Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey guys I'm working on rebuilding my grandpa's 16 ft jonboat it's been sitting for 20+ years I learned to dish in this boat so it's kinda sentimental anyways I
It's got a couple spots that are tore a tree fell on motor and cracked the transom I sleeved it and am trying to weld it back together I cab weld on practice metal but when I try and weld 2 pieces together it don't work when I get a puddle it won't flow to the other piece it oxidizes and just won't bond if I didn't say this is on aluminum this is a picture of one weld that stuck the rest just made a big hole any advice would be appreciated

Hey. You need to really clean the alum. Acetone wipe followed by stainless steel wire brush. Also, check your gas system for leaks. Is it possible one piece might be clear anodised? If so you will have use a bumping technique of a blast of high amps to melt through the coating. Mash the pedal, add rod back off repeat.

A flap disk in a grinder might help to get under some of that corrosion. It's probably good if you practice too on something other than the boat first.

Check out some of Jody's great videos: http://welding-tv.com/2014/08/20/tig-we ... cs-part-1/

You might end up patching over the holes you created as the best way to resolve.

What are your machine settings?

When you light-up, you need to see the material get a bright mirror puddle within only a couple of seconds, so you can then start adding filler. It looks like that wasn't happening.

Agreed, Use a flap disk or a Norton Non-Woven Depressed Center Rapid Strip Wheel that has only been used on aluminum and then clean with acetone. You might want to practice on some aluminum that is about the same thickness as the boat you are repairing.
Good luck
Pete

TRACKRANGER wrote:A flap disk in a grinder might help to get under some of that corrosion. It's probably good if you practice too on something other than the boat first.

Check out some of Jody's great videos: http://welding-tv.com/2014/08/20/tig-we ... cs-part-1/

You might end up patching over the holes you created as the best way to resolve.

What are your machine settings?

When you light-up, you need to see the material get a bright mirror puddle within only a couple of seconds, so you can then start adding filler. It looks like that wasn't happening.

Mike kiker,

I suggest you STOP working on the boat you wish to preserve, and start practicing on junk aluminum of the same age.

Master the technique on landfill material before you destroy the thing you want most to save.

We will help you, but STOP!

Steve S

Mike,
Welcome to the family. Quick question, where are you from? Maybe a member here can swing over and give you a hand?
-Jonathan

I'm in marshville north Carolina thanks for all the tips guys I definitely be practicing before I try the boat again

Mike,
Most parts like that are cast Aluminum and are not all that easy for an experienced welder to tackle so don't get discouraged. Like mentioned, go to a local scrap yard ask that they sell you some cast Aluminum pieces to practice on.

I might add that when you do move to this piece that you put some Copper or stainless steel behind the weld as a backer to hold the molten Aluminum there to act like a cast mold. When you're finished it can be sanded down and blended to look like it had never been repaired.

Len

There's a lot going on here, and I have only one peice of wisdom to add. If this boat is made of aluminum that's been riveted together, there may be a reason for that. A lot of boats, especially when you get back to ones made 30 plus years ago were made out of alloys that would be difficult for an experienced welder.

Some of the little racing boats I've built various things for, for example, were built in the 60's out of what amounts to some oddball 2xxx alloy used for aircraft skins.

It's great that you're jumping in with a damn the torpedoes attitude, but these guys are right. Chill for a bit on your main squeeze, figure out exactly what you're doing.

There's a ton of guys here who'll help you every step of the way, and no one will flame you for not knowing every little thing.

Good luck on your project!

Before we start with talking you threw welding aluminum, let's slow down and find out what kind of machine you have. Besides the obvious of material not being clean it doesn't show signs of welding with AC no etching anywhere. Can see on left where the aluminum oxide layer formed that skin appearance and the metal melted under this. Looks like this was attempted in DC.

So can you tell us what machine you are using. Then we can get you started on some scrap and help you get your main project done in future. Chances are your best bet eventually will be to cut out the bad area's and weld in a new metal as a patch.

My machine is a everlast power pro 164 it's an inverter the book that came with it was really lacking I've researched on line and can't really find the answers I need it's got a switch on it ac/dc so I switch it to ac and start welding I have the torch in the negative side and the ground in the positive side

Jody's videos will be the best info you will ever find on line

Good comments above also about the possible alloy that is used in the boat, and its possible 'weldability' (or lack thereof)

Are other parts of the boat TIG/MIG welded or is everything riveted?

Our collective best advice to you is to practice on some similar gauge scrap. The suggestion of using a backing plate (e.g. copper) was also excellent advice.

There are other welds on the boat so I'm assuming it can be welded

Boats are dirty as Sin; mud, gas, oil, paint, you name it it's on there. You are right it is weldable, but to get it clean enough will be the trick. Transoms have wood in them, and are a real bitch to weld because of the smoke, and possibly water vapor when you light up. I can't tell where you're trying to weld from the pic either; More data is needed.

This is what I'm trying to fix

Totally doable. You're on the right track. Just try to get it as clean as you can inside and out. Inside is nearly impossible. The paint is your biggest issue; get's into every small crevass. Many boats are made with 5000 series Alu.

Gunge is not your friend here

Brand new flap wheel (not contaminated from steel, grease or anything else). Then maybe a stainless steel wire brush
(then Acetone if you have available)

Then you should be good to light-up.

In the second photo, presumably you have cut out that gusset? Something will need to go back there...

Worst case,

Weld it once, really shitty. Grind it out. Weld it again. Grind it out. Weld it again.

Three cycles of this bullshit, and your weld should start to look pretty clean.

With really dirty metal, don't be afraid to "lather, rinse, repeat".

Steve S

Ok I got home yesterday and did some practicing and just still can't get it I bought a flap disk done acetone and a ss brush I'm using argon compressed I'm guessing this is correct when I try and weld two pieces it still just build a puddle on one side and before it moves to the other piece it gets oxidized it goes from shiny to looking like dirty cast or something I've tried different settings on my machine different size tungsten and nothing seems to change

Time for a few facts / reminders

What type of Tungsten, size, shape, etc?

How many amps?

Are you using a pedal control?

AC current? yes?

What is your gas flow rate?

Are you welding indoors or outdoors?

Can you show a picture of your surface preparation?

Have you got the earth lead connected to BOTH parts that are being joined? (probably not from what you describe)

What model is the welder?

Can you show us a picture of all the welder control settings?

Are you sure there are no gas leaks anywhere with the argon?

Does it have a balance control for the AC? If so, what is it set to?

Did you practice on some clean scrap and was that successful or not?

I feel sure from this we can guide you in the right direction.

Mike,
I looked up your owners manual and saw that your using a multipurpose machine. My first question would be, do you have the Argon running through the filter on your machine? If yes, take it out and go directly into the gas inlet at the bottom.

Second question would be how much plasma cutting have you done if any? If you've done a considerable amount, how dry and clean is the compressed air you're using. These machines share the same plumbing for the Argon as the air for the plasma, terrible design. The Argon is then contaminated with oil and water from your compressor and is just about worthless to Tig weld with. It's hard enough to keep atmosphere out of your welds without adding air line garbage to the mix.

Until you have the two pieces joined you may have to place your ground between both pieces to form that first puddle, then it doesn't matter because they are now one. You can also clamp both pieces to a clean piece of metal to make a good ground path.

Answer some the questions presented and we can go from there.

Len

My question is how many hours of actual aluminum TIG welding experience do you have?

OP, did you get the boat fixed?

aeroplain wrote:OP, did you get the boat fixed?

Hmmmm I've been wondering the same thing. We've only had silence for a while now, and no questions answered.