Hello commonarc, to go right along with everything that Henry provided for you just keep in mind a few more basic considerations: really watch out for cross-contamination with brushes, grinders, any sorts of metal-prep type equipment, similar likely to the alloys and other materials you are familiar with, these sorts of things can give you grief when working with aluminum. Clean, clean, clean, and clean some more if your welds are needing to be of the utmost quality, the moment that you stop the cleaning and preparation of aluminum for welding it is immediately starting to oxidize again, wait too long to perform the welding and your quality will likely suffer. Pay attention to alloy type, some are considered non-weldable, the links that Henry provided will give you a host of information on some of these issues and why. Pay attention to filler rod type and it's compatibility with various alloy types, there can be additional limitations or considerations in this area. One example of this has bitten more than a few, when welding 6061 materials and using 4043 filler wire don't plan on anodizing the finished welded parts. If you do you could end up with black bands wherever the welds have been made, the anodizing process turns the 4043 welds dark/black. In this instance 5356 is one of the suggested fillers. There are many other little suttleties that can apply while working with aluminum. As Henry suggested, take a "while" and check out the various links that he has included in his post. Good luck on your upcoming aluminum endeavors and keep us posted. Best regards, Allan
Here you go Commonarc! ;)
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