Jody's videos have helped me get through learning MIG years back and now helping me get decent at TIG. Normally I just look for answers, since just about every question has already been addressed on the internet but sometimes you have to ask your own and here I am!
Aluminum fillets have been the hardest to become consistent at so I try to do at least one every practice session. The hardest thing has been to buy into the idea of starting tight and hot and moving out quickly. I tend to want to bleed on the heat and stay too far away, and the faces overheat before the root puddles and I either blow it out or end up with a giant fillet and a cold root. But I'm getting better.
Just running beads for fun after the fillet, experimenting with the settings
Welcome! I had the same problem with aluminium fillets, made worse by the fact that most of the material I work with is very thin. But yes, start tight and hot and then get moving fast, for sure.
Your stuff looks very good ! The Aluminum fillet took a lot of practice for me too.
If you creep up on it, more heat moves out everywhere into the piece , making things difficult.
Like many have said, if you get a puddle faster and start moving, the heat hasn't spread out as much yet.
Alum is a great conductor of current and heat, so more heat absorbs and spreads everywhere fast !
Good luck and welcome to the forum !
Thanks a lot guys! My current bane of welding existence is thick to thin aluminum (say 1/16" to 1/4"). Once I get a tack I can move out and weld fine by focusing the heat on the thick stuff. But for the life of me I can't get it to tack without filler. No matter what I do, the thin stuff blows back. I've tried sneaking up on it with a butt load of amps in a short burst, the thin stuff melts before the thick puddles. Tried puddling the thick and washing the puddle onto the thin as I back off the pedal - as I push the puddle over, the thin melts... I concede that this is probably my lack of skill but it's the only thing I haven't been able to do yet. I've managed to do the welds but only by building up a tack weld with filler first.
Try to make your fusion tack out on the end of the T-joint , not in the root . This is how I tack up my practice piece T joints , no filler, one hand free. Alum fusion tacks are very weak , but good enough just to hold it in place til you weld .
Yup thats what I do, picked it up from Jody's videos. Jack the amps by 50% and smash it while holding tight. It makes a nice surface tack without melting back the corner. Strong as wet tissue paper but keeps it in place while not putting much heat in the work
