Al. tig welding

[Chevrolet_572]

Hi, I have been tig welding for about 1 week now , and all I have done was mild steel. I would now like to try aluminum , this is going to sound dumb, but how to I get a balled end on the tungston??

Mike

[dyn88]

depending upon the type of tungsten there are three methods that i know of.thorated forget about it it will never happen. pure tungsten(green)grind a point and leave it flat at the end to about 2/3 original diameter then arc out in a/c on a piece of scrap untill the end of the tungsten is shinny and balled. with ceria and other mixed types you can switch your machine to dc electrode positive and arc out on a piece of scrap(be aware this causes tremendous heat buildup at the torch, so dont continue for extended periods of time) Wether or not these are the aws aproved methods i dont know but they have never failed me yet.

[HAWK]

Zirconiated tungsten works best when using the balled end on AC TIG welding. You don't really have to do anything to it other than weld straight out of the box and it will form a very nice ball on its own. Zirconiated handles the heat well and won't melt down easily while welding. It is good stuff. An 1/8" piece of copper works well when balling with DCRP as dyn88 described.

What machine are you using? Balling works well for all machines except the advanced squarewave machines like the Dynasty. For the Dynasty just sharpen the tungsten to a point and put a small flat on the end. No ball is required.

[Chevrolet_572]

I am using a Syncrowave 180. Another question, do you have to have a balled end when welding Al. or can you use a pointed end??

Thanks
Mike

[arcdawg]

572 with that machine the tungston is going to ball up..........

soem keys to tigging aluminum

#1 clean base material

#2 clean tungston

#3 clean filler rod........

aluminum melts at around 1200*f and the oxide (shiney crap) melts at 3200*f

so its nessary to clean the oxide off before you start welding.....s.s. wire brush and accitone (remove from weld area when done using it)

have a deadacated s.s. brush for aluminum

hope that that helps

dawg

[dyn88]

dawg said it but it cant be said enough, Clean,Clean,Clean, everything must be clean, Or else you will encounter difficulty

[Blown S-10]

does the tungston round itself, or does something build up on it ?

[Steved]

The tungsten will ball on its own and onto itself. Make sure that you do not touch the tungsten to the base metal, if you do, you will contaminate the electrode and will have to start over.

Try it out and you will see how easy it is. Good luck and happy welding!

[Chevrolet_572]

Thanks for all your help. I hope to try it out tommarow

Mike