Spoolgun and Aluminum

[mowjunk]

Here is a picture of my feeble attempts to weld aluminum with my new MM210 and spoolgun. After a bit of consulting with Hawk, I finally figured out that I had too much stickout. The area around the weld bead itself is sooty, but the weld bead was clean and shiny. Is this normal?

[mowjunk]

Here is a picture of the end where I cut it. The fillet on the right was a weld I made with more stickout. The fillet on the left is from the bead in the first picture using less stickout. Does this look ok?

[myhemi]

i think that those look pretty good for a spool gun setup. glad to see some product, i was thinking about that same set up. what was your metal thickness on those welds?????

[mowjunk]

Originally posted by myhemi
i think that those look pretty good for a spool gun setup. glad to see some product, i was thinking about that same set up. what was your metal thickness on those welds?????

The thickness is 1/8". I really like the way the MM210 is setup with both guns....

Mow

[morpheus]

good looking pics Mow !

It looks like the weld on the right got better penetration, just from looking at the HAZ in the cut cross-section. Or at least I think that's the HAZ ...

- jack

[H80N]

Mowjunk
not to worry about "sooty" outside of the weld area... in my experience is usually just burned off oil or wax on the stock... one caution .. would reccomend that the material be cleaned with wire brush (clean stainless) or abrasive pad just prior to welding... aluminum is a very reactive metal.. and will form an oxide layer on it nearly immediatly.(aluminum oxide is a tough material and one heck of an insulator.. do not rely on the mechanical penetration of the wire to fix this).. clean is good... will get prettier welds.. better penetration.. better strength..
just my opinion
my best
Heiti

[H80N]

as an example... I buy a fair amount of prefabricated commercial aluminum scrap.. (that has been mig welded) for personal projects... and i find that on much of it (especially extrusions) that i can part the welds with a few sharp blows of a hammer...they seem to part at the oxide line where there was minimal penetration.. leaving nearly perfect extrusion for me to work with... will take some digital pics and send the next time i do it..... that oxide is tough... and welds "ON" it may look sound but... may not be.. aluminum is a very different animal...
just food for thought
thanks
Heiti