Welding Tips and Tricks

I am butt welding 1/8 X 6/6 aluminum tubes. The welds looked perfect until I ground the weld off. It had gas bubbles down the length of the seam. why? By the way, I'm not beveling the aluminum, I'm using 20 pounds of argon with a 1/8 inch tungsten.

Hi there,

Its got to with the oxide on the aluminium. Use a stainless steel wire brush to clean tbe weld area right before welding and the acetone wipe. (dont set fireto the acetone.) clean the filler with scoth brite or ss wool and wipe with acetone rag. see how that goes.

Mick

hi again.

also reduce tungsten size to 2.4mm. dunno inch eqiv. sorry.

mick.

Sounds like you are working with some dirty material. Just use some solvent (break cleaner works) and clean the material. You shouldn't have to wire brush or clean the filler unless its been laying of the floor getting stepped on and that times to much time. And btw I would recommend putting a bevel on the tubing if the weld is going to be ground off. Butt welds on that thick of aluminum that get ground off have a tendancy to crack. The shop I work at does a lot of that kind of jobs and everything gets beveled.

Hey,

Just watch out for that brake cleaner, it can be NASTY NASTY SHIT. When welding is involed. Google it and welding.

Mick

wow never knew about that brake cleaner being bad. I only use it in a pinch a home, but won't being doing that anymore. Scrap that brake cleaner reference use acetone.

Hi there,

Good to hear, There must be all sorts of nasty stuff out there that we dont know about till its too late.

Mick

Ya makes you wonder. Thanks for bringing up that brake cleaner was bad. Like I said have only used in a pinch, didn't mean to give bad advise. I wonder if the stuff at my work I use to clean the aluminum is bad. I know that if I don't run the exhaust sytem, the smell makes you feel like crap.

Hey,

Check to see if you can find the Material Safety Data Sheet, MSDS. Every substance should have one, contact the manufacturer, they will be able to send you one. It will map out any particular safety precautions to follow. if your employer wont help, theres nothing wrong with a little after hours research. Good luck.

Mick

ajlskater1 wrote:Sounds like you are working with some dirty material. Just use some solvent (break cleaner works) and clean the material. You shouldn't have to wire brush or clean the filler unless its been laying of the floor getting stepped on and that times to much time. And btw I would recommend putting a bevel on the tubing if the weld is going to be ground off. Butt welds on that thick of aluminum that get ground off have a tendancy to crack. The shop I work at does a lot of that kind of jobs and everything gets beveled.

Thanks guys for your input,I beveled the material and it worked fine.

glad to hear everything worked out for you

My welding tutor also warns about using acetone if you don't give it chance to dry thoroughly.
You can produce a gas that sends you a bit 'high' and very drunk.

Glad to hear it worked for you