all around help needed

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So I Just bought a longevity 200sx. I know its not the best but realistically, I cant afford anything high priced. So I want to weld aluminum pipes with caps on them. The wall is 1/16 and the poles are 1-1/4. Its going to be flush. No grap between the two. So i wont need much filler. I just want to make it a permanent fit. I plan on using argon.Just want to make sure i get everything ill need at the welding shop.What amps should I set it at?aluminum filler rod?what size and color tungsten? Sorry for the crappy pic but I figure its better to have one so you can get an understanding of what i am trying to accomplish. Attached Images
Reply:Hello and welcome. No offense, you are well on your way to making this fail already. 1st alum almost always needs filler. Most alum alloys will crack without filler. The filler helps to prevent cracking. thus you want a gap that you will fill when you weld this. 2nd tig alum is fairly difficult, thin alum is even harder.. Add to this you are doing round joints on fairly small diameter material. You really can't make it much more difficult for yourself when learning. Alum has major issues if you overheat the material. Many alum alloys go dead soft at temps as low as 300 deg. Try and go slow and creep up on your amps and all you do is have the alum suck out the heat faster than the puddle can form.Thin alum needs a lot of heat control. I suggest you start with 1/8" flat plate and get the basics down 1st. Expect a few hundred hours of solid practice before you are even ready for 1/16" alum. A few hundred more before you are ready for round tube and even more to develop the skills to rapidly change the torch angle fast enough to weld 1/16" 1 1/4" round tube well.Personally I find it easier to teach guys the basics of heat control 1st on steel. It's not uncommon at the tech school for the average guy to start out on tig and if he'd dedicated, get thru lap joints and into flat T's on 1/8" steel in the 48 hours of a semester in the night program. It usually takes them at least 3 or 4 more semesters to get thru all the positions minimum. Then they are ready to go to 1/8" alum. It is possible to go straight to alum, but I find guys rapidly get frustrated trying to put all the pieces together all at the same time. There are simply too many variables to get right all at once to get decent results. most times when they do they have trouble repeating it because they are doing hit and miss.The trick to alum tig is to weld hot and fast. You want plenty of amps to get the puddle to form NOW, then you fly to out run the heat build up. When things start to go wrong the answer is usually to go faster and hotter, even though the natural reaction is to try and slow down. This means you want to have the basics down to an instinctual level. It gets worse when the alum gets thinner and thinner. Round tube means you must constantly adjust the torch to maintain a constant torch to surface angle. At the speed you want to do alum, this becomes a real challenge as things get smaller and smaller..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Everything DSW said + welding thin to thick (thin tube to soild) is going to be even harder for you. With the 1.25" solid plug its going to take high amps to get the puddle going, and the tube is going to want to burn back.Amperage is whatever it takes to get a puddle fast on the 1.25" plug. Back off quickly after that because its going to get hot fast.Filler depends on type of aluminum.3/32" or 1/8" electrodes. There's a few to choose from, you need to do some research on aluminum tig welding before you even worry about that.Airco Ac/Dc 300 HeliwelderMillerMatic 200 (stolen)Miller Maxstar 150STLMiller AEAD200LE (welding and generating power) Hobart MIG
Reply:Thin to thick.  Does it have to be welded?  Not to take anything from the welding trade but this looks like a natural for brazing or even epoxy.
Reply:Thanks yeah it has to be welded. What is brazing?
Reply:http://lmgtfy.com/?q=what+is+brazingAirco Ac/Dc 300 HeliwelderMillerMatic 200 (stolen)Miller Maxstar 150STLMiller AEAD200LE (welding and generating power) Hobart MIG
Reply:Originally Posted by weldingnoobThanks yeah it has to be welded. What is brazing?
Reply:Unless it's for something structural or very pricey if ruined, why not try.  What is it for?  Filler type would be based on alloy, the parts intended use, and whether or not it will be anodized as the finish.  Practice on some flat plate first.  Get used to running beads.Welding tubing is very difficult.  You have to continually change torch angle as you go.  Jody at weldingtipsandtricks.com makes it look simple.  It simply is not.  I think that the inner solid 1" piece is gonna give you some leeway here.   You'll have a butt and lap joint at the same time.  The weld won't be able to fall out.  I'd preheat the solid rod portion in your oven and weld it with the machine set to 200 amps AC and amp control via the foot pedal.  As DSW said above, you need filler wire with Aluminum Tig.  Where are you located?Last edited by Drf255; 02-23-2014 at 06:00 AM.TA Arcmaster 300CM3XMT 304S22P12 suitcase feederX-Treme 12VSOptima pulserTA161SMaxstar 150STLHypertherm PM45OP setupStihl 020AVP, 039, 066 Magnum
Reply:Thanks drf!Im in FLorida. Nothing pricey. Nothing structural. the aluminum is 6061 T6. Nah I dont think i'm going to anodize it. I plan on practicing. I Did get a couple of tig welding DVD and learning a lot know and understand fill rod and tungsten.