[JCF]

Hi, I am welding .050 aluminum 1100 together in a butt weld. 1/16 tungsten and 55 amps. It's a fusion weld actually which is working well, but sometimes there are gaps, and those cause holes to blow out. I was filing the edge with a file and saw that the filing dust was getting in the gap and thought maybe that would help fill out that gap --- even just a tiny bit. The gap is very small - like .005. My question is.. can I just fill that gap up with some aluminum dust to get a little extra material in there? Almost like dust filler rod. Or would that not work?

[tweake]

one thing i've had with aluminum dust or even chunks, is it being sucked into the tungsten.
i've seen chunks fly along a plate and smack into the tungsten and your off to the grinder.
i've ended up with little ring around the tungsten which i suspect is dust from grinding hitting it.

so don't have dust anywhere near your work.

i would use filler even if its mig wire.

[Poland308]

Filler wire also often has other ingredients that aid in the weld process. Dust might work, but it will likely cause more problems than it solves. You can cut thin strips out of the material your using, and use that as filler.

[BillE.Dee]

I am far from being a top notch professional in TIG welding. What I have "learned" so far is that when the edges of the base metal are not SMOOTH or there is dust or particles in the joint there seems to be a false impression that the base metal is melting and the speed of the weld is affected. My eyes are not what they used to be and this is what I find.

[JCF]

Thanks a lot for the replies. Yeah, I think the dust idea was not a great one. But, I found that with the fusion weld, if I ball peen the edges together pretty tight it makes it go a lot better. Also, I'm doing a forward, back, forward motion that seems to help pull the two sides together and get less holes opening up. Thanks again

[Olivero]

I personally find that fusing aluminum is a bad idea, not sure what your application is but it never worked well for me, it either started crawling back or the weld would crack.

I just use some skinny filler and use as much as I need to get by.

Considering dust is a result of abrasion and no abrasion is done 100% clean, I wouldn't want it anywhere near my weld, by using a file you are contaminating the aluminum considering it's a steel file?

By using a grinder you have particles of zirconium or whatever the wheel is made of, being part of that dust and so forth.

Keep it clean, that tends to work the best.