|
|
I would like to have the availability to weld aluminum. not something I would be doing all the time, but would like to be able to weld up to about 1/8 inch thick or a bit more. I figured a TIG would be the way to go, but way out of my price range for the little bit I'd be using it.I happened to see a demonstration of the Cobra Torch, and it got me to thinking. Now I really don't have the use of all the features of the Cobra, as I have plasma, MIG and an O/A cutting torch setup.I did a search and seems the opinion on the Cobra is its a waste of money.Was thinking of a Meco, which seems more reasonably priced.My questions:1. Will the Meco do what I want?2. What is the learning curve to weld aluminum? I've never used O/A for anything other than cutting (I have a compact O/A hardware store setup).3. What would I need to add to my setup to be able to use the Meco torch?Thanks for your patience.
Reply:what kind of mig do you have ? have you considered a spool gun?350P 30A spool gun cut master 51 syncro 250 other stuff " take a dog off the street and make him prosper and he will not bite you sad the same cannot be said for man" i didnt use punctuation just to piss you off
Reply:I have a Millermatic 135. A bit dated, but it does 90% of what I need done. At one time I had considered a spoolgun, but seems that it is twice the price of the Meco.
Reply:You could grab a spool of alum wire and see if it will feed reliably in your MIG.It won't cost much, and you will get a data-point about welding alum; you may not need a spoolgun. If you try, give it the best opportunity to work; hold the gun/cable straight when initially feeding, and after the wire is thru the tip... before bending it to see if it will still work.If it works, you will have to go straight argon, no co2 or mix.About this working or not...I have an old 12' Bernard MIG gun and it's hard pushing steel thru it. I never bothered trying alum. However, the 6' gun on my new 90amp harbor freight fcaw welder feeds alum really well. The machine is gasless, so obviously I couldn't weld alum with it; but i wanted to try feeding the wire to see if it would."Great spirits have always encountered violent oppostion from mediocre minds." -- Albert Einstein
Reply:need a spool gun........thin aluminum wire will be what his machine will handle if it can at all, and that thin aluminum wire will never make it through a standard mig liner... Miller Dynasty 350Twenty Six HammersThree Crow BarsBig Rock
Reply:Originally Posted by B_Cneed a spool gun........thin aluminum wire will be what his machine will handle if it can at all, and that thin aluminum wire will never make it through a standard mig liner...
Reply:the problem with NOT using a spool gun for aluminum is the filler is so fragile it kinks and jams easy...... Miller Dynasty 350Twenty Six HammersThree Crow BarsBig Rock
Reply:Originally Posted by razerYou could grab a spool of alum wire and see if it will feed reliably in your MIG.It won't cost much, and you will get a data-point about welding alum; you may not need a spoolgun. If you try, give it the best opportunity to work; hold the gun/cable straight when initially feeding, and after the wire is thru the tip... before bending it to see if it will still work.
Reply:I'm listening guys. If I were going to go that route, I'd absolutely need a spool gun. The regular wire feed is extremely touchy. If everything isn't absolutely perfectly adjusted, It'll bind and I have to make adjustments and re-feed the wire.Still thinking about the Meco Midget.
Reply:If you already have an oxy /acetylene torch, you probably have welding tips for it as well. All you need are welding rod and flux. The jewellers torch will require hose adaptors which you can get from your LWS. The process is no different than with a regular torch. For the thickness material that you wish to work with, there won't be any advantage, unless you feel that a light duty Victor, Harris, L.A.,etc, torch is to big and bulky for you. I feel that it is easier to spin off the cutting attachment, than to change out theentire torch body and install 'A' fitting adaptor to 'B' style hose ends. JMOLast edited by Pro-Fab; 04-06-2011 at 07:57 PM.Reason: typo
Reply:isnt a mm135 a little under powered for alum?id think it "might" weld 1/8" but that would be it.G
Reply:One of the things I noticed with OA aluminum welding (thin stuff) is it gets soft and workable......Tig on the other hand seems to make it less workable.....I'm talking about making bucket seats or body panels.......Shear some strips of the parent metal for filler with OA weldingLast edited by B_C; 04-07-2011 at 09:51 AM. Miller Dynasty 350Twenty Six HammersThree Crow BarsBig Rock
Reply:hp26,using a standard (push-only) MIG for aluminum is a problem because the wire flexes so much when pushed any distance. (more than 2')Since the wire is smaller than the conduit liner and is being pushed, 0.025"; 0.030"; 0.035" wires all "bunch & surge". That is; the wire will feed very slowly at the tip as it bends side to side inside the liner, then surge out when (and IF) enough spring force is stored up.Then the wire slows down and accumulates more compaction/side flexing inside the liner and repeats this surge and slowing cycle. Since the MIG power supply is a CV machine it will ramp the current to keep the voltage constant.So, if the wire isn't fed steadily, the amperage (weld heat) will surge up and down as the wire feed creates different resistance by changing how fast or slow it is coming out the contact tip. With push-only aluminum wire welding- you use up contact tips (very) fast as the filler wire fuses to the tip regularly. (constant) Burn-back with amperage fluctuations is pretty frustrating.Aluminum MIG is a reasonably fast hand held process, and if you add the factor of "someone standing at your power supply and turning the weld power UP, then Down then UP..... "while you're trying to run a bead it makes an already more difficult weld nearly impossible.Some guys may make it 'work' (?) with heavier (0.045" dia.) harder (5356) alloy wires as Pro-Fab mentioned; but nobody makes push-only aluminum wire welds anywhere near the quality of a spool gun or push-pull wire feed system.I'd go with a spool gun but the power supply seems that it may be too low an output to weld very thick material?cheers,Kevin Morin |
|
发表于 2021-8-31 23:28:34