Well I have been busy the last few weeks with the new toy, a Weldmaster 200. Have been sticking every bit of scrap steel to anything and everything and today decided to try aluminum. Found a small piece of scrap, cleaned it up and away we went. Not sure of the settings, was a bit of a guess to start.
Picture 3 shows where I made my first start which didnt go too well so we turned it arround and tried again on the other side pic 2 but it got away from me at the end but doesnt look too bad for a first time. Let it cool and tried on the first side pic 3 a little way down from the first go. Didnt realise how quick the filler rod dissappeared into the weld pool. All in all I am well pleased with the first attempt.
Looks alot better than my first try! But if you have a foot peddle you can prevent that over heating and melting at the end. The difficult thing about aluminium is that it heat up so quickly.
Also if you try the whip and pause method, you might get a more asthetic look, not that yours is bad at all, and to me, that method seems better for controling puddle flow. It looks like you are weaving and pulling, which can get out of control fast with aluminium.
Thanks fellas, it was just a quick go with a bit of scrap just to see what its like. The end result was a little surprising to me too, need to look at the settings a bit closer next time. I have a mate with a sheet metal shop so will be hitting him up for all the scrap/offcuts. He can have them back after I have stuck them back together.
