Best way to weld alluminium tubing

Date 07-31-2007 07:49

What grade of Aluminum is it ...do you know?

I am guessing by "so that the joint is completely filled all round.?" you mean 100% solid material with no voids or "empty" places between the two pieces to be joined.

A wire welder (MIG) that is set up for Aluminum could do it ....the ends where the joint is to be made would need to be beveled at a 45 degree angle or so to get a good solid weld in there. And a bit of Preheat (about 250 degrees) would help insure a good weld. But I would recommend TIG welding for a high quality joint with no issues. I beleive the heat of welding will have an effect on your tone producing qualities somewhat. The area around the weld and the weld itself will have a slightly different density/molecular structure no matter what process you use....but it may prove insignificant in the end result. Probably the most important factor will be matching the filler material to the material you have.

By rebekah (**)

Date 07-31-2007 15:59

I agree with the other Tommyjoking.
We were playing around with some welded pieces that were shaped like tuning forks. We compared the tones of the ones that had been only welded with the ones that had been heat treated.
Very different.
I realize that you are not planning to heat treat these tubes but the area that is welded and the surrounding area will be affected by the welding heat. This might change the tone that you would get from a solid piece of the same length. Also, the filler rod that you are welding with wont be exactly the same as the material you are welding and this might also change the tone. It might only be a small amount but the HAZ (heat affected zone) is typically softer than the parent metal and I think it would deaden your tone because the sound waves wont be vibrating the same.
Otherwise, be sure to clean up the powdercoating really well because it makes nasty fumes.
I would be curious how it turns out.

Rebekah

By Cathal mc Date 07-31-2007 22:07

Thanks Rebekah and Tommy

The alluminium is standard alloy in europe which is 6082 T6. I realise it is a risky buisness now from what you say. So I don't think I will risk it without testing it out. How do you preheat using oxy acetlyene or with a heat gun?

I am new to alluminium- as you can see!

Thanks
Cathal

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 08-01-2007 10:02

What capability do you have equipment-wise to do this welding Cathal?? I ask because you are telling us your are new to Aluminium so I want to make sure I inform you properly.

Well as far as tig welding goes you could experiment with 4043, 4643, 5356 as fillers (perhaps some others in the 4xxx,5xxx range). The most important consideration here is that the weld area is completely clean and free from any paint, oils, dust, abrasives. Acetone is a very good solvent for cleaning aluminum as it leaves no residue. For preheat yes oxy-acetlyene....just gentle warming to ensure a good weld... you will see a very very light gold tint appear when the bare aluminum is at optimum temp (does not take long at all). Do the preheat after you have fitted and tacked the two pieces together.

Now its possible you could recover your tonality with proper post weld heat treatment of the material to restore it to its original t6 condition...this would require proffessional help and equipment for the optimum results....and probably would not be worth the expense when you could simply get another piece of material in the length you need.

If nothing else here you might pick up some esperience and feel more comfortable working with aluminum in a welding situation if you do a bit of "experimenting" ...just don't experiment on costly pieces until you are comfortable with the projected outcome.

By Cathal mc Date 08-20-2007 22:16

Thanks Tommy
I decided not to risk welding it as it would be too high risk for it to sound bad. Thanks for all the really good information though. I will use it again I am sure.

All the best from Ireland
Cathal

By Greg G. (**)

Date 08-09-2007 14:36

I do not recommend heating or welding this part as you have said that it is powder coated. The heat will mess up the powder coating and this will look bad because you will not be able to match it. To repowder coat the part you will need to burn the powder coating off or blast it off. If the powder coating has been do right blasting can take a long time.
My suggestion to you is. If the tubing is the same size and you can cut out a section on the one end of the tubing. Taper the end to make it fit up in side the other. Test the fit out to make sure is OK and then buy some JB WELD. Wipe the excess off and you should still have you paint job intacked. Removing powder coating is expensive and time consuming.