cleaning prior to welding

admin

after much seat time and practice i am ready to weld up my first project nothing fancy or critical at all just an aluminum push pole for my duck hunting boat.  for many years now i have used and keep a squirt bottle isoprophyl alcohol nearby for de greasing and what not on steel but for practice purposes have not bothered to clean aluminum.  i see most here use acetone to clean before work, am i ok doing what i have been doing or do i have to change.  by the way thanks for the tip on dumping pure and using lathinated for tungsten it got me out of the dumps and improved my skill dramatically.timJust some stuff in my shop.
Reply:Stainless brush and acetone will work great.Ya gotta spend money to make money!
Reply:for something like a push pole I wouldn't bother to do anything more than wipe it down with a rag. For something more critical I prefer to remove the oxide layer from the aluminum before welding with some scotch bright, then cleaning with a solvent (alcohol is my preference, works almost as well as acetone and it's not as toxic).
Reply:quasi, thanks for the info that is exactly what i wanted to hear.  i am starting out slow with the small items so next spring i hopefully can to some mods to my duck boat and others.timJust some stuff in my shop.