My first beads were on 5000 series aluminum .072" scrap from a boat, using 5356 filler. My starting setup was 100hz and 120 amps which I dropped to 80 amps. Balance was 30 positive, but cleaned better at 35. The weldpro drops down to 10 amps and I can see the puddle freeze before stopping the ...

I agree, and a big thank you to all who contributed. I got answers to my specific question and great bonus tips. I ordered the welder yesterday, already have 2 argon tanks and 4 sensor helmet. Went with Yeswelder because it checked most of my boxes, has great reviews, and I had 10% off coupon so end...

... 20 amps is low enough to keep an arc without a puddle on .095 aluminum. So your starts and stops with be fine if you choose to use the swirling method at the end of a weld. I looked at a bunch of welders before I bought mine and continue to look as I learn more. It seems to me that most afforda...

Nice to meet you guys!

cj737 wrote:I’d guess 1.5”x0.125 wall thickness

I was thinking the same; many thanks once again!

Hello everyone, I'm in the process of making plans for a roof rack (for my van) and saw this video but the maker is not saying what material he is using (nor is there a contact) - I think it's 1.5 inch but would like a 2nd opinion. Also, it looks surprisingly light as 2 people can handle it without ...

Welding a learned skill, but for things like you are doing, it is not rocket science or brain surgery. Me, personally, I would say MIG for 1" - 1.5" tubing is far more challenging to get right. Wire spits whether you move or not. TIG, you control the puddle size and position. And MIG woul...

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply with your experience G-ManBart. I can't say I was planning on 0.065 tubing :D And if it ends up being too difficult I can switch material. But I'm willing to give it a try. Down the road I'd regret not trying it rather than trying it and learn it didn't...

And for that matter, why not just go with steel tubing and use the MIG you already have? You aren't going to save much weight on a roof rack by switching to aluminum. 1 inch by 1inch by 1/8th inch aluminum square tube (thinnest I could find on metalsdepot.com) is 0.3 lbs per foot. 1 inch x 1 inch b...

Use 1.25 tubing with 1/8" wall. It will be plenty strong enough. There are some "tricks" to welding these tube sections together... First, when you cut the "bird's mouth" (cope) the flared ends are very thin-walled. Don't start your arc there; start on the saddle. Second, w...

So how much thin aluminum welding do you currently do or do you expect to do? People tend to worry about features that for 90% of us have no bearing on the actual projects we routinely tackle. Even if you buy a machine with a "high" starting/ending amperage, there are plenty of techniques...

Thank you for the reply! Yes, I understand how the pedal works, I just wanted to make sure the machine I'm purchasing can taper off that much - some are able to get down to 20 amps and some to 10 (in AC tig mode.) I didn't want the machine to "cut the arc" because it only goes down to 20 a...

Hello everyone! I'm about to purchase a beginner tig welder, but the last unanswered question (before making the decision which to buy) is related to my biggest fear: the start and end of a weld in thin aluminum material. If I had a video suggestion for any of the pro welders/teachers on youtube it ...

I'm Cristian. My welding experience is comprised of 20 minutes with a stick welder, which was fun, and around 2 hours with a spool gun "trying" to weld some aluminum, which was fairly ugly . And since then I've been wanting a AC Tig machine, just haven't had a good reason to get one until ...