You can weld the Aluminum just fine with a Qxy/Acet torch if you don't try to take on to heavy of a section. The Aluminum is a very effective heat sink and can obsorb your heat as fast as you can put it out.
Thats makes PREHEAT and absolute necessisty most of the time. You can get a 400 deg F temp stick to gauge your preheat, then it will weld very nicely. Once you get the hang of it you can do some really great work with just a torch. Its slower and a little more trouble than GTAW but a hell of a lot less expensive.
Most likely you will use 2 ~ 3 times as much Oxygen as Acetylene.
The other materials are generally just as easy with less need for preheat versus higher melting point.
Hi ,if you decide to go with a gas setup make sure you check out tinmantech.com and look under articles and faq's he has alot of tips for gaswelding steel and alum. He likes this process the best. this is not my opinion, but I think it is a good way to go if funds are limited. you can do alot with a gas rig. Hope the website helps. Chub380 Ps look at FAQ and in that section look at the big question.
for auto mechanics, i'd suggest MIG because you only need 1 hand to weld, and you can get into some tighter places. and MIG is more versatile on different materials and is much faster than oxy-acetylene welding. also, consider tack welding...for an oxy-acetylene setup you need to have some clamps or a jig to hold your pieces together till you put a tack weld on it...w/ MIG, you just hold one piece where you want it w/ 1 hand and squeeze the trigger of the gun w/ the other hand. easy as that.
W,
Every response here already has merit. That said, I support the torch idea. I can not envision a well tooled shop without a torch, and I suspect even as an expert with oxyacetylene you will wind up with some kind of arc welding equipment, but, none of them will match the versitility of the first single tool, your torch. From loostening frozen and rusted bolts, to bending, shrinking, forgeing, cutting, and welding, that torch will be hard to beat. I'll have that frozen bolt burned off before you find the band-aids for your busted knuckles or the thesarus for the vocabulary you will want to use.(BTW the words you want won't be in it anyway)
As with anything, even driving a car, there are potential hazards particularly around oil, grease, and unknowns, but be aware of safety guidelines in handling, use and transport, and take normal precautions.
I frequently use a torch to restore broken bosses on Al castings; its a simple process of adding a bit of Al bronze to the broken boss and grinding it down to original specs... I suspect I can do more intricate repairs but have never had need. I own a GMAW (MIG)_ capable of the job but find it impractical to change over the system... the gas does a satisfactory job, and more efficiently due to the changeover issue. Bear this in mind when you select your electric welder.
You can use a relatively small piece of (sometimes exotic) filler with gas or GTAW, as well as SMAW, or weld without any additional filler at all with the first two processes or perhaps even cut your own piece to use as filler from the very piece being welded or similar scrap, whereas GMAW requires spools of accurately sized filler wire- sometimes more than you would expect to consume in 50 years.
Your question relates to which tool is a proper first step in a repair shop or garage. In my opinion, you gotta have a torch sooner or later, so it becomes a simple decision. Whatever you decide, take a course to learn how to use it properly and safely.
Regards,
d
You did say you wanted to weld aluminum, didn't you? I've never seen anyone oxy/act weld aluminum. Is the money the reason you have ruled out the mig machine? Maybe you can pick up a SMAW machine cheap and weld all of what you wanted.
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