JEraptor Senior Heliman Location: Kankakee IL
| TIGI have determined that welding aluminum in general sucks, but I have welded aluminum many times before with a spoolgun and I know that I would never have been able to do as nice a job without the TIG.
The spool gun is MUCH faster, but not as controlable as the TIG.
The major benefiet of the TIG is that you can control the current while you are welding, if the peice is too hot, let off the pedal, too coldand you can poor on some more coal.
There is a problem with aluminum that is not there with other materials, it is explained here:
The pure metal has a melting point less than 1200ºF and does not exhibit the color changes before melting so characteristic of most metals. For this reason, aluminum does not tell you when it is hot or ready to melt. The oxide or "skin" that forms so rapidly on its surface has a melting point almost three times as high (3200º+F). To add to this confusion, aluminum even boils at a lower temperature (2880ºF) than this oxide melts. The oxide is also heavier than aluminum and, when melted, tends to sink or be trapped in the molten aluminum. For these reasons, it is easy to see why as much as possible of this oxide "skin" must be removed before welding. Luckily, the reverse polarity half of the AC arc does an outstanding job of cleaning off quantities of this oxide ahead of the weld!
The info above came from the following page:
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/know...ent/tigalum.asp
In conclusion, if I am welding something that is thick and/or doesn't have to look pretty I will MIG it but for thinner stuff and stuff I want to look good I will TIG. |