aluminum filler

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Which filler rod to weld 6061 T aluminum. Per heat or post heat needed. .125 inch wall 1 x 1 tube is the parent material.ThanksMiller 330 A/BP Bernard SS coolerMiller cst 250Miller Big Blue 251DCentury 210 Mig (first welder I bought)Hypertherm PowerMax 800Victor torch setRu Fong 31 MilAtlas lathe
Reply:Quick answer: either 4043 or 5356, both commonly available filler rods, will probably work fine.5356 will give the higher as-welded strength and ductility, and is ok for anodizing, but not recommended for service temperatures above 150 deg. F.4043 will be less ductile and less strong, and not suitable for anodizing, but will be reliable at elevated temperatures.Long answer: there are other, less commonly available filler rods that may have advantages in certain situations too:http://www.alcotec.com/us/en/support...on_Chart-2.pdfFor example, 4643 would be the filler rod to use if post-weld heat treatment of your 6061 is going to be performed.Other 6061 tips: Don't be skimpy with filler metal or you can get hot cracking.  Prepare a butt weld joint beveled edges to fill, or leave a small gap to fill in.Also, if your 6061 is heat treated (often is supplied to a T6 specification) and you want to maintain the highest post-weld tensile strengths, minimize the heat affected zone by welding with minimal heat input (hot, fast, with "focused" arc settings) and don't use any pre-heating.  (Pre-heating shouldn't be necessary anyway for welding 1/8" in a single pass with most TIG machines.)
Reply:Someone suggested to me the idea of using a materials own material as filler at some point.  I've never tried it as I haven't had access to a swift and reliable method of forming 'rods' of the material.  However, I can imagine that using 6061 as filler in a 6061 joint to be a good idea.  They say to try to match the filler to the aluminum as closely as possible, you can't get any closer than that.  If I had access to a shear today, I'd be welding with identical filler tomorrow."Also, if your 6061 is heat treated (often is supplied to a T6 specification) and you want to maintain the highest post-weld tensile strengths, minimize the heat affected zone by welding with minimal heat input (hot, fast, with "focused" arc settings) and don't use any pre-heating. (Pre-heating shouldn't be necessary anyway for welding 1/8" in a single pass with most TIG machines.)"  +1Miller 330 a/bp water cooledI believe in gun control, I hold my gun with two hands.  If you want to know why, click here.Buy American or bye America.
Reply:Thanks for the input. I will post some pic's of the project.Miller 330 A/BP Bernard SS coolerMiller cst 250Miller Big Blue 251DCentury 210 Mig (first welder I bought)Hypertherm PowerMax 800Victor torch setRu Fong 31 MilAtlas lathe
Reply:No need to pre or post heat 1x1x.125 tube.  Weld it with 4043 and it will be fine.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:I hate to post without a reference, but I'm quite sure that 6061 is an example where you don't want to use the parent material as filler - it will cause cracking. Certain other alloys would be fine though. I'll dig thru my references later and post it if I can fine it.JasonXMT 350 MPA Dynasty 280DXSuitcase 8RC / OptimaSpoolmatic 30AThermco Ar / C02 mixerAssorted O/A gear
Reply:Found it! quoted from Lincoln document no c8100 (aluminum consumable welding document):"6XXX alloys— These Al-Mg-Si alloys are primarily used for extrusion alloys, although they can also often be found as sheet and plate. The chemistry of these alloys makes them very sensi- tive to hot short cracking. Autogenous welds (i.e., welds made without adding filler metal) will almost always crack. This is why6061 filler metal does not exist. If it did, welds made using it would crack. Yet, these alloys are readily weldable using either 4043 or 5356 filler metal. Since the chemistry of 4043, Al with 5% Si, or 5356, Al with 5% Mg, is so different than that of 6061, when either is mixed with 6061, the result is a weld with a crack resistant chemistry."Later...JasonXMT 350 MPA Dynasty 280DXSuitcase 8RC / OptimaSpoolmatic 30AThermco Ar / C02 mixerAssorted O/A gear
Reply:Thanks again The information from members on this site is amazing.Miller 330 A/BP Bernard SS coolerMiller cst 250Miller Big Blue 251DCentury 210 Mig (first welder I bought)Hypertherm PowerMax 800Victor torch setRu Fong 31 MilAtlas lathe
Reply:Originally Posted by BCRDFound it! quoted from Lincoln document no c8100 (aluminum consumable welding document):"6XXX alloys— These Al-Mg-Si alloys are primarily used for extrusion alloys, although they can also often be found as sheet and plate. The chemistry of these alloys makes them very sensi- tive to hot short cracking. Autogenous welds (i.e., welds made without adding filler metal) will almost always crack. This is why6061 filler metal does not exist. If it did, welds made using it would crack. Yet, these alloys are readily weldable using either 4043 or 5356 filler metal. Since the chemistry of 4043, Al with 5% Si, or 5356, Al with 5% Mg, is so different than that of 6061, when either is mixed with 6061, the result is a weld with a crack resistant chemistry."Later...Jason