.

Then, burned another tip. Adjusted gun wire feed and diddled around and some looked like I had been doing it forever and some looked horrible.

All in all, I am extremely pleased and elated with this process.

Naturally, I need a lot more practice but it is much, much easier than I had envisioned.

Thanks to all who gave advice and especially to Ernie as I peppered him with questions.

I don't know whether 5356 will be easier or tougher but I will get some spools of it soon.

Now, watch my luck, I will never run beads as good as I did today!

Cass

Some were sooty, is that too much current/wire feed?

Reply to
Cass
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The soot is normal, it is just burnt aluminum oxide. Remember to always weld forehand, so you are pushing the bead ahead of the gun, not dragging.

Burning a tip quickly means you have either too high a voltage or too little wire.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

Hi Ernie,

All I did today was pull or drag the gun and the weld followed the gun.

So, I should have been pushing, with the weld trailing the gun?

Why?

Cass

Reply to
Cass

Never mind, Ernie. I read the article on aluminum welding at Miller's site and found out the answer about drag vs. push. With drag, incomplete gas coverage leads to dirty welds according to:

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Cass

"Cass"

Reply to
Cass

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