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Tig welding aluminum

TIG Welding Aluminum 10 Equipment Pieces for Good Weld

TIG welding aluminum can be hard, particularly for beginners. Here are some helpful TIG welding aluminum tips and equipment to help you create quality weld jobs.

Know TIG welding aluminum tips

TIG welding aluminum can be a challenge, especially those with little Tig welding aluminumor no experience in welding aluminum, or even welding in general. This process involves getting two pieces of aluminum to stick together without breaking, shriveling, warping or cracking. Here are some helpful tig welding aluminum tips to help you learn how to weld aluminum faster than you would have otherwise. Here is a list of the equipment that you need.

1. TIG welder

Many sources say a TIG welder is the best method for welding aluminum. TIG welders are quite expensive and it can be hard to justify even the lowest quality units unless you’re making money with it. The most expensive units come with features that make doing high quality welds on aluminum possible. There are also bottom-of-the-line welders that is great for farmers or hobbyists. Know that adequate welds can still be made with a cheaper machine. But with a more expensive one, you get more amperage, water cooling, square wave AC, frequency adjustment and adjustment of positive to negative current for better penetration and cleaning.

2. Good welding gloves

Invest in high quality welding gloves; these will go a long way. Using those cheap ones will only lead to painful blisters.

3. Good welding helmet

Experts recommend that you get the gold tinted auto-darkening helments. although they can be expensive. Of course, you can still use those standard welding helmets; just make sure that you use them right.

4. Argon gas

Mixes will not work for aluminum, expect for an argon-helium mix. Never take the tank from MIG welding aluminum to use on your TIG welder because it will not work at all. You will only make a bunch of burnt soot and metal.

5. Aluminum welding rod

There are several recommended welding rods; you can ask an expert for advise. Make sure that you know which rod to use for which alloys as well as a ton of excellent aluminum and metalworking information, along with tig welding aluminum settings. You might ask how to tell one alloy from another, but you will not do any mission critical welding, so you do not have to worry about it.

6. Dedicated stainless steel

Use this stainless steel brush only for aluminum. As much as possible, label it with ‘aluminum’ so it will not get used for anything else.

7. Metal bench

If you do not have one, experts suggest that you get yourself one. Stopping your weld to put out a fire can be a big hassle. This can happen to you all the time, especially if you are still getting started with welding.

8. Squirt bottle with water

This is not for cooling the work, it is for putting out small fires that are not big enough to use a fire extinguisher on. Cooling aluminum quickly can cause it to crack in or near the weld.

9. Fire extinguisher

This might not be such as bad idea if you do not want to get fired for burning down the shop.

10. Heavy long sleeve cotton work shirt

This one is very important. TIG welding gives more UV radiation than any other welding process

Merely using a T-shirt or any other thin clothing will end up with you being painfully burned with peeling skin and blisters. It only takes just a few minutes to give you some serious burns.

11. Clamps or vise grips Get these or whatever you’ll use to hold your work in place

Also get some bars or blocks or copper or aluminum to use as heat sinks.

You do not have to make TIG welding aluminum hard and hazardous for you. Follow the simple tips above and you should be on your way to creating quality welds. If you are still unsure of your welding skills, contact a reputable, certified TIG welder or welding company in your area to do your welding projects for you.

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Dan’s Certified Welding Inc. is Looking for a Skilled Aerospace TIG Welder

Be a DCWi TIG Welder Now and Securely Work in an Established Welding Shop

dans certified tig weldingA secured and well-paying job is hard to find these days. The good news is that Dan’s Certified Welding, Inc. is offering a skilled welder a chance to join their successful and still growing company.

A Boeing-approved supplier for more than three decades, Dan’s Certified Welding, Inc. is trusted to handle welding jobs for Boeing Seattle, St. Louis and Long Beach for their spare parts divisions. The company has welding approval by UTC, Rohr and Landing Gear division, Parker Hannifin, Gulfstream and others.

Job Opportunity For TIG Welder

Dan’s Certified Welding, Inc. is offering a job opportunity for a TIG welder who has been certified to AWS D17.1. Aside from crafting quality products and parts for their clients, the hired welder is also expected to get the customer timely deliveries as additional work is added.

Most importantly, the hired welder is given a chance to work in an established and still growing aerospace/aircraft welding shop. Plus, the employee is also guaranteed of work for a long time because the aerospace/aircraft industry has years of backlog welding jobs.

Anyone who is interested in applying, or has further questions about this job posting can click below for more information. Interested applicants can also send their questions or queries to info@danscertifiedwelding.com.

About Dan’s Certified Welding, Inc.

Dan’s Certified Welding, Inc. is a NadCap-accredited gas tungsten arc or tungsten inert gas welding company that has acquired a stellar reputation with more than 30 years of track record or success. Centrally located in Los Angeles, California, this company gives highly critical welding for aircraft parts manufacturers and machine shops.

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TIG Welding Techniques For The Best Welds

If you are learning TIG welding techniques or are just trying to be a TIG welder, the last thing that should come up to speed is the hand feeding the rod. In kindergarten, we all learned how to hold a big crayon and this is not too different from holding a TIG torch. If the hand that feeds the filler rod is a bit of a slow learner, a really thin glove helps. If you’re having problems feeling the wire, try mechanical gloves or woven cotton gloves. Below are more techniques and tips to help you out.

TIG Welding Techniques

Choose the Right-Size TIG Welding Rod

TIG weldingFor sheet metal up to 1/8-inch thick, do not use a welding rod bigger than the thickness of the metal you’re welding. The amperage is low and the weld puddle needs to be small to prevent blowing a hole. When you dip the rod into the puddle, the rod sucks the heat from the puddle, making it hard to maintain a consistent size bead. It is best that beginners should not practice with thin metal.

TIG Torch Handle Should be 10 Degrees or Less

Ideally, the torch angle should only measure around 10 degrees or less. If you have too much torch angle, the heat will be deflected and the rod will melt even before you get into the puddle. This will cause the rod to ball up and blog into the puddle. You want to slip the filler rod into the puddle so you get a consistent bead. Exceptions to this include when you’re using a lay wire technique and are leaning the torch back while you walk the cup.

Never Let a Ball Form at the Rod End

If this happens, you are doing something wrong. It might be because, you are looking an arc that’s too long, too much torch angle, bad filler rod angle, not enough amperage or a combination of these things. The most common of these among newbies are using too much torch angle and too long an arc. A long arc means heat is not concentrated and you get this big heated arc plume like you would get with a gas welding torch.

TIG Welding Process

Thoriated Tungsten Electrodes are Radioactive

Many people say 2% thoriated tungsten electrodes are mildly radioactive, but 2% lanthanated electrodes are just as good as 2% thoriated. So if you are scared if thoriated tungsten but you are even more scared of crappy electrodes that don’t work as well, use 2% lanthanated (they are colored blue). Take note that the blue ones are not brittle like 2% thoriated electrodes. Also, they splinter if you try to break them or snip with dykes.

Use the Smallest Tungsten for the Job

Use the smallest tungsten within reason. Another way of saying this is to not just use 1/8-inch electrodes for everything. There are jobs where this small electrode is great. But if you are welding on the edge of a 0.3-inch turbine blade, a 0.4-inch electrode should be good enough to handle the 15 amps and give much better starts compared to a 1/16-inch electrode.

Get A Certified TIG Welder

While you can very well do MIG welding or TIG welding process on your own, perhaps it would be a better idea to pass on complicated weld jobs over to a person or a company that’s more experienced. Contact a certified TIG welder so you can get started.

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How To Choose A High Quality TIG Welder

TIG welders use an electrical arc to heat the edges of metal surfaces. The edges heat as they connect and they remain firmly connected as they cool. Unlike MIG welders or metal inert gas welders that use a metal wire, TIG (tungsten inert gas) welders directly heat the metal surface.

Importance Of Picking The Ideal TIG Welderwelding

Choosing a quality TIG welder requires that you familiarize yourself with several if the technical aspects of this type of tool. For example, you need to select a quality TIG welder that can weld different types of metals. You should also select a machine capable of working with different types of compressed gas.

  1. Match the metal type you want to weld to the electrical input of the TIG welder. For example, if you need a welder capable of welding hard metals like bronze, cast iron or steel, an alternating current welder should work. AC welders operate using electricity that alternates direction back and forth. If you need to weld soft metals like aluminum you need a direct current welder. Direct current electricity creates a steady arc for the welder and comes from battery cells.
  2. Decide on thickness of the metal that you need to weld. If you need to weld thick metals, you need a welder capable of producing high amperages (amp). Low amperage welders produce 165 to 200 amps while high-amperage welders produce 310 to 700 amps.
  3. Determine if your work location can accommodate your welder. TIG welders weight between40 to 200 pounds, and measure 13 to 36 cubic inches. Different TIG welders also require different plug-ins. Some require a standard 120-volt plug-in while others require a 220-volt plug in.
  4. Compare the duty cycles of the welder. A duty cycle of a welder indicates how long it can operate in a 10-minute interval without overheating. For example, a TIG welder that can weld for weld minutes but is in need of seven minutes downtime to cool off has a duty cycle of 30%. Duty cycles range from 15 to 60%.
  5. Ensure that the TIG welder fits your budget. They cost anywhere from $500 to $2,500, depending on the power.
  6. Compare the features of the TIG welders. They come with various attributes that include high frequency arcs and automatic fans. High frequency arcs help keep the electric current of the welder steady, giving a more precision weld. Pick a welder with as many features as you can afford.
  7. Compare the warranties of the welders. Most manufacturers offer two or three year warranties. There are also retailers that offer a 90-day return policy. In-store return policies can create much less hassle.

It Pays To Choose The Right TIG Welder

Choosing and buying welders can indeed be easier than done. Because of their price tags, they are considered as investments. And because they are investments, you need to make sure that you are getting the most of what you paid for them in the long run. Think about what you and your business really needs, and make them your basis in choosing the best kind of TIG welder for you.

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