Welding Tips and Tricks

I have tryed to used the search function on this subject however it keeps telling me that it is ignoring it. I am in the process of determining weather to buy a spool gun for my Lincoln SP175 MIG welder or buy a new TIG machine for aluminum. Hard to justify the cost of a TIG machine for a hobby. The spool gun would be a better fit for me providing they work well. My use would be for up to 3/16" plate. Please share your experiences with the Spool Gun.
Thanks in advance.

Spool guns are great for aluminum, but one worth having will cost you at least $800, and if you want 100% duty-cycle, the price goes up. They get heavy, after a few minutes, too.

On the plus side, MIG aluminum takes less gas. Yes, the flow is higher, but you lay down weld faster with fewer other consumables.

An alternative you might consider:

Lincoln probably makes a "lined" liner for that purpose (I know Miller has one). You can have a second whip for your MIG with a close-tolerance liner internally lined with some sort of teflon so your current wire-feeder can push aluminum. This might be the best choice for hobby-level, as it's inexpensive and reliable. A tip, though. When welding, say, .035 aluminum wire, use an .040 tip. The heat travels and expands the Al more than steel; .035 wire through an .035 tip will jamb.

It's worth looking at. My buddy needed a new spool gun for all purposes (Work a hundred feet from the power source) and spent about $1300 for the 100% duty-cycle he needed.

Steve S

That's a great tip about the tips! Unfortunately it is true that the wire will jam in the tip, especially on heavier duty cycles. For a while, I've been drilling or reaming out the tip to a larger size...I never thought about putting in a bigger one! (DUH)

And when the tip jams, you wind up with a pile of spaghetti on the inside of the gun. It's not that difficult to fix, but it can be time consuming and very annoying.

I would recomend anyone that welds aluminum to get a spoolgun and although i wouldn't part with mine for the world, it does have it's disadvantages, many of which Steve S. pointed out....... they are expensive, especially for a high quality heavy duty one.......they are a little heavy, but they get do lighter as you're using them.......There is a lot of hose and cable to drag around with them which can get cumbersome......they aren't easy to fit into tight spots and once you do fit them in, it 's not that easy to move them around


Other Steve