[pinkpantherusmincus]

Hey Guys,

I am on a super tight budget to weld some aluminum. i have some 1/2 6061 rod to 1/8 5052 plate.

I know i can rent a spool gun from a local rental shop, though i am needing your help to find a suitable machine (new or used (craigslist)) that will do the job. Also i live in an apartment complex that has no more than 100v power outlets. What machines can any of you recommend for me to buy so i can complete my aluminum job? Is it possible?

thanks

Ryan

[WerkSpace]

Why not hire somebody to do this job for you? (Apartment power might not be enough.)

Hey Guys,

I am on a super tight budget to weld some aluminum. i have some 1/2 6061 rod to 1/8 5052 plate.

I know i can rent a spool gun from a local rental shop, though i am needing your help to find a suitable machine (new or used (craigslist)) that will do the job. Also i live in an apartment complex that has no more than 100v power outlets. What machines can any of you recommend for me to buy so i can complete my aluminum job? Is it possible?

thanks

Ryan

[Otto Nobedder]

Ryan,

If you have an electric stove or an electric dryer hookup, you likely have 200/220/240V (being in BC I'm gussing 50 Hz?). The outlet for the stove will likely be 40 or 50 A, and the dryer hookup 30 or 40 A.

Consider, though, the cost of a long enough and sufficiently heavy cord and connectors to operate a welder outside, as well as the fact the manager may have a fit if he sees you doing this...

I don't recommend doing Aluminum inside an apartment for several reasons...

Steve S

[weldin mike 27]

Hey,

Dont hang me for this one, but for a little job, with no other real option, look into the low melting point aluminium solider "dura-fix" is one brand. And a portable Mapp gas torch.

Just a thought.

Mick

[pinkpantherusmincus]

Quotes are in the 250-450$ range. If I can buy a set up for under 350 I can just do it all myself.

Mick I'll look into it!

Thanks

Ryan

[rake]

I know a lot of y'all are gonna have a fit about this but with a bit of careful planning you can weld aluminum fairly well without a spool gun with a crappy hobby welder.How do I know? Cuz in a jam I did it and it still holding up nicely 5 years later.
Okay guys just breathe deep! LOL! Machine? 180 amp Harbor Fright mig. Wire? .030 Tip? .035 Gas? 100% Ar
These welders have a plastic liner. Blow it clean and shoot teflon dry lube in both ends. Set the rollers just tight enough to feed without crushing the wire and keep the conduit as straight as possible at all times! Preheat helps even if it's a mapp torch. Burned 5 small spools of wire and never a hitch. Got the job done and got paid. With a machine that costs less than $300.00

[weldin mike 27]

Hey,

I wont cry foul on that. I call it Gettin it done. If you know enough to know you are doing it right, all good.

Mick

[lazerbeam]

Yes, you can feed Al mig wire through a short mig gun. Just keep the gun as straight as possible and using 5356 wire will help also as well as some U drive rolls.

Kevin

[anw]

Take this for what it's worth, but my INEXPERIENCE may speak volumes. I'm a newbie welder & just registered on this site to get help MIG welding aluminum. I have an Eastwood 175 (cheap, and if you're going to buy new, so far I highly recommend it, bearing in mind it's the ONLY one I've ever used), but it's 240V; I rewired my garage just for it (well, and I inherited an electric kiln, but the welder was the main reason).

Someone posted "hire it done", and, just based on what I read and my (in)experience, I'd say that's good advice. MIG welding aluminum is HARD (I've been stick welding). MIG steel is easier than stick, MIG aluminum is a different animal. If you're doing this for a single project, well...get plenty of replacement pieces, and count on practice, practice, practice. Perhaps I'm just really bad at it or something, but don't think to just buy a welder and do your project and expect it to be OK. It took me a week or two just to keep from burning through the metal, 1/8 to 1/8 6061 aluminum, and I've got the spool gun, gas, etc., etc.

BTW, someone posted about dura-fix. Before I got my welder, that's what I used, or something like it. It's a brazing process, and if your goal is just to make metal stick together and you don't want to hire it done, I'd say that's an option. Supposedly, it can be a stronger bond than an aluminum weld, but I make no definitive claim in that regard. Make sure the metal is really clean and you've completely removed the oxide layer with a stainless steel brush used for nothing but aluminum (no contaminants). It has the undeniable virtue that it works. In my case, though, I found that even that takes some practice.

[Bill Beauregard]

Self taught I've burned up maybe a thousand pounds of rod,stick,wire, and coat hangers. I make no claim to expertise, I have successfully welded a lot of variety. Desperately wanting to weld aluminum sheet metal,I studied up on the best practice. I approached a friend who let me use a very expensive MIG with spool gun. Four hours later, I had produced the ugliest stuck together piece of metal I've ever seen.
If it's worth it to you to invest and learn a skill go for it. Scrap dealers may not want your first failure. Weeks later you will produce work you will be proud of.
My Miller Diversion 180 TIG machine works well, can be used on 120 or 240 volts, but I get jealous when I see Jody using machines with more features.

[AnvilJack]

There's a boat building course, where you pay $1,100 for a week (five days) in a team of about eight people, and you learn to MIG aluminium on a dual-pulse Unimig welder (they have a shop full of them), and together you build a boat. Apparently, someone in the group always buys the boat (about a 5 metre runabout) before the week is out. That says something.

I'll just scuttle off and get some links for this course: here we go. http://www.platealloy.com/boatbuild.htm

You have to book about a year in advance to get into one of these courses. There must be something similar in USA.

I reckon that would be a good way to get some aluminium skills -- good equipment, good supervision, plenty of practice, lots of other knowledge thrown in, some mates to suffer along with ...

[Otto Nobedder]

Self taught I've burned up maybe a thousand pounds of rod,stick,wire, and coat hangers. I make no claim to expertise, I have successfully welded a lot of variety. Desperately wanting to weld aluminum sheet metal,I studied up on the best practice. I approached a friend who let me use a very expensive MIG with spool gun. Four hours later, I had produced the ugliest stuck together piece of metal I've ever seen.
If it's worth it to you to invest and learn a skill go for it. Scrap dealers may not want your first failure. Weeks later you will produce work you will be proud of.
My Miller Diversion 180 TIG machine works well, can be used on 120 or 240 volts, but I get jealous when I see Jody using machines with more features.

You made me smile.
I've gas-welded exhaust pipe with coat-hangers.

[Bill Beauregard]

Yeah, I caution you to avoid bailer wire. 45 years ago every barn had hundreds of pounds hanging on the wall. I never saw any that wasn't rusty. Old men when I was a kid prized the stuff.

[Antorcha]

Self taught I've burned up maybe a thousand pounds of rod,stick,wire, and coat hangers. I make no claim to expertise, I have successfully welded a lot of variety. Desperately wanting to weld aluminum sheet metal,I studied up on the best practice. I approached a friend who let me use a very expensive MIG with spool gun. Four hours later, I had produced the ugliest stuck together piece of metal I've ever seen.
If it's worth it to you to invest and learn a skill go for it. Scrap dealers may not want your first failure. Weeks later you will produce work you will be proud of.
My Miller Diversion 180 TIG machine works well, can be used on 120 or 240 volts, but I get jealous when I see Jody using machines with more features.

You made me smile.
I've gas-welded exhaust pipe with coat-hangers.

The reason you don't see copper coated metal coat hangers any more is two fol. The people your owners work for like plastic(oil) and taking coat hanger destined material and stamping RG45 on it brings a lot more money than a sack of coat hangers did !
Had I known I'd have stocked up on thousands of old coat hangers ! They weld just like.......No. RG45 welds just like coat hangers !

[Bill Beauregard]

I now own a Beverly shear, it originally belonged to my neighbor, who taught me to shear a narrow strip of the 16 gauge my first Jeep body was built from. His theory: you can't go wrong using the same steel as rod. It must have worked, 44 years later I still drive the same Jeep.