Aluminum Welding - Tips for Tig Welding Cast Aluminum parts

[zenteno5p]

thank for your time  am a combination welder and i try to follow your tip becouse am try to do aluminum and this very helpful for me thnank you again have a nice day

[GameFishermen]

What exactly does adjusting the frequency on AC do?

[theman4130]

Man you bring a warm love, and lightness to welding. Seriously.

[themightywartit]

Thanks now we know it's not always just me when welding cast aluminum. Great videos!

[Just1Spark]

The sad part is, when I weld alum sheet, it looks like that no matter what. :(

But as always great vid.

[laz44418]

I have a project I have to do. Can you plez tell me how to read the amps on a diel that has #s 1/10. Maybe an equation

[Davilasammo]

Thanks for video! Great to watching!

[MrAluminox]

Many thanks Jody. Great video as always and I'm a big fan. Always very clear and explainating.

[2004acurarsx]

i had a job like that the other day..i hate cast/dirty alum

[stillbashingmetal]

Hi. What is the easiest grade of sheet aluminium for a complete beginner to learn aluminium welding with? I'm looking to practise with maybe 2mm to 4mm thick aluminium. Just wondered if one particular grade welds easier than the others, before I start on my trail of destruction. Thanks!

[MrAluminox]

@stillbashingmetal Except the 7000 series (not very easy to find...) the others alu sheet easily obtainable behave practically the same. You can use also 1/8 (3mm) 6063 flat bars (1.5 to 2 inch. wide) and the first trial is to weld them together to obtain a sheet...LOL.

2mm is too thin for learning you'll struggle too much.

[amtpdb1]

Hi:

Thanks for the videos. I was thinking about buying one of the Chinese's tig welders as they are quite abit cheaper then the ones available in the states. I was wondering if you have used one of these and what your thoughts were and maybe you might know someone with one and you could use one to do a review either showing why or why not to buy one.

Thanks for your time and again, thanks for the videos.

Don

[huerdon]

Perfect is a definition of terms. If what you did was as good as can be expected and it worked. Then it was perfect!

[glenyoshida]

Thank you for showing when things aren't perfect. The information from those times is invaluable!

[sojournearth]

Really Great Info !!! I'm just now getting back into welding after 30yrs. Man,things sure have changed, well except from bad metal ! lol From the back when department..... Does anyone still do the plasma spray metal deposition on stuff like this anymore ? The equipment cost was astronomical back then !! You kinda jogged my memory when you mentioned the welding lathe ! I see theres a lot to learn again, your a good teacher for sure, Thanks !

[dorsetengineering]

@sojournearth Yes, plasma sprayed coatings and flame sprayed coatings for repair/rebuild are common. A friends company here in the UK specialises in it.

[SWREngineering]

Man, seeing that pool just boil took me back to the probably worst job I have ever done. I have reinforced loads of Mitsubishi 3000GT 6-speed trans housings with no problems. Then one day a guy comes with a 5-speed trans housing. "It's the same". Oh well, it's NOT. It boiled out so much I was sure I'd go right through the casing at 80 amps. A normal 1.5 hour job took me 7 hours to get done and a quarter pound of rod. Didn't make much on that. But I learned to say "Not all alu can be welded".. :)

[jj9739]

I had a part in the turbine shop that was cast alum. and it sucked bad,but your video shined some light on machine settings.I use a Dynasty 200 and the tips are very helpful.....keep 'em coming.

[AshesandEmbers]

I hate welding cast aluminum, it's always a crap shoot as to how it's going to turn out. Glad to see your not hiding the less desirable stuff. Good Job!

[griplife]

Hi Jody, I was tig welding a cast alu guard to an old lathe the other day and the result was looking just like when you started in this video - horrible stuff. And old time welder then told me to take my torch and run over the weld area bringing it just to melting point then move on. Brush it off and repeat 2 or 3 times. The idea is to boil the crap out of the pores. It worked wonders. After that I could put down a really good weld considering the material. I love your videos!! Also have a 200DX

[rascalwind]

fido's butt...



[budandbean1]

@MrAluminox, I want to echo @RonRichmonsRPG's thank you! I just watched the video and was going to ask the same question until I saw that it had been asked already. You really supplied a great understandable answer. Jody, another great video! So far I haven't had the pleasure but have some old cast Al pieces that I am going to try this on. Keep up the wonderful work.

[MrAluminox]

@budandbean1 you're welcome.

[PANTYEATR1]

another great video Jody. i have another request to as of you. i just got hired as a welder with a company that does stainless air ducts and they weld stainless using a MIG. i took the company's test and past it, but i'm so used to TIG-ing stainless and having nice rainbows, but when you MIG stainless it looks like all the chromium is cooked out.

do you have any tips or videos on this?

thanks

[EarthshipFreedom]

No shame in that welding. I always tell people that bring me that stuff that "this may not be pretty". Love the dynasty too.I started with the 200dx then i had to get the 350.

[arcinandsparkin]

Jody,

Always appreciate seeing the "bad and ugly" that goes with the "good." We see a lot of the "good," but learn a lot more from the "bad and ugly," which happens to be real life.

[mrmanleedude]

Thanks for doing this video. Im currently a welding student in Nova Scotia and this like this help a lot. I know know that i could encounter this sort of thing and know that theres a good chance its not somthing im doing.

Thanks, keep up the great videos

[Hellschaoticdiablo]

Your sign you cut out sure came out nice

[triceranaps]

i HATE aluminum casts. like you show, they weld like garbage, and in my experience it's always welded as a favor to a friend. So for being a nice guy you work way longer than you wanted or expected to and the friend gives you crap when it's done because it doesn't look like a stack of dimes. I thought your weld looked great considering the material.

[1509212]

Well done Jody .You tell it true as it is.Thank you. Metalworker.

[gregoryscottsr]

Must have been a good friend

[Ari2k8]

Hey jody will I have this problem welding an aluminium oil sump of a car? What would be the best way to go about it chamfer it or just weld the crack?

[joelyboyblue]

amen @redneckracing01 great vid jody

[redneckracing01]

Thanks for showing how nasty welding cast aluminium can be. I've repaired heaps of the stuff over the years, from building up damaged heads to cracked diff cases. Some times it goes real well and boosts your confidence, then the next job you think maybe its time to sell the welder and take up knitting . Keep shearing the good and the bad.

[MrAluminox]

@redneckracing01 I do agree with you. The main job in my shopis fixing all that the others are unable to weld...dirty castings, doubtful steels, and alloys like aquamet after 20 years in salt water. Add a lot of old iron pieces and bronzes of unknowns composition...

Sometimes casting is best welded with oxy fuel torch and a very good flux, other times a 4047 aluminum electrode used with a TIG DC. The automatic transmission carter can be truly hard sometimes to weld.

[redneckracing01]

@MrAluminox Once gas welded the top in a piston at the side of the road in Kenya, backed it with steel and packed it with sand.Got away with it , engine was running for 3 months when I left .Only ever welded aluminium with TIG on AC, 4043 or 4047 TIG rod for cast.Watched angejel post on DC, not something I would have thought of but that's why it's never to late to learn. Thanks for the tip.

[MrAluminox]

@redneckracing01 You're welcome. DC TIG with electrode is very dirty for the torch as part of the flux vaporises but it may be useful in some situations. It has been used in Europe since decades when AC TIG was not common. Gas welding looks obsolete when we see all the marvel welders we have know, but also it works also on contaminated castings. It's the flux that makes the job as it's pretty corrosive.

Gas Flux does not work with TIG as it contains too much water.

[redneckracing01]

@MrAluminox Haven't had oxy in the shop for some years now ,the rental on the bottles is just to dear for the odd job. But yes it can help on some rough castings. I think some of the older brands of flux worked better than the stuff they sell now?. It may not kill you as quick, but the welding is not so good.May just be me looking back though rose tinted glasses, rather than the readers I have to wear now. All the best.

[Serostern]

That isnt a pretty weld, but damn, it's a lot better than I could ever do =P

[RobRichmondRPG]

Jody what's your opinion on these advertised aluminum soldering-brazing rods such as Durafix would they work in this application?

[MrAluminox]

@RobRichmondRPG No, simply because the zinc-alu rods are simply hot glue and do not work well on an oil impregnated casting. I use the Welco 52 wich is the same that the Durafix or the Aladdin 3 but at 11 USD the pound...it's useful for some small jobs (mainly on very thin tubes) et fixing threads but do not count on them as structural or on pieces having heating cycles. The bond alu/zinc is not reliable enough. Also, the intercristalline corrosion under stress is enormous.

[RobRichmondRPG]

@MrAluminox Thanks for the concise explanation, real triumphs over reality once again.

[MrAluminox]

@RobRichmondRPG you're welcome

[allessence]

Hi Jody,

I recently busted one of my air powered grease guns. It fell from it's perch onto the floor and the neck broke straight off.

seems like it was made with a Alum/mag alloy between 0.045-0.065 thickness. I had to mess with settings on the D350 and ended up with 48% cleaning and ran 60pulses per second with 120HZ. The weld came out plenty strong but I know exaclty what you taking about in the video. Oh it was real ugly too.. :)

Good topic.. Thanks Jennifer

[weldingtipsandtricks]

@allessence Good info. I use almost those same settings to tig weld brass...except lower pulse rate of around 39pps. It helps on the outgassing.

[wpkxr99]

Your buddy pick a professional to do his work. You guys need to quit complaining about cast so much. I think from the look of your puddles that it was a strong weld. I've welded cast iron engine blocks aluminum cast but I still hate to see a corroded power from a boat engine :)

[MrAluminox]

@wpkxr99 Sometimes the client asks for miracles about boat engines...and I answer that the direct line with Big Bearded is not working anymore, but he can try a pilgrimage to Lourdes...I add also buy better anodes, the magnesium ones...

[wpkxr99]

@MrAluminox lol...Once I had sandblast the bottom of 80ft aluminum dinner cruise boat. They hold up really well in the salt but when find a small speck of corrosion on the bottom paint it usually is all the way thru nearly. I burn it out with the sand. Broke thru the hull coolers in several places and was pissing copious amounts of antifreeze out on the concrete ramp. Let go of the deadman switch and patched with the gum I was chewing then notified the yard master.They did'nt seem to give a shit

[KEF791]

Ah, the pleasure of dodo metal! While your working on it, you sware its a piece of foreign crap, but you can find it in USA new made too! Even when its clean it still will bubble burst as it becomes molten. I believe the casting is so porous, the tiny pockets in the casting become gaseous then explode as the material becomes molten. The demo, Jody, was great, on how to manipulate, the bond. Sometimes that 4643 alloy rods helps on the stack ups...:)

[TransAmDrifter]

is there any way to weld a ZnAl alloy? I recently tried, but just like any other ZnXx alloy it was impossible due to vaporisation of the whole material. You're the "Mr. TIG", so You probably know the best answer :)

[weldingtipsandtricks]

@TransAmDrifter alladin 3 in 1 rod. low amperage on AC with lots of cleaning. When it starts flowing good, stop because its about to cave in.

[TransAmDrifter]

@weldingtipsandtricks oh, I understand just everything, except that "alladin 3 in 1 rod" :) What is it? Sounds, like a joke :D

[potion124]

not gonna lie your a really great welder, im currently 16 yrs old turnin 17 in july, and im in Advanced Welding & Fabrication at my high school well at a career tech academy high school, im the youngest person in my class, im a sophomore and everyelse is either a junior or a senior and im plannin on making it far in the welding industry, jus wanted to say i look up to your videos

[racepak]

thanks jody!



[Yteven]

I notice the tip of your electrode is not sharp at all. Is that because you're welding aluminium ? When I do TIG welding with a round tip like that, the arc moves all over the place. Thx for all the nice videos!

[hanzithaking]

@Yteven the tip cant be sharp when welding aluminium, it gets knocked off by the aæternating current, and the arc jumping all over is totally normal, thats the cleaning action of the arc knocking off the oxide layer :)

[exanchorite]

I learn alot from you.

[BLOZUP]

I'm glad it's not just me when I weld on cast. I clean the shit out of that stuff and it still gets pores everywhere. Lots of fun when it's an old cast coolant pipe that shouldn't leak.

[mrwiggles2]

Geesh. That should be the new picture for your brain on drugs. That is just ugly and looks almost impossible to get right. You've got some great skills there Jody, like watching your videos.

[TheJohnnyProject]

@mrwiggles2 i was able to weld my alternator bracket together 3 weeks ago thanks to Jody's website tips on welding cast aluminum.. I didnt record it, because of the potential scrutiny but, its turned out GREAT. the settings Jody suggested worked amazing. i used the pedal too..it made it less frustrating for sure!

[TheJohnnyProject]

good tips