Welding Tips and Tricks

help, new to tig and disabled vet. could use alot of help with setup, filler ect. any and all help/ advice apprecated thanks, A.K.A shakey J., i have nerve damage in my hands and other issues please help.

Welcome to the website from a former USAF, '89-'94

New to tig and DCEN on old cast aluminum is an extremely difficult thing to try in my opinion.

I would recommend getting some hood time with AC tig on regular aluminum first.
Cast is more difficult (so is DCEN with helium) and the learning curve is shortened when you have the basics down already.
I've welded enough cast aluminum with AC to know that pedal manipulation (amperage control) needs to be second nature when you weld cast.

Pics and thickness will help further comments.

Dave - He's got an AC buzz box, so he can weld this with his equipment. But you are right, cast aluminum takes a bit more care.

Some pictures of the part and what you're task is will help get you better answers. But 4043 filler should work fine, 100% pure Argon. 60Hz on your Buzz Box will be perfect. Do you have a pedal, or scratch start only?

cj737 wrote:Dave - He's got an AC buzz box, so he can weld this with his equipment. But you are right, cast aluminum takes a bit more care.

Some pictures of the part and what you're task is will help get you better answers. But 4043 filler should work fine, 100% pure Argon. 60Hz on your Buzz Box will be perfect. Do you have a pedal, or scratch start only?

Except he asked about DC- tig aluminum which is helium shielded.
Buzz box will not have a pedal.
I've used an AC buzz box with a high-freq spark box and it would definitely not be my choice for cast aluminum.
Worked ok for 1/8" and thicker regular material though.