Based on what I have read you can weld aluminum with Oxy Acet. It is not the preferred method and requires flux and sometime special preparation.

This process is highlighted in one of my welding textbooks from high school. I have never used it myself.

Have a nice day

Gerald

Mathius,
Sorry, I can't answer your aluminum question- I just wanted to say it is good to see the problem with your instructor has worked out for you.

Chet Guilford

Yes you can weld Aluminum with a Oxy/Acet very easly. Its the same as TIG welding but may require more pre heating of the work depending on the mass. Bear in mind Alluminum is a fantastik heat sink. Aluminum can also be welded with GMAW and SMAW (now there is fun electrode).

An old trick we used before Temp sticks became so easy to come by was to lite the torch with no Oxy, blacken the around the area to be welded.

Turn on the Oxy to a neutral flame and preheat until the black soot disapears, then it will weld very nicely. Temp sticks work better though.

SS can be welded with with Oxy/Acet just as well. When you think about it, Oxy/Acet is the same as welding with an inert gas surrounding your puddle.

Its just that the electric arc can deliver so much more heat to a very small concentrated area. Most SS's are the opposite of Aluminum and resist the flow of heat.

I've seen and welded aluminum with oxy-acetylene using an aluminum stick rod. The flux is critical so use the SMAW electrode, the weld puddle flows more like a brazing puddle but does a good job.

My teacher insisted that if you weld with acetylene on aluminum, it would disperse the heat, rather than concentrate it in one area (like in TIG welding), because there's no arc force to focus it on that one area (where the tungesten is angled). He said it would create a mess. I thought myself that a good welding tip would work if you were careful and used the proper settings, but he insisted it wouldn't work. I even went so far as to ask about jewler's torches. His theory is sound, but I was skeptical as I thought I had heard that this was possible.

Can someone give me a basic rundown that's done this? What settings work good for thinner stuff? If you could help me out, common sizes we run into are 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 or smaller. He said we would experiment with it on Mon. but he seemed sure it would not work.

I've done some welding on mild steel with acetylene, but never aluminum. There's a Harris torch outfit on sale at my local welding supply that has a very good price on it (it's actually a student discount with my school, a special openhouse sale only running for a week). I'm really thinking about getting it so I can weld aluminum at home. I'm getting better with flat TIG to the point where I'm starting to feel comfortable with it. I can't afford a TIG or MIG setup right now, but I'd like to be able to weld aluminum at home.

Any information would be appreciated. It'd be nice to go in on Monday and show him something for a change instead of waiting to learn something from him. I don't mean to be so sarcastic, but he was really horrible in my last class. I'm very happy about my first night with him in this class, but it will take more than one night to make up for the time I lost. He's giving me a crash course in TIG, hoping to get me verticle certified by the end of the course. I seem to be catching on quick. It's contamination of the weld pool, and running too hot that are my week points.

Mathius