Aluminum ?'s

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I am getting into tig and want to work with aluminum. I never have worked with it before. I have in the past needed things like aluminum tool boxes or diesel tanks welded and have taken them to a shop to be repaired but have never tried it myself. I am no engineer but I have a pretty good seat of the pants feel for working with steel and sizing materials but am clueless when it comes to aluminum. I also have no idea where to even buy it. I live in a fairly good sized city and we have four or five steel yards but I have never seen a place that sells aluminum. Do they have special stores that sell it or do some steel yards carry it or what?Does it come in the same basic sizes and shapes as steel? Angle, channel, I beam, sheets, etc? What about cost? I am sure it is more than steel but not sure how much more.
Reply:Most of the steel suppliers I deal with stock some alum. There's also a place not far from me who deals only in alum. I can get angle, flat stock, sheet, beam, C channel and other shapes.http://www.piercealuminum.com/Note however that not all alum is weldable. Only certain alloys, and not all shapes come in all alloys. You may find browsing thru Pierce Alum on line catalog can give you some idea what is offered as far as shapes. They used to have a really good page that broke down alloys and uses and whether they were weldable or not, but I don't have that link on this computer and can't locate it tonight. MSC had a good page in their paper catalog that explained alum alloys well also, but I haven't looked to see if that info is on line as well. Browsing some of the other on line metals suppliers may provide you with good info on alloys as well as pricing.Cost I can't help you with. I don't buy enough alum regularly to keep tract of it and when I do, it's typically sheet material where when I buy steel, it's typically bar stock..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:I also have no idea where to even buy it. I live in a fairly good sized city WHAT CITY?Do they have special stores that sell it or do some steel yards carry it or what? YES IF YOU WANT THE BEST AL PRICES, YOU GO TO WWW.AMERICANMETALS.US OR EASTERNMETAL.COM OR read this thread I created a few years ago. http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...lk-wholesalersDoes it come in the same basic sizes and shapes as steel? Angle, channel, I beam, sheets, etc? YES and if you can't find the right shape you can get it custom extruded. What about cost? Aluminum is about $2.75 a pound currently, doesn't matter if you buy square tube, pipe or sheet it's almost always about the same price. Now if you are buying some specialty extrusion like dock stairs, or big azz ibeams, it might run $4 to $6 a pounds, but all the typical stuff is around $2.75/lb. If you buy truck loads (10 tons or more) at a time places like Bonnel aluminum will get it to you even cheaper.forgot to add pretty much all aluminum is weldable, It's never gonna be the case that you buy some non weldable aluminum by accident. This is because the aluminum that is not weldable is series 2000 and 7000 aerospace grade stuff that is 10x more expensive and hardly anyone carries it. You really have to go out of your way and spend $$$ to get unweldable aluminum.Last edited by AluminumWelder; 04-06-2015 at 09:25 AM.
Reply:Originally Posted by AluminumWelderforgot to add pretty much all aluminum is weldable, It's never gonna be the case that you buy some non weldable aluminum by accident. This is because the aluminum that is not weldable is series 2000 and 7000 aerospace grade stuff that is 10x more expensive and hardly anyone carries it. You really have to go out of your way and spend $$$ to get unweldable aluminum.
Reply:You got lucky the non weld able aluminum long stock is very rareYou can get get the machine blocks off ebay easily thoughTher are a lot of aluminum epoxies out there as well I assume for use on non weld able aluminumLast edited by AluminumWelder; 04-06-2015 at 11:06 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by DrilldoI am getting into tig and want to work with aluminum. I never have worked with it before. I have in the past needed things like aluminum tool boxes or diesel tanks welded and have taken them to a shop to be repaired but have never tried it myself. I am no engineer but I have a pretty good seat of the pants feel for working with steel and sizing materials but am clueless when it comes to aluminum. I also have no idea where to even buy it. I live in a fairly good sized city and we have four or five steel yards but I have never seen a place that sells aluminum. Do they have special stores that sell it or do some steel yards carry it or what?Does it come in the same basic sizes and shapes as steel? Angle, channel, I beam, sheets, etc? What about cost? I am sure it is more than steel but not sure how much more.
Reply:my steel supplier ALRO, only stocks aluminum 1/8" thick wall and thicker. If you are making tool boxes and tanks, you are probably want to use 1/16th or 3/32" .080" max thickness materials, whcih most steel places dont stock based on my limited experience with steel places. I you are going to make it out of 1/8" thick aluminum it's going to be just as heavy as thin steel IMHO, it's a waste.