aluminum practice

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Fairly new to aluminum thought id show some welds. Did these in an hour. Feel free to comment. I've welded steel and stainless for years but not much aluminum.Playing and honing my technique
Reply:Those are all looking very nice. keep up the good work.
Reply:I dare say this is good enough for government work. Nice work.Next task is to wrap welds like that around the root of a pipe flange.
Reply:Machine used? Amps? Material thickness?...Too me these look like they were run "cold" with out enough amps. There's no real reference scale, but I'm guessing the material looks to be at least 1/4" thick from the picts. If so you needed to be running about 200-250 amps for 1/4"..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:Hot damn you have been busy the past hour lol Did that plate warp?Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:I was running about 200 amps. Eighth filler with a lot of dips, I was just screwing around. And oh ya the plate warped. I never stopped welding but forh a breif second to move the torch back to the begining
Reply:I'm guessing you have been to Jody's site. I have done that with a few pieces. It's very good for practicing on Aluminum. The piece gets hotter then hell after a bit.kidtigger24  They think I’m crazy, but I know better. It is not I who am crazy. It is I who am MAD!
Reply:Yea I've been there but that's not where I got the idea for doing that, I used to wrap tubes over and over and over. That's how I learned to lay a nice cap on a tube, when I was in welding school. Repeatativeness will teach you what to correct etc. I was playing with some aluminum, I hadn't touched aluminum in probably a year or better. I mostly arc and heliarc carbon, chromes, and stainless.......some fluxx core, some mig, but not a lot unless its a tank job. I'm a boilermaker.
Reply:Originally Posted by JoshfromsaltlakeI dare say this is good enough for government work. Nice work.Next task is to wrap welds like that around the root of a pipe flange.
Reply:while you are practicing- try doing some butt welds and then smash them backwards in the vice.  Then look at the broken joint.  You may find your penetration isnt what you want.  (or it may be fine-) just nice to practice relating how the bead looks to how deep it went.  Seems like looking at the toes carefully helps.  Seems like if the toes are just laying on top and not wetted in thats a hint you may be cooler then you want.  I think it may be too easy to dip the rod in before the puddle is as big as it needs to be.  Easy to go too fast and rush it...Dont forget to practice doing a last finishing half dab to fill the dimple.(crater)
Reply:I was just screwing around stacking bead against bead.