I'm a professional metal worker, but fairly new into TIG welding. I loved this setup with the professional explaining it to a guy who hasn't welded lately, super helpful!
I like long videos with two welders involved and see how two different welders attack the different types of joints. Keep doing videos like this with different joints and materials and involve many different welders
Bob, if I ever get the honor to shake your hand, I certainly owe you a beer too brother. Your videos have given me the knowledge, insight, and confidence to try my hand at mig and tig welding. My high school metal shop teacher taught us to oxy/acetylene weld on mild steel, well over a decade ago. Between having worked a puddle before and a level of confidence from you, today I ran a decent bead on a scrap of 1/8" extruded aluminum from home depot with the old circa '98 miller synchrowave 180 SD. First pass ever on Al no rod and decent pattern, bad start second go because I tried to add rod too soon, so I stopped, third try I saw that shimmering puddle and started feeding rod... tapered out at the end to a somewhat decent stack of dimes, I couldn't believe my eyes. Thank you sir! Your stainless steel brush prep works a treat too!
"It's so subtle." Yes, there are so many variables to bring under control. Change one and it affects two others. So the plan for learning is to understand as many variables as you can. And then spend the time and resources to subtly manipulate them across a variety of materials. Great video.
Hamar is a Boss! the old guy is really good at teaching just little sick at my gut of how full of himself he is.....i like the old guy tho, watched all his vids
Jake Wright this is an instruction video. They scripted it. They cast an exceptional instructor and and an exceptional student so that all the dumbass welders like me could easily follow along. It works! That’s why they have so many subscribers.
@@glennporter2590 It was planned not scripted. These are both separate youtubers that collaborated with eachother. Hjalmar is primarily does structural and pipe tutorials and rarely does fabrication, especially with aluminum.
Geezuz, mind blown. What a great video. This is an academy award winner fo sho. I felt like a fly on the wall watching you teaching a student. Damn, yer a pretty good teach there Professor Bob. I'd love to see a few more of this format.
Great instruction, amazing humility, on both sides. I see a bit of competition, and that's good for anyone in the crafts. With competition there comes better output. Many don't realize that this is a craft, an art, as well as a vocation. Love it!
I love how respectful and attentive your guest is, even though he's a pro by now. Love your videos, i went from an old lincoln stick, to a hobart ironman210, and bought a lincoln idealarc 250 today(all in past 6 months) Thanks for yalls videos
Im a welder by trade and ive always looked at tig welding aluminum as a black art. Especially during certain times of year and if RT is involved. It can be very humbling. I was using a Miller Dynasty and apparently at that time they were having software problems, the variables are numerous to say the least. Ive also had quite good luck cleaning oxide with a 36 grit 3M cubitron, mostly. Nothing beats a stainless brush, but when you have lots of production in front of you...apart from a trailing gas fogger i usually have an easier time with titanium than aluminum. Good luck out there welders!
Holy shit, Bob. Thank you for this video. Not only do I feel better about my own pogress, but I feel like I learned more in this video than in several of the other channels combined. I appreciate the candor, the mistakes, thenencourwgement, and all of the little nuggets of information that are sprinkled throughout this piece. I've watched the entire thing twice now, and picked up more the second time through even. You rule man. You rule.
One thing I like to try and get students to do is learn the curve of their foot pedal. It really helps to know how the puddle will behave when you move your foot a certain amount
Very nice teaching. Id love to see a screen within screen of the amps on the machine as the weld progresses. Did trade school welding classes 45 years ago, and Im still learning. Thanks to you and youtube.
I weld up to using 300amps Tig aluminum (hand remote torch)(no foot pedal for us). Watching another guy use a welder, it flops from 60 to 250ish.. nothing special to look at.
Great tutorial Sir! As a beginner I was always hesitant to make the amps a bit hotter/higher thinking I'd blow right through aluminum. I see now I should raise in increments the amps too get a hotter puddle - I see more wire in a hotter puddle works great and never wire wheel aluminum! The kid did great after a 3yr comeback! Very professional tut Sir and young man. Thank you.
It's very satisfying watching two professional craftsman, fantastic wish I could do this, never welded aluminium. Or, in fact, never got good with mig and stick either. Thank you for your great content. Respect.
After welding aluminum and other exotic metals for the last ummmm close to 30 years now (I just felt old) I still learn stuff every day with aluminum with aluminum, even the humidity and the temperature of the day can affect how it welds it can just hate you and hate you and then that one time it just loves you and then it all clicks from there
Great teacher. Great student. Great camera guy! This is top-notch content that I know is going to help my hobby work at home. Thank you for putting this together.
Some work that 'needs to be done' convinced me that Aluminum TIG welding is the best way to, but ... so far all of my welding was oxy-acetylene and MIG. To join Aluminum I always 'cheated the system' using brazing rods and a torch. So,. ... it's time to get serious about it! Although a newbie - I find this video very valuable. Many thanks for it !!!
its great to see both you guys i own a welding company and i mentor the young guys that want to learn . great teacher and great student. i tell them you just have to spend time under the hood and proper settings on your machine. thanks to both of you for a great video
I have just started learning TIG welding, in particular aluminium and have had mixed results for some time. The first issue being that I couldn’t find any information regarding current levels vs aluminium plate thickness. I had data supplied with the welder for steel and stainless, but not aluminium. This created an issue because as I was getting poor results, I was never sure if it was technique, settings or some other issue. The gear I am using is a WELDSKILL 205AC/DC Tig Welder with a 26F torch. Standard TIG collet body 10N32 and a No.8 Ceramic nozzle, 2.4mm electrode. In the end after much chasing the internet I found the following; Aluminium plate thickness vs current. 0.6mm 25-35amps, 1.6mm 75-85amps, 2.3mm 85-110amps, 3.2mm 120-135amps, 4.7mm 165-195amps. So my first comment is that something like this is invaluable as a starting point for beginners. Then after getting the current range right I then found I had a lot of contamination in the welds, even after being meticulous with cleaning the plate and filler rod. I checked gas flow and tried more , then less than the recommended flow of 8-10 litre/min but this made little difference. I also checked torch angle but this didn’t help. I then swapped over to a gas lens 17CB20G (cheap one from china) and a No. 8 ceramic cup and the change was remarkable. The welds immediately cleaned up with no impurities and that nice frosted line on each side of the weld you have talked about. I tried changing back to the 10N32, and also a 17CB20 collet body but immediately the welds turned dirty again. I then consulted a welder from work, and he said to check the back cap O ring or the torch head for any leaks which I did and found a leaking back cap O ring which I replaced. Then I had 2 questions, why didn’t it affect welding with the gas lens, but only the non gas lens collet body? I also have a 17FV torch and compared it to the 26F with exactly the same results. Then the penny dropped, the screens in the gas lens was causing some back pressure on the gas in the torch head preventing drawing in air, but the standard collet body has no backpressure thus draws air in the back of the torch. After fixing the back cap O ring and checking for gas leaks, I then tried the original 10N32 collet body, and although the weld was much much better, there was still some small contamination of the weld which I cannot get rid of. I again played with more and less gas flow but this made little difference. I am now assuming that the standard collet body is introducing some swirling in the gas flow and thus mixing a small amount of air with the gas, where as the gas lens tends to pour out the gas onto the plate and thus creates better coverage and cleaner welds. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. Peter
Dad's been tig welding aluminum for 30 years. I just landed the same job. I've mig welded everything imaginable and stick welded a little bit in school. I've never touched a tig, let alone on aluminum so I'm pretty nervous to say the least. Watching these videos gives me a little confidence boost
I was taught to weld aluminum by pipe welders that hadn’t welded aluminum since they were in school. This video answered several of the questions I had remaining. I feel I have gotten decent at it, but I could never quite get it perfect. I learned from this video I am doing some things right, but I definitely need to learn what all those settings mean. Maybe I can stop blowing the tips off my tungsten at those higher amps.
Thank you so much for your mellow voice and gentle delivery of knowledge. It is very apparent you are concerned with delivery of knowledge. You’re filling more than one vessel with this and all your videos. Many thanks! 🙏
GTAW welding of Aluminum basics is Tungsten angle 30 degrees, Blunt or flat end is very important. I have done R&D for Dupont and Huniton Alloys on the Welding and Procedure of welding Aluminum in 1986 for S&L Piping. This video is very informative and well thought out good job.
I never thought about what temp the oxide layer would be melting at. I’ve had the same thing where I couldn’t get the puddle established, on 1/16” plate, and then it started drooping. I hadn’t cleaned before tacking. Never thought about the oxide layer melting at over double the aluminum! Definitely going to make me clean more now! Thanks for the awesome info!
I noticed that your son keeps pausing with every load of filler, but you just kept a smooth, steady speed. Great video. This is something I really want to learn, tig welding aluminum.
One thing I noticed is how consistent Bob moves his torch and how straight he moves it. Same goes for the rod. There is more waiver on the other welder. One thing I realize will make someone more consistent on the weld I would imagine.
Well. I came here looking for a quick update on Aluminium welding. I'm about 40 years out of practice on Ally and 30 on stainless. The machines I have to work with are a 20 year old Miller dedicated TIG with DC+, DC- and AC switching options plus current switching (in 10 amp steps) and slope control on a foot remote and a 3 year old multifunction welder with a spool gun option as well as the foot control. This one has rheostat voltage and amperage control for TIG. Polarity control by cable swap and option switch. I was kind of hoping for a bit more on the basics without the need for a full high end welder. Still got a few useful bits from it but not the "TIG Welding Aluminum Basics" I was looking for when this came up first in search.
thank you very nice, u have helped a lot. got a nephew that does aluminium all day. he's 100 miles away, so i try to get in put from him when ever he get home thanks again
Hey Bob! Nice vid, as always! If I may make a suggestion for a follow-up? You mentioned hot-shortness. As you know, one of the most commonly welded aluminum alloys is 6061, but it's also very hot-short, as you also well know :-) It may be of great help to folks new to aluminum TIG to understand why you can't autogenously weld 6061, why we don't use 6000-series alloys as filler wires, and why we use 4043 and 5356 and the pros and cons of each filer for welding 6061 and other alloys. Finally, I just wanted to say thank you for all the time and effort you put into these videos. I've been welding and fabricating for over 30 years, and have done most things except pipe and heavy structural. It's always cool learning something new and seeing how other people do things. As you have said so many times in so many videos, we are always learning. And when it comes to teachers, you are definitely among the best. Keep it up, brotha! But don't let it go to your head :-D
Thanks for the feedback and support. I definitely don't want to let anything go to my head. Not in it for income. In it for the outcome. Trying to give, not take.
If your working out in the field in a ship yard or other industrial area you don't have or will give you the time to properly clean every joint or weld area. Gotta get it clean as you can & just run with it. The best thing they've done so far was to move away from straight aluminum welding to at least single pulse welding which allows a great cleaning action. Some aluminum welding facilities have even moved up to the dual pulse thus enhancing the cleaning abilities of the Aluminum which is that aggravating "oxidation process" that occurs during a natural occurrence out in the field. As soon as you spend all of that time cleaning it out in the field, as you turn your back on it the oxidation process is already starting to come back. Working in a shop its a lot more manageable but out in the field no matter how much you clean it, it will have a tendency to out run you.
Been welding for 27 yrs an for the most part self taught. Lots of reading, video, testing, ect. Yet hood time is most critical. I teach that aluminum is the female of metals, kinda touchy an sensitive.
Awesome video. I'm working on tig welding aluminum right now in class. We are using the Mille Multimatic 220 AC/DC welder and I'm trying to figure out the settings so I can get better at welding aluminum
Great content Bob! I stumbled upon your TIG 101 video a few days ago and watched the whole thing because it was very interesting, not that I'd really ever need to do it since I work in IT, but grew up around gear heads like my brother and Dad, so they knew the basics, but never had their own setup, and I've always found welding to be interesting.
Thanks for the video. Hadnt welded aluminum in a few yrs, needed a visual refresh before starting new job. Unless that's a very specific flap disc, that should never be used on aluminum for prep of a weld. The idea being that oxide can't clean oxide, it will just leave it behind cause inclusions.. what I learned in school anyway. Awesome video, keep it up! P.s That red leather hood is sweet!!!
I've had good results with a couple brands that make 'hard' grinding wheels/discs for aluminum, Camel and Walther...they are specially made for aluminum. I used them for several years for removing anodizing on extrusions I had to weld..6063-T6... I had the same concerns about the wire-wheels and made a comment on another channel here...the guy really gave me a ration of crap about that.
Great video overall. Just remember that the Everlast Powertig 210EXT doesn't offer a sine wave function. Perhaps Bob was just saying "sine wave" out of habit, when talking through the settings. But it's either a square, modified square, or triangular wave with this particular machine. Keep up the good work.
WOOHOO More Hjalmar!! Thanks a ton for the tips, Bob. I'm VERY new to TIG and trying to struggling a little with aluminum. I think a lot of this is going to help me!
Fabulous video, Bob! I own a fairly inexpensive TIG welder which is the Miller "Econo-Tig". It's a basic machine, and it has enough features and adjustments for my home hobby shop. One question I have concerns what to do when the tungsten dips into the pool. Should I stop the process and resharpen the rod before proceeding, or is it Okay to continue welding like your student in the video did when he dipped his rod a few times? Thanks again for the excellent videos. They are AWESOME!
It's good to have a bunch of Tungstens ready and handy, so when you spoil one just take it out and put in another. Then at some point you can clean up a few of them. It makes an awful mess, I think it's best to stop immediately when you see the arc change. You don't have to look AT the Tungsten, you'll know right away when you did it.
Question sir. You said when the aluminum heated up it welded different. Being a soon to be tig owner. I've have heard my friends say take a propane torch and heat up the metal prior to welding. I believe it was 30deg in winter and welding steel. However I just wonder what difference would it make to pre heat the aluminum. Does that make sense?
Sometimes it really helps you, and is well known. Most people are too impatient and cheap to do this. It gets the humidity off and maybe some nasty fingerprints that somehow got on there. It's a famous technique for welding something heavier than your outfit can handle ordinarily.
Great footage of whats actually happening at the weld point, being able to see the pool and where and how fast you are dabbing the stick made me feel like I could do this in an afternoon of practise...I want to make a bull bar for my truck so Im wondering how this would work trying to weld on the side rather than on top.
Notice Bob never stops his Tungsten rod. It moves continuously. Copy his style Hjalmar! You're going to relax and start moving the Tungsten naturally. You have great talent level, and you're motivated. It will come!
If I focus my mind on "human gyroscope" should I focus on the tip of the rod, the welding pool or the welder? Combinations of? Does this help the spin of the weld or is it just a setting?
According to nadcap, any prep area it"s good to weld during five minutes after preparation,after five minutes of been prepared to weld expires their time of acceptance, repreparacion it"s required after five minutes of expiration.
I am learning so much watching your channel. But one thing I know from 29 years as an aircraft mechanic and an aluminum boat owner is, stainless is like kryptonite to aluminum. Cleaning your aluminum with a stainless brush will initiate dissimilar metal corrosion in the aluminum. Come back in 20 years and the aluminum will be ruined from that little cleaning you showed.
Awesome! If you comprehend the jargon there is a lot of good information in here. Watch it again in a couple of months and see what else you pick up. Love you guys. Later.
If you’re not using a pedal with tig, will adjusting the arc length change the voltage like it does with a mig so you can ease off heat at the end of the fillet?
World needs more of the both of you... Knowledge, honor, respect, supportive , encouraging of each , humble, good Banter! Thanks
i agree.
Amen!
This times a thousand. One of the best examples of an instructional session I have seen, regardless of the subject being taught.
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Well said Mr. Sobba
I'm a professional metal worker, but fairly new into TIG welding. I loved this setup with the professional explaining it to a guy who hasn't welded lately, super helpful!
One of the most informative welding videos (across YT) in recent memory-
Thanks!
I like long videos with two welders involved and see how two different welders attack the different types of joints. Keep doing videos like this with different joints and materials and involve many different welders
Bob, if I ever get the honor to shake your hand, I certainly owe you a beer too brother. Your videos have given me the knowledge, insight, and confidence to try my hand at mig and tig welding. My high school metal shop teacher taught us to oxy/acetylene weld on mild steel, well over a decade ago. Between having worked a puddle before and a level of confidence from you, today I ran a decent bead on a scrap of 1/8" extruded aluminum from home depot with the old circa '98 miller synchrowave 180 SD. First pass ever on Al no rod and decent pattern, bad start second go because I tried to add rod too soon, so I stopped, third try I saw that shimmering puddle and started feeding rod... tapered out at the end to a somewhat decent stack of dimes, I couldn't believe my eyes. Thank you sir! Your stainless steel brush prep works a treat too!
"It's so subtle." Yes, there are so many variables to bring under control. Change one and it affects two others. So the plan for learning is to understand as many variables as you can. And then spend the time and resources to subtly manipulate them across a variety of materials. Great video.
I love how he brings in welders from all the channels I follow. And the knowledge they all throw down is great
Love how humble hamar is. Watch his TH-cam channel a lot and he’s a crazy welder. But still he can say he doesn’t know it all.
Hamar is a Boss! the old guy is really good at teaching just little sick at my gut of how full of himself he is.....i like the old guy tho, watched all his vids
Jake Wright this is an instruction video. They scripted it. They cast an exceptional instructor and and an exceptional student so that all the dumbass welders like me could easily follow along. It works! That’s why they have so many subscribers.
@@glennporter2590 It was planned not scripted. These are both separate youtubers that collaborated with eachother. Hjalmar is primarily does structural and pipe tutorials and rarely does fabrication, especially with aluminum.
Geezuz, mind blown. What a great video. This is an academy award winner fo sho. I felt like a fly on the wall watching you teaching a student. Damn, yer a pretty good teach there Professor Bob. I'd love to see a few more of this format.
Thanks for the support and feedback. Means a lot.
Master teacher. Like your easy, interactive patter back and forth, and your use of the beautiful English language at work.
The best "How to weld aluminum " video on youtube I learned alot. Thank you.
Great instruction, amazing humility, on both sides. I see a bit of competition, and that's good for anyone in the crafts. With competition there comes better output. Many don't realize that this is a craft, an art, as well as a vocation. Love it!
I love how respectful and attentive your guest is, even though he's a pro by now.
Love your videos, i went from an old lincoln stick, to a hobart ironman210, and bought a lincoln idealarc 250 today(all in past 6 months)
Thanks for yalls videos
Im a welder by trade and ive always looked at tig welding aluminum as a black art. Especially during certain times of year and if RT is involved. It can be very humbling. I was using a Miller Dynasty and apparently at that time they were having software problems, the variables are numerous to say the least. Ive also had quite good luck cleaning oxide with a 36 grit 3M cubitron, mostly. Nothing beats a stainless brush, but when you have lots of production in front of you...apart from a trailing gas fogger i usually have an easier time with titanium than aluminum. Good luck out there welders!
Bob is an awesome teacher... just seems like such a neat guy!
I hope these 2 become a regular
Calm voice, no egomania, very good teacher, thank you ! I Subscribed.
Holy shit, Bob. Thank you for this video. Not only do I feel better about my own pogress, but I feel like I learned more in this video than in several of the other channels combined. I appreciate the candor, the mistakes, thenencourwgement, and all of the little nuggets of information that are sprinkled throughout this piece. I've watched the entire thing twice now, and picked up more the second time through even. You rule man. You rule.
blockequals4 Thanks for the feedback and support.
One thing I like to try and get students to do is learn the curve of their foot pedal. It really helps to know how the puddle will behave when you move your foot a certain amount
Very nice teaching.
Id love to see a screen within screen of the amps on the machine as the weld progresses.
Did trade school welding classes 45 years ago, and Im still learning. Thanks to you and youtube.
I weld up to using 300amps Tig aluminum (hand remote torch)(no foot pedal for us).
Watching another guy use a welder, it flops from 60 to 250ish.. nothing special to look at.
Good video. Bob's student has a very steady hand and good arc length = Good control. + Great attitude. Bright future.!!
Great tutorial Sir! As a beginner I was always hesitant to make the amps a bit hotter/higher thinking I'd blow right through aluminum. I see now I should raise in increments the amps too get a hotter puddle - I see more wire in a hotter puddle works great and never wire wheel aluminum! The kid did great after a 3yr comeback! Very professional tut Sir and young man. Thank you.
It's very satisfying watching two professional craftsman, fantastic wish I could do this, never welded aluminium.
Or, in fact, never got good with mig and stick either. Thank you for your great content.
Respect.
After welding aluminum and other exotic metals for the last ummmm close to 30 years now (I just felt old) I still learn stuff every day with aluminum with aluminum, even the humidity and the temperature of the day can affect how it welds it can just hate you and hate you and then that one time it just loves you and then it all clicks from there
Great stuff! I'm just getting in to welding and could not imagine trying it without viewing these tutorials first. Just awesome.
Great teacher.
Great student.
Great camera guy!
This is top-notch content that I know is going to help my hobby work at home. Thank you for putting this together.
That young man has a steady hand. Thank you for the videos.
Some work that 'needs to be done' convinced me that Aluminum TIG welding is the best way to, but ... so far all of my welding was oxy-acetylene and MIG.
To join Aluminum I always 'cheated the system' using brazing rods and a torch. So,. ... it's time to get serious about it! Although a newbie - I find this video very valuable.
Many thanks for it !!!
its great to see both you guys i own a welding company and i mentor the young guys that want to learn . great teacher and great student. i tell them you just have to spend time under the hood and proper settings on your machine. thanks to both of you for a great video
I have just started learning TIG welding, in particular aluminium and have had mixed results for some time. The first issue being that I couldn’t find any information regarding current levels vs aluminium plate thickness. I had data supplied with the welder for steel and stainless, but not aluminium. This created an issue because as I was getting poor results, I was never sure if it was technique, settings or some other issue.
The gear I am using is a WELDSKILL 205AC/DC Tig Welder with a 26F torch. Standard TIG collet body 10N32 and a No.8 Ceramic nozzle, 2.4mm electrode.
In the end after much chasing the internet I found the following; Aluminium plate thickness vs current. 0.6mm 25-35amps, 1.6mm 75-85amps, 2.3mm 85-110amps, 3.2mm 120-135amps, 4.7mm 165-195amps. So my first comment is that something like this is invaluable as a starting point for beginners.
Then after getting the current range right I then found I had a lot of contamination in the welds, even after being meticulous with cleaning the plate and filler rod. I checked gas flow and tried more , then less than the recommended flow of 8-10 litre/min but this made little difference. I also checked torch angle but this didn’t help.
I then swapped over to a gas lens 17CB20G (cheap one from china) and a No. 8 ceramic cup and the change was remarkable. The welds immediately cleaned up with no impurities and that nice frosted line on each side of the weld you have talked about. I tried changing back to the 10N32, and also a 17CB20 collet body but immediately the welds turned dirty again.
I then consulted a welder from work, and he said to check the back cap O ring or the torch head for any leaks which I did and found a leaking back cap O ring which I replaced. Then I had 2 questions, why didn’t it affect welding with the gas lens, but only the non gas lens collet body?
I also have a 17FV torch and compared it to the 26F with exactly the same results. Then the penny dropped, the screens in the gas lens was causing some back pressure on the gas in the torch head preventing drawing in air, but the standard collet body has no backpressure thus draws air in the back of the torch.
After fixing the back cap O ring and checking for gas leaks, I then tried the original 10N32 collet body, and although the weld was much much better, there was still some small contamination of the weld which I cannot get rid of. I again played with more and less gas flow but this made little difference.
I am now assuming that the standard collet body is introducing some swirling in the gas flow and thus mixing a small amount of air with the gas, where as the gas lens tends to pour out the gas onto the plate and thus creates better coverage and cleaner welds.
Your thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Peter
enjoyed the rapport between student and teacher.Learnt a lot
Dad's been tig welding aluminum for 30 years. I just landed the same job. I've mig welded everything imaginable and stick welded a little bit in school. I've never touched a tig, let alone on aluminum so I'm pretty nervous to say the least. Watching these videos gives me a little confidence boost
I was taught to weld aluminum by pipe welders that hadn’t welded aluminum since they were in school. This video answered several of the questions I had remaining. I feel I have gotten decent at it, but I could never quite get it perfect. I learned from this video I am doing some things right, but I definitely need to learn what all those settings mean. Maybe I can stop blowing the tips off my tungsten at those higher amps.
Thanks guys any demo is worth a thousand words 🤙
On my second day doing tig aluminum and man yall making me feel a lot better about my welds tbh I thought I was bad at it haha
Love the energy in this video, opposites attract.
It is a joy to see when older generation pass-on their skill to the young.
Thank you so much for your mellow voice and gentle delivery of knowledge. It is very apparent you are concerned with delivery of knowledge. You’re filling more than one vessel with this and all your videos. Many thanks! 🙏
i'm so glad I went to Tulsa welding school.....its as if I couldn't have learned all of this on this channel.
GTAW welding of Aluminum basics is Tungsten angle 30 degrees, Blunt or flat end is very important. I have done R&D for Dupont and Huniton Alloys on the Welding and Procedure of welding Aluminum in 1986 for S&L Piping. This video is very informative and well thought out good job.
I never thought about what temp the oxide layer would be melting at. I’ve had the same thing where I couldn’t get the puddle established, on 1/16” plate, and then it started drooping. I hadn’t cleaned before tacking. Never thought about the oxide layer melting at over double the aluminum! Definitely going to make me clean more now!
Thanks for the awesome info!
Great refresher before I do some aluminum tig this weekend.
I noticed that your son keeps pausing with every load of filler, but you just kept a smooth, steady speed.
Great video. This is something I really want to learn, tig welding aluminum.
One thing I noticed is how consistent Bob moves his torch and how straight he moves it. Same goes for the rod. There is more waiver on the other welder. One thing I realize will make someone more consistent on the weld I would imagine.
Well. I came here looking for a quick update on Aluminium welding. I'm about 40 years out of practice on Ally and 30 on stainless. The machines I have to work with are a 20 year old Miller dedicated TIG with DC+, DC- and AC switching options plus current switching (in 10 amp steps) and slope control on a foot remote and a 3 year old multifunction welder with a spool gun option as well as the foot control. This one has rheostat voltage and amperage control for TIG. Polarity control by cable swap and option switch.
I was kind of hoping for a bit more on the basics without the need for a full high end welder.
Still got a few useful bits from it but not the "TIG Welding Aluminum Basics" I was looking for when this came up first in search.
thank you very nice, u have helped a lot. got a nephew that does aluminium all day. he's 100 miles away, so i try to get in put from him when ever he get home thanks again
I love these colab videos are awesome.
Hey Bob! Nice vid, as always!
If I may make a suggestion for a follow-up? You mentioned hot-shortness. As you know, one of the most commonly welded aluminum alloys is 6061, but it's also very hot-short, as you also well know :-) It may be of great help to folks new to aluminum TIG to understand why you can't autogenously weld 6061, why we don't use 6000-series alloys as filler wires, and why we use 4043 and 5356 and the pros and cons of each filer for welding 6061 and other alloys.
Finally, I just wanted to say thank you for all the time and effort you put into these videos. I've been welding and fabricating for over 30 years, and have done most things except pipe and heavy structural. It's always cool learning something new and seeing how other people do things. As you have said so many times in so many videos, we are always learning. And when it comes to teachers, you are definitely among the best. Keep it up, brotha! But don't let it go to your head :-D
Thanks for the feedback and support. I definitely don't want to let anything go to my head. Not in it for income. In it for the outcome. Trying to give, not take.
If your working out in the field in a ship yard or other industrial area you don't have or will give you the time to properly clean every joint or weld area. Gotta get it clean as you can & just run with it. The best thing they've done so far was to move away from straight aluminum welding to at least single pulse welding which allows a great cleaning action. Some aluminum welding facilities have even moved up to the dual pulse thus enhancing the cleaning abilities of the Aluminum which is that aggravating "oxidation process" that occurs during a natural occurrence out in the field. As soon as you spend all of that time cleaning it out in the field, as you turn your back on it the oxidation process is already starting to come back. Working in a shop its a lot more manageable but out in the field no matter how much you clean it, it will have a tendency to out run you.
12:12 the welds on my aluminum rack that’s on my quad cracked just like that.
Been welding for 27 yrs an for the most part self taught. Lots of reading, video, testing, ect. Yet hood time is most critical. I teach that aluminum is the female of metals, kinda touchy an sensitive.
Very good instruction always learning and refreshing help . Been away from it building a new shop thank you.
Awesome video. I'm working on tig welding aluminum right now in class. We are using the Mille Multimatic 220 AC/DC welder and I'm trying to figure out the settings so I can get better at welding aluminum
Great content Bob! I stumbled upon your TIG 101 video a few days ago and watched the whole thing because it was very interesting, not that I'd really ever need to do it since I work in IT, but grew up around gear heads like my brother and Dad, so they knew the basics, but never had their own setup, and I've always found welding to be interesting.
Hrs under the hood awesome like running heavy equipment hrs in the seat running picker hrs at the stick awesome video
Thanks for the video. Hadnt welded aluminum in a few yrs, needed a visual refresh before starting new job. Unless that's a very specific flap disc, that should never be used on aluminum for prep of a weld. The idea being that oxide can't clean oxide, it will just leave it behind cause inclusions.. what I learned in school anyway. Awesome video, keep it up! P.s That red leather hood is sweet!!!
I've had good results with a couple brands that make 'hard' grinding wheels/discs for aluminum, Camel and Walther...they are specially made for aluminum. I used them for several years for removing anodizing on extrusions I had to weld..6063-T6...
I had the same concerns about the wire-wheels and made a comment on another channel here...the guy really gave me a ration of crap about that.
You guys are doin great videos. Pleases keep them coming.
Set up fit up is key n a video from Bob 🇺🇸🇺🇸🧡
Great lunch time welding instruction!
12:55 At this point I’d be dying to just have the torch in my hands 😂😂😂.
Learned from an old timer exactly like you. Nice to see! really helped me get going back when.
Great Job Hjalmar Aguilo. I am proud of you for excelling in the fantastic trade. I bet your parents are very proud of you. Keep it up.
I wish i had a teacher like that
Nice particle mask. Great teacher
You're The welder King and a adorable person
Great video overall. Just remember that the Everlast Powertig 210EXT doesn't offer a sine wave function. Perhaps Bob was just saying "sine wave" out of habit, when talking through the settings. But it's either a square, modified square, or triangular wave with this particular machine.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks to both of you....great teaching.
amazing chat! experiences and humbleness
WOOHOO More Hjalmar!!
Thanks a ton for the tips, Bob. I'm VERY new to TIG and trying to struggling a little with aluminum. I think a lot of this is going to help me!
Fabulous video, Bob! I own a fairly inexpensive TIG welder which is the Miller "Econo-Tig". It's a basic machine, and it has enough features and adjustments for my home hobby shop. One question I have concerns what to do when the tungsten dips into the pool. Should I stop the process and resharpen the rod before proceeding, or is it Okay to continue welding like your student in the video did when he dipped his rod a few times? Thanks again for the excellent videos. They are AWESOME!
It's good to have a bunch of Tungstens ready and handy, so when you spoil one just take it out and put in another. Then at some point you can clean up a few of them. It makes an awful mess, I think it's best to stop immediately when you see the arc change. You don't have to look AT the Tungsten, you'll know right away when you did it.
Question sir. You said when the aluminum heated up it welded different. Being a soon to be tig owner. I've have heard my friends say take a propane torch and heat up the metal prior to welding. I believe it was 30deg in winter and welding steel. However I just wonder what difference would it make to pre heat the aluminum. Does that make sense?
Sometimes it really helps you, and is well known. Most people are too impatient and cheap to do this. It gets the humidity off and maybe some nasty fingerprints that somehow got on there. It's a famous technique for welding something heavier than your outfit can handle ordinarily.
I have a 1960 320A/BP, and it's the best machine I've ever used, for what it does.
Brilliant people love the videos ❤️👀👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Excellent video gentlemen!
this is great. reminds me of when I was training. so cool.
Thanks for the information. This excellent and in depth. Thank you for sharing .
Great footage of whats actually happening at the weld point, being able to see the pool and where and how fast you are dabbing the stick made me feel like I could do this in an afternoon of practise...I want to make a bull bar for my truck so Im wondering how this would work trying to weld on the side rather than on top.
Nice video. Sure wish I had students like him...
Notice Bob never stops his Tungsten rod. It moves continuously. Copy his style Hjalmar! You're going to relax and start moving the Tungsten naturally. You have great talent level, and you're motivated. It will come!
Very impressive tutorials - love it, thanks so much excellent stuff
Lol, I HAVE to share this excellent video with some of these local welders..
Great content! Thanks for sharing!
Caino Thanks for the support.
Very useful, thank you. Some tips on welding thin 1mm aluminum would be handy for me too.
If I focus my mind on "human gyroscope" should I focus on the tip of the rod, the welding pool or the welder?
Combinations of?
Does this help the spin of the weld or is it just a setting?
According to nadcap, any prep area it"s good to weld during five minutes after preparation,after five minutes of been prepared to weld expires their time of acceptance, repreparacion it"s required after five minutes of expiration.
1:55 that subtle smile lol.
Great video guys.
I am learning so much watching your channel. But one thing I know from 29 years as an aircraft mechanic and an aluminum boat owner is, stainless is like kryptonite to aluminum. Cleaning your aluminum with a stainless brush will initiate dissimilar metal corrosion in the aluminum. Come back in 20 years and the aluminum will be ruined from that little cleaning you showed.
Awesome! If you comprehend the jargon there is a lot of good information in here. Watch it again in a couple of months and see what else you pick up. Love you guys. Later.
Great video… much respect.
WOW..AWESOME welds..THanks for the education SIR
When tapering at the end do we decrease the heat in addition to pulling away?
TYVM 💯👍👍👍
He picked it up really nice when hr seen bobs tortch angle😎great vid
Thanks a lot from Slam Bang fishing lodge discount for you
Great instructions
If you’re not using a pedal with tig, will adjusting the arc length change the voltage like it does with a mig so you can ease off heat at the end of the fillet?
I would love to have you as my instructor!
"Smells like stainless" lmao got him
Thanks Bob great tips mate
Once again, support the torch.