Well, in preperation of welding my end tanks on my new intercooler core, I decided to get a little more practice welding aluminum by building a battery box..





Still have a fair bit of welding and polishing to do yet.. I also built a gauge pod for the Fiero, it turned out ok...



This is all done with a regular mig, gas and tip.. I just popped in some aluminum wire and started going.. Just need to be sure that the surfaces are very clean..

Cheers,

 

Nice welds...I also wondered if I could weld aluminum with my mig.So all you did was swap the wire in yours and welded the aluminum up like that?

 

Thanks onebad82z.. Yes, I just switched to the aluminum wire and bigger tip.. I was running 023 wire, but the smallest size aluminum wire is 030 so I had to get a new tip.. The next time I fill the tank I'll get straight argon rather than the 75/25 mix I have now.. That should help a little, but it's still not too bad now..

Don't use normal cutting wheels on the aluminum tho, there is dirt and metal particals in them that will contaminate the aluminum.. I use the sand paper type discs for the grinder myself (40 grit).. They also recommend a nice clean stainless steel wire brush..

It's real easy, give it a try, you won't be disappointed..

Cheers,

 

i thought a aluminum weld was suposed to look like a roll of dimes laying against each other when it was good ?

then again great job i can't or havent tried to weld since i played with a stick welder some years ago..

 

Yea, if you have a TIG welder and some good skill.. I'm just a backyard grease monkey trying to do things the cheap way

Cheers,

 

naaa... for somthing like this, it should be ground so smooth that you dont even know where he welded........

 

I can't wait to get a real MIG. All I have is a 90 amp flux core. It's great for the price I paid, but it only runs .30 flux core, it's got no place to hook a bottle, so I can't run aluminum or stainless.

Mathius

 

lol dont grind the alum at all... alum isnt liek steal and it wont spark off, it will melt onto the grindign wheel and make it useless... its nto that the particles in the metal are unpure, its cause the alum isnt Coarse like steel..

in attition to swapping the tips you may want to lower your amps cause itll be a bit easier to work with.

it dont matter how it looks, alum. welds are alum welds... they are hard enough to do as it is...

ps. Excellent job on it too by the way, it looks great

 

hmmm. i better go inform the boys at the machine shop that they cant do what they've been doing for 2 years now.


really though... it comes off as a kind of metal shavings powder that gets everywhere. you're right, it doesnt spark, it just flys everywhere....

 

itll sand fine... but ones it hits the grinding wheel itll clog it like you wouldnt believe....

 

i couldnt tell you the name or type or anything like that about the wheel.... but im pretty sure its a diff wheel..


i never welded and ground the boxes and stuff, i ran the mill, and lathe, so i donno exactly whats diffrent.... i just know that the crap gets everywhere and that you dont want it in your eyes...