TIG Welding Thick to Thin Aluminum
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ก.พ. 2024
- Two lesson examples on TIG welding Thick to Thin Aluminum in one episode! Justin shows us a realistic welding job on a coolant tank as well as some practice examples on aluminum coupons.
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Makes me feel so much better, that I’m not the only one dipping the tungsten occasionally…. Good stuff, thanks!
I'll be happy when I get to occasionally. Swear I spend more time at the grinder than in the chair.
Happens to the best of us 😂 lucky it don’t happen to me often at all now but at first Jesus…
@@Parents_of_Twinsrun short tungsten and sharpen both ends, saves 2-4x grinding time
@@natenate2280 Thanks for the tip I will try that.
Seeing you dip your tungsten is so encouraging. When I dip mine, I don't beat myself up about it. Unlike when I watch other video creators videos
Justin you are always as real as it gets man. Thanks for the video.
Welding during the Superbowl, what a pimp. Respect
I was thinking the same thing!! Let’s get some work done and teach at the same time all while everyone is watching the game..
Justin, good stuff man. I appreciate you keeping it real and being honest about how perishable this skill is. You can never practice too much. Great job explaining the technique for thick to thin parts, I definitely learned something. Thank you!
I love your honesty. I hate it when people make it look like they did something perfect on the first try with their eyes closed.
Stunning video thank u for your expertise
I have never welded in my life and don't plan to, I just enjoy watching welding.
You should learn! It's a great skill to throw in your toolbox, just pick up a harbor freight flux core machine.
Thanks for watching!
Having watched all your TFS videos, I can definitely tell this is far from your best work. But THANK YOU for showing how important practice is and how many tries it took to get a decent result even for an expert such as yourself. And THANK YOU for keeping the tungsten dips and shaky hands in the video. People tend to show off their one in a thousand best work on photos and videos, and it's easy to look at that and get discouraged with your own work/process. But we shouldn't forget that behind those perfect results were a thousand mediocre practice runs and hundreds of hours of practice. It just takes a lot of practice to develop a steady hand and consistent beads.
Edit: Tips for welding thin parts:
- Use a higher frequency like 180Hz-240Hz for a more stable arc and lower penetration
- Sharpen tungsten to a more acute included angle, like 20°-25° to widen the arc and reduce penetration, and grind a small flat about 0.5mm in diameter to knock the pinpoint tip off
- Preheat the sheet metal with a blowtorch to reduce warping
- Consider automatic pulsing or pulsing with the foot pedal to increase current when you add filler
@@Tig-Weldor You can do whatever you want. These are just tips. Higher frequency doesn't "tighten" the arc, but it does increase stability. And if you warp your sheet when preheating, you're doing it wrong.
Shut up
@@veegee24higher frequency absolutely tightens the arc, I do it all the time.
You are so kind to help us for free. Give value and get customers. Good method. You will get me and the wife as soon as we finish school. That way we can come to you and your instructors with bit more practice at the basics
Thanks for your honesty! Always enjoy your vids and as a weekend DIYer have learned a lot from them learning to TIG aluminum in the last three years.
This reminds me of the time I had to weld some thick stainless steel fittings to a 16 guage stainless panels to be assembled into a box. I did it this way so I could using backings to prevent sugaring. They warped the crap out of the panels they were welded to, but once I assembled the panels with the fittings, you wouldn't even know there was a 1/2" "W" on the sides. I water tested each one, and sent it out a total of 4 that Friday. That Friday afternoon hit 107 in the middle of summer, and I was at work till 8pm. That was the day I started looking for an office job, and here I am posting from the office missing welding.
Hey Justin, I appreciate the authenticity and honesty in this video. Don't worry about justifying yourself to the commenters, it's not needed brother.
I did learn from this - that no one is perfect, and I mean that with the greatest respect Justin. Doing the welding on that tank, I'd have done it the same way. I've always got annoyed at having a few stop starts whilst welding round tube, but sometimes it's the only way to do it.
Justin, thank you very much for all your time, and videos! Also, the weld metals store is super!
Justin, thanks for all the help! Your videos have been incredible for getting me started with TIG welding.
I have been trying to tig weld for months! I have bought a ton of stuff, cups, lenses, different tungsten and still my welds were terrible! Until yesterday after exhausting every possible reason for my results I looked at the gas bottle which said Argon, but when I looked again it is speed shield argon for mig!! Which is not straight argon!!! I can’t believe after watching months of watching videos and not understanding what was happening it if a basic thing that was the cause. As pissed as I was I quickly became relieved that now my welds are starting to look like they should!
You’re the Bob Ross of welding man👌🏼 learned so much from this channel
I'm very thankful you make these videos. I've been watching your videos since the very first Ahp video.
Great video Justin. I really appreciate your realism and honesty. Thanks!
Thanks Justin! This was helpful info for a project I'm working on, getting that reassurance and reminder, which probably helped save the week, so thank you!
Love the honesty. I've started the warm up process, especially with stainless.
Really love your videos and learned a lot from them, also love how you didn’t edit everything out of this video to show what really happens in the real world and still rocking right thru it! Keep up the good work and look forward to more of your videos
Hi from south wales UK. REALLY ENJOY your no nonsense and honest vids. Would love to sit at the bench with you and go over a few things. Very informative, entertaining and honest. Thankyou
I'm liking the new channel, man. Thanks for all you do! All of your stuff and Pacific Arc channel have taken me from a novice to still a novice, but one that can actually lay some decent, functional beads over the last 6 months. My friends say they look good, but I'm still in need of practice to get them looking near as good as what you pros can do. Appreciated!
This channel is so helpful thanks
Super excited to learn this. I just finished a project where I ended up using a bolted connection after failing to join two dissimilar sized pieces.
Awesome information from u as always 👌Bought a tigmachine 1 year ago after watching alot of ur videos. Here i am still watching videos, not even tried to weld yet 😆
Great vid man.. its great to leave the “dips of tips” in there too.. my only other comment would be about wearing sleeves.. I’ve had too many “sun burns” without even knowing it and the cancer will come.. but again… great work Justin.
Thanks Justin
I appreciate your time to us
Thank you for posting this method. I'm still a nubbie with Tig, and any advice or instruction will help me become the welder I ain't! Stay well, stay thirsty, my friend!
Talk about "Thick to thin", I have been Tig welding Aluminium Frames up at work that are 2 1/2" cube corner blocks (6061) with a 1 1/4" hole through the middle and welding 2" x 1/8" angle to the 2 sides 90 degrees to one another, (to make a rectangle) I do a Pre-heat on the Blocks (and jig) and use a 1/8" E3 Tungsten at about 240 Amps, and weld them inside and out side, using 1/8" 5356 Filler rod, the Frames are about 55 inches long and 25 inches wide set up on a Large solid steel Jig. Yeah, Pointing that Tungsten at the Thicker part and watching which direction it flows is pretty critical.
great arc shots
Good to see all the mistakes and problems you have had with this job. It makes me feel better that a pro is also a human, just like me.
Depending on the series aluminum a preheat can help as well. Nothing crazy just enough to get things moving faster on the bigger piece. Really good real world welding video!
My first welds with tig were all on soda cans! A friend(35 years as x-ray welder) told me to start by welding soda cans together,because if I can figure out how to weld the cans without blowing them apart,thats a good place to be! Thx for the video!
Your friend is messing with you. Welding soda cans, razor blades, and aluminum foil are all parlor tricks. They mean and teach nothing other than you got messed with when you were trying to be serious.
Awesome video on this topic thanks again, I had used your information on this previously and just last week welded some 1/32 inch steel to 3/8th inch plate. Definitely all about the torch focus! since the amps are high for the thick material, just the edge of the arc is enough to melt the thin stuff and get it all to fuse.
When I welded thin fuel tanks on an aircraft putting a new proprietary filler with a thick section, I turned it down to be a better comparison to the tank. Worked well.😊
I would have done the same ! Header tanks need a pressure test, once welded.
Thanks for the vid! It's more oddly satisfying since i don't weld. I still like watching this stuff
Well,call it what you will! But it taught me to use the filler as a chill block,it taught me patience,it taught me to keep the tungsten out of the puddle,as well as heat control! I get what you are saying,but it was quite difficult,and it took dozens of cans before I figured it out. I had never touched a Tig welder and to watch him do a beautiful bead around a couple of cans end to end made me want to do it! I started right out destroying an entire pack of tungsten,I vaporized alot of cans( cheap materials) and learned what 2 amps can mean to the weld! But,patience was the best part of the process,because as you very well know,cast aluminum has a mind of its own and I have done quite a bit of it,with great success,due to patience,and It built confidence! So,is it a parlor trick maybe,but does it have a usefull side ,absolutely!
Great video, thank you!!!
Heyyyyy! When i saw the goofy thumbnail i knew it was gonna be a good one. Glad to see new stuff coming from ya
great video, thankyou
Thanks Justin :)
Oh man I was searching for a video like this a couple weeks ago 😢😢
Yeah same 😂
Professional, earnest & thorough as usual! Why do you use 4043 as opposed to 5356 Filler?
Love your honesty. I always hate going straight from SS to ali, or the other way. Or MIG back to TIG. (MIG = anyone can weld)
This is realistic honest welder right here.
thanks for the replay and circle, we never would have seen that ground arc
otherwise, when I watch aluminum welding, everything is always simple and beautiful, finally someone has problems like me
Nice real world demo. The relative thicknesses of the parts is not the only consideration though. The overall size (&shape) of each part is a factor too. Welding a small pipe onto a tank can be really tricky even though the wall thicknesses of both parts could be the same. Apply the same principle - focus the arc on the part that's going to soak up the most heat.
Another great video . And truth is all anyone needs . :)
Keep the filler rod into Gas , and Downslope at the end to reduce cracks .
You rule. Thanks!
I'm not sure if you've covered this in the past but I'd like to see different grades of aluminium welded together in this same video format. So instead of thickness, it would be grades, or both even! Which do you start the arc on? Which do you keep the arc on? Which filler? What if you don't know what you are welding because you pulled it out the scrap pile? Is infinity really forever? Why is that Kesha song in my head right now? All are valid questions.
Don't be to hard on yourself today I chose to start at the hardest weld on the part, I goofed it up everyone was waiting on me to get it to QC standards, I should have started on the opposite end that was not obstructed instead that would have warmed me up for those welds and given me a better feel for the part but nope instead I decided to warm up on the obstructed welds. At least you pulled it off the first time.
I don't know how your arms are not cherry red. If I welded without sleeves, I would have cherry 🍒 red arms.
Justin, where is a good source for those weld fittings? especially the rad cap fitting.
the adapter is very small and so will get warm very fast. so no problem then to weld it to the tank
problem would be for example if the tank would be as thick as the adapter and the adapter only so thin as the tank walls
Great !thumbs up👍
Work looks great! But, how do you weld without sleeves and not get sunburn?
question, why does the arc start sputter like that when striking the first arc? Is that for a cleaning effect or just during the initialization it does that?
Thanks for showing us real world day to day welding and not that pompous hey look how onse in blue moon pretty my welds are. I learn more from this that that belony stuff.
I never use 4043, always 5356 or 5556, especially on 5052 sheet. I know 4043 flows better but just have to be a bit more accurate on heat for 5356 to make it look good. 4043 can leave very small micro cracks, and it has a much weaker tinsel strength.
Yes, practice is very important. Even with MiG, supposedly “easy”, practice is needed. If I don’t weld for a week or two, I’m off. TIG is hard to get right. It requires concentration on at least two and more often, three of your limbs.
yooo, he posted
At 5:42 the arc kind of sputters before you get going, why is that? I occasionally have this problem when welding aluminum, too low amps?
Hi it would be so handy to have a welding helmet with an amps display
Have some issues tig stainless steel exhaust it's thin been using .045 and 45amps
Why in the fuuuuck am I just now seeing this video? Been subscribed to your other channel for years! WISH I had the money for a class
The vid is only a day old. You should subscribe to this channel and turn on notifications if you want to see welding content.
Do you still do classes at your shop? In the summer?
based man welding during the superbowl
Hey man. I hate my infinity gear. The electronics are fine but headgear sucks. The ergonomics of what you are using here sound/look super smooth. What helmet is that?
Thanks for the video.
Just wondering is there enough room in the chin area of the welding helmet to drill a hole and put a camera in?
It wouldn't be a very good camera if there was room.
as a welder for an anodizing company who only does aluminum mig and is learning tig on my own, the thick to thin works the same but the biggest difference is how clean things need to be we regularly weld through previously anodized parts which you have to burn through the coating. all of my welds at work are basically temporary but have to be fast and have to survive being dunked in giant tanks then get broken off. My job is a good way to learn how strong aluminum welds can be but totally different. Why does mig act like a jet blowing material away kind of but tig really doesn't do that if that makes sense?
"...maybe because i talk too much, or didn't weld recently, likely the ladder"
DAMN!
Now i need welding a ladder too! 😖
is this possible to do on an older machine? say a transformer with no fancy settings?
Yes. I have done it earlier in my career (same concept). But I don't own a capable old school machine, so I can't demonstrate it.
Can the class work for a complete beginner - like from scratch? Or is some experience needed?
Absolutely! Any level of experience (including none) can sign up for a class. We always start with what you know and go from there.
@@WeldCoachOfficial Appreesh, thanks
Naaa, you were just practicing your 🎶 dip, dip, dippy dip, dip 🎶
its so funny that you called the superbowl, the sports ball game. people get so obsessed, i dont get it . I was in my garage too.
1:24 You said you're using a No.5 cup with a flow rate of 15 ft³/h, but according to your other video on cup sizes you explained a rule where a flow rate between 10 and 12.5 ft³/h is needed, and another video explained that No.5 is ideal for aluminium because it's non-reactive and doesn't need that much gas. Can you explain why you overshot the maximum flow rate if aluminium doesn't need that much gas? Or was it just an arbitrary choice?
Cup number x2 is minimum flow. Cup number x2.5 is maximum flow. Most people just put it in the middle. Anywhere between min/max window is fine. I tend to use max flow on horizontal outside corners.
why do you weld on top of aluminum and not the steel welding table?
Two reasons...
My table is cast iron nitrate coated, and I want to keep it that way. Any type of pitting or spatter could damage the coating, which could also reduce its tolerance as a fixture table.
The second reason is aluminum does not scratch other metals during handling/contact as easily as the cast iron table top would. The aluminum bench top plate saves the top AND the table at the same time.
Can i make a request for some good arc shots of stainless 316 sanitary welds? Trying to see what my instructor calls "sparklers" in the puddle but we have a communication block and i dont know what he is talking about.
Ask for better explanation or articulation of what "sparklers" mean. I've asked our coaches here, and we have 5 different definitions. All could be right or wrong.
@@WeldCoachOfficial thanks for the response, I did ask again. Kind of just looking for the swirl and disruption around the edge of the puddle now. Full pen but a little slow and ever so slighlty concave. Now to figure out the stops without getting growth niches! Almost there.
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It's all about the wash. ✌🏻
What are you welding on as a backer? It's aluminum? How thick?
The plate is called a Bench Top Welding Plate and it is available at Weld Metals Online
@WeldCoachOfficial sweet thanks man. Love your content, thanks for making me a better welder
Attention friends who watch this video: In the old videos, they said that hand tremors, which cause welding failure and lack of mastery, are due to lack of experience, but this person's hands are shaking in this video, and it has nothing to do with experience and mastery, and it is more indicative of nerve and device problems. There is digestion. Therefore, it is recommended to see a doctor if you have hand tremors.
I'll tackle this comment because I think it's a little out of context. Beginner welders that get shaky hands are usually because they aren't in a comfortable position, which makes the hand twitch and shake. It can be fixed. If it's a natural tremor, it has to be dealt with.
My shake in this video came from welding in a very uncomfortable position. What you probably don't realize is that my arc shots are POV (point of view) to make it more realistic or part of the experience. That basically means that my camera rig is sitting where I would normally sit, which means I have to reach into the shot and view my work from far away. It is very uncomfortable and sometimes my hands confirm it.
Hey man, you're a great welder, but wtf you on guy you never dipped Tungsten or didn't clean the area enough.. you ok brother?
I missed why you were (re) welding the corner of the tank. Was it thin, or maybe cracked?
Weld Coach, hopefully not at any training school. Neither tungsten nor paint must get into your welding, it is important to keep it clean
Of course it shouldn’t get in the weld…but, in reality, sometimes it happens.
Hey Bro, where did you get that gloves from?
Looks fcuking cute 😂👍
as someone whom has tried to copy many forms of work over 25+ years, I have done better that half and worse than the other half. mixed work of everything under the sun, to nothing.
it's always easy to work without viewers/audience, add them live or record for and nerves jump to fill tilt.
TIG welding: where even the pros dip the tungsten like it's a hot tub party for electrodes!