I saw a link to How to Weld Aluminum Pt 1 today, and that led me to weldmonger.com and then to here. Good video, by the way; now if I could only remember what I was looking for when I started watching the YouTube video__it seemed important at the time.
I'm in SW Florida, and work on BMW M Coupes and Rdstrs (1998 -2002 model years) although I will take in the occasional M3 or Z4/M cars for friends and some locals. I work out of a shop built behind my house, staying busy enough to have quit my day-job some twelve (<12) years ago. Consequently, I do a fair amount of welding, though I'm probably not qualified to be a pimple on a real weldor's butt!
I weld on steel most of the time (MIG) and I (TIG) weld aluminum so rarely that half the time, I forget how to even set up the machine properly. I do adhere to the cleanliness is Godliness thing, and always clean my work and rods with a dedicated s/s toothbrush and lacquer thinner before starting. I'm using a Miller Dynasty 200 DX for TIG work, so the machine is certainly capable, even when I'm not. I get lost in its many setting options; I actually reverted back to the manual a week or so ago when I needed to stick something together
Before buying the TIG machine (2004) I took a Lincoln Motorsports Welding class (4-1/2 days at their Cleveland facility) just to see if I could even hold a TIG torch, before spending $3k to buy one. I did okay there, though for a solid 3+ days, we were primarily focussed on aluminum (like I said, I just don't do it often enough now).
Anyway, I'm here now, so I'll be taking a good look around and I'm hopeful that I can retain some of the knowledge and tips presented. Sorry that this got windy, just following the suggestion to get a first post in.
