AL Tig with SS Appearance

[magix4u2000]

I have had an AL awning shop for 18 yrs. We do all sorts of AL fab. Recently I have been seeing AL rail work where the top caps are welded with the appearance of SS TIG. The only way I can make a weld that looks comparable is without filler.
The hand rail extrusions are pretty much 6063 alloy. No filler means hot cracking.

Does anyone have any idea how they are making these welds. If filler is being used they must have a robot. SS Tig appearance!

Any help will be very much appreciated

[Keith_J]

120+ Hz and balance control. Clean well, no stray air currents to pepper the weld area. Yes, it is possible.

Inverter machines make this possible. I am a believer, going from Synchro to Dynasty. Still lack the very thin finesse but 0.040" is easy.

[yorkiepap]

Hey magix,
If you are making good, sound alum. welds, I wouldn't have a real concern that it looks like TIG. I know of a couple alum. railing shops that produce the "TIG" look with a spoolgun & one that bought a CKSystematics WF-1 from me for that "look". They are a production shop & the aesthetics in conjunction with cost-effectiveness gave them that level. The other shop has a great youngster that can produce that "look" with a spoolgun & is a production shop. It all comes down to the bottom line......$$$$$$$.....is it a necessity for that look? Will it reduce your profit level? Do you have someone(you or employee) who is capable of that kind of aesthetics? Another shop does all their railings in-house & TIG everything. Their railings are quite expensive because of the additional work/time involved, so base your customer requests for that kind of appearance. Here's some pics of the CK unit.

Denny

[magix4u2000]

Reply to Denny

Hi Denny,

Thanks for the reply. I have been welding for 30 + yrs. I have been welding AL for 18 yrs. My equip is Miller Legend with 115 control Module for 30A gun, Miller 350P Aluma pro, Miller 251 with 30A, Miller Pass Port, Dynasty 200 Complete.


I can weld pretty good, however the current rails I'm doing are getting class 1 anodized. I was hoping to weld the caps with 5356 & have it anodized. The welds need to be super nice. If I dress them or buff it will look bad with the type finish.


I have seen other rails around & the AL looks like it was done without filler. Im wondering if someone is selling a series AL that can be welded autogenous.


Even a jam up welder will get a drop or two of to much filler once in a while. The rails I'm seeing look to good to be true.

[fire1hawk]

Take some pics so we know exactly what you are talking about

[magix4u2000]

Picturers

I will take some pic. ASAP

[H80N]

Take a look at this video... pulsed mig has really come a long way.. this is from Fabtech a couple of weeks back..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbdUOCXpuK0&feature=relmfu