Welding Tips and Tricks

I am a beginner with a project involving some alum square tube (for cabinets) Alum Diamond plate (flooring), and possibly some light gauge Alum sheet. Also have some steel square tube support to build (probably 1/16 x .75in x .75in). I've done basic brazing and pretty confident I can teach myself with a couple books and practice and questions to folks who know more.

I'm not clear on the pros and cons of TIG versus MIG. I watched the video on this site introducing Tig, Mig, and stick welding. What it mentioned was MIG is faster and the metal doesn't have to be as clean. TIG is versatile, but the machines cost quite a bit more. But I'd rather pay more now than wind up buying a second one down the road.

So What are the cons of going with MIG? Can I do pretty much everything I can do with TIG?
I think i prefer to feed the filler with my hand in TIG. Getting the wire feed rate in MIG to match my work speed seems like it could take some practice.
Also, I don't know what wire feed reels cost, but for small jobs, I don't want to buy a big reel i don't need.
It also seems that many TIG machine will do stick welding also. That might be handy some day.

Anyway, open to suggestions and comments on pros and cons.

Thanks for feedback

I'm seeing some tig welders are not for aluminum. Some specifically say they are for aluminum. What's the difference?

I am new to TIG but will respond with what I think I do know. On a TIG welder AC is for aluminum and other non ferrous metals. DC is for stainless and carbon steel.


I was going through a similar decision a few months ago. Why you can weld aluminum with a DC spool gun on a MIG welder you are limited to how thin you can weld.

Again....I am new to this and if any correction needs made please do so!!!

Thanks for the response. I'm also wondering about power. The only 220 outlet I have in my house is my dryer and it's only 30 amps. How do you power your's? Guess I need a generator too? MIG is looking a lot simpler and cheaper, but doing alum cabinets definitely sounds like a job for tig ...

I would suggest mig for you. It's a lot faster and it's easier to learn. Once you get your settings right, it's basically point and shoot. You will need a welder that can take a spoolgun as aluminum wire can break easier if it has to travel through the usually much longer mig hose for steel. A 30 amp breaker should be just fine for what you need.

Please note that even on mig aluminum, the aluminum needs to be really clean to get a good weld, just like with tig.Wipe the weld area down with lacquer thinner, then brush it good with a stainless steel brush just before you weld.

It is possible to do really nice work on thin pieces of aluminum with a mig, but it will take practice. Laying out the pieces to be welded on a piece of thicker steel will help to act as a heat sink for thinner materials.

Steve

Thanks for the advice.
I've been a little concerned with getting small tight clean welds on the cabinets with a mig. Everything I've read suggests tig for the finish work. I'm not too worried about the practice. I'll build some scrap pieces until I'm comfortable, but it seems like the kind of thing I'll pick up quickly.

I'm looking at the ArcOne I100STS Industrial Series Stick and TIG Welding Machine on Amazon. Pretty cheap at $375, has great reviews, and runs off 110v with inverter. I would have been suspicious about a 110 unit, but the reviews are pretty good. It only does up to 100amp, but that'll do me for now. Anybody familiar with this unit?

Here's the link if this site doesn't filter it: http://www.amazon.com/ArcOne-I100STS-In ... ef=lh_ni_t

I've got an old steel table saw top for a welding bench. Should make a decent heat sink.

what are you using for power source? anything over 30 amps is outside most household and portable generator power

I'm in a shop, so I've got all the power I need. Home would be a different story, of course, but I'd like to think that for what you're doing, a 30 amp circuit should be fine. It might lower your duty cycle somewhat, but that would be easy to time once you know the limits that can be pushed with your machine. Since you're only going to start off with thin aluminum, I can't see you really pushing the limit. Your electric meter might whirl around really fast for a while, though.

I figured out my error. The out put may potentially be 100-200amps, but the output voltage is low (like 25v) so it only needs to pull 25-50amps at 110 or less at 220. I was calculating the output amps 220. That would be require a dedicated service line. duuuh

Input/output.......that could make a difference!

I have a 40 amp breaker on my mig and regularly weld 1/8 th wall tube and 1/4 inch plate aluminum and i don't think I've ever tripped the breaker once. Ive used that same line for a Syncrowave 200 air cooled tig welder and was always tripping the breaker, so now I use a 60 amp breaker for the tig and keep the mig on a 40. Since the 200 got stolen , I replaced it with a watercooled 250 and have yet to trip any breaker.