stainless steel tungsten for alluminium?

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need to weld about a  inch aluminium bracket with a tungsten for SS? it only what i have in my shop, we not weld aluminum usualy.
Reply:Hello Big White, you're saying that you have tungsten that you usually use for welding SS? It will work for welding aluminum just fine, especially if you have a newer inverter type tig machine. Even if you have an older machine of the transformer/rectifier type it will still work, just try to use as large a tungsten as you have. Years ago I used to weld a lot of aluminum with 2% thoriated tungsten. You would have to watch out not to over-amp it or else it would essentially "spit" tungsten across the arc into the aluminum. It sounds like in your case that you'll likely be just fine though with the small task that you have described. Good luck and best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:You should be just fine.
Reply:and another stupid question. how much ampers i need for a 6-7 mm thick? i dont realy have a option for try it on something, just one shot. we use the 2.4 mm tungsten always.Last edited by Big_White; 01-23-2015 at 11:07 AM.
Reply:If you are running a pedal for amperage control try setting your machine to around 180 amps for starters. If you find that you seem to be waiting excessively for the puddle to form take it up to 200 or so. Remember, this setting (when using a pedal) is the amperage delivered with the pedal all the way depressed, otherwise you can run lesser heat by easing up on the pedal. Good luck and best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:nope.. we dont use pedals just a on foo swich on the torch..
Reply:Ok, in that case you may want to approach your welding from a slightly different tact. Since you may not have the ability to downslope the end of the weld. you may have to start the weld on one end and weld to the center and then start the weld from the other end of the bracket and meet the two welds in the middle of the tab. If you try to weld completely across the tab as you come to the end you may end up cratering it out and having a big hole. That's the reason for starting on the ends and meeting in the middle. If your machine has upslope/downslope capability and this can be enabled by the switch on the torch, this would be the time to utilize that feature. Just a bit more for your consideration. As to amperage, start low: around 150 or so and as needed increase until you get a good puddle that you can move with. Good luck and best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:If you CAN, use downslope on the machine. Set a long downslope, and the torch switch will start hot if you hold, and taper off slow when you release. This allows a higher amp setting and the choice of straight full power, or ~1 sec manual pulsing.SqWave 200Millermatic 190Airco 200 ACHypertherm PM45Boice-Crane Band SawVictor O/A