hi need to weld feet on a set of trestles ally , have a mig and a dc stick welder , need some ideas on wich way to go . thanks Bob
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hi need to weld feet on a set of trestles ally , have a mig and a dc stick welder , need some ideas on wich way to go . thanks Bob
Get someone else to do it :hahaha:
DC stick won't do it so it will have to be MIG. I don't do MIG myself, but I seem to recall that different rollers are used. If it's a small job then getting someone else to do it may actually be cheaper.
Michael
You need a different liner for the wire feed so best get it done by someone else.
unless you are going to make a habit of it - pay someone. Argon cylinder, mig setup (if its a small mig it may not have a enough grunt) is all time and $$.
I picked up a spool gun for my MIG- works a treat but still a bit of a pain to swap bottles and guns if the job swaps between steel and ally.
what about tig i think the torch works on dc?? thanks for your feedback :U
TIG on aluminium is normally done using AC.
Apparently you can DC TIG aluminium with straight helium. But it's used for very thick aluminium, way beyond what you'll be doing.
Just rivet the feet on?Quote:
Originally Posted by bobsreturn2003
Seriouilsy...get someone else to do it.....this is not being funny.
The guys who weld ally regularly will do this well and with little trouble and concern.
By the time you fiddle about and try to do it yourself, made it look like the pidgeons had been in......the other bloke would have it done and done well.
they may only be feet...but this is what a ladder stands on.
Nup.....find someone who does this well.
cheers
if using the cheap MIG welders u use the harder aluminium wire i cant remember which one it is, u use a teflon liner and u also want to use the knurled rollers not the U roller, the knurled roller actually pinches the wire and feeds it steadily, u also need a short gun cable
there are guys doing it on youtube with 130amp machines they are maxed out tho welding aluminium and your duty cycle will be next to nothing
U groove for ally, knurled for flux core and v groove for hard wire. Knurled will damage the wire and your liner will wear prematurely.Quote:
Originally Posted by gazza2009au
Karl the knurled roller helps grip the aluminium wire on the cheap chinese machines and the U rollers are not always avaliableQuote:
Originally Posted by Karl Robbers
Gazza, I don't think Karl is saying you can't use a knurled roller; he's saying you shouldn't. The Al is soft and so will take the imprint of the knurl. As a result it will be like dragging a file through the liner. Similarly I suspect that putting Al through a V roller can put an edge on it (drag a knife through your liner). A good argument for a spool gun really if you only do the odd bit of Al.
If you can't get a U roller for your machine then you may have to make one up or talk to someone in the metalwork section - it would not be a complex job on a lathe. The hardest part is getting the sizes right.
Michael
That's exactly right Michael. V groove rollers tend to shave the wire, particularly if the feed roller pressure is wound too tight, this in turn leads to shavings getting caught in the teflon liner, causing feed difficulties. I regularly use a welder, (not mine I hasten to add), that is feeding 1.2 ally wire through .9 V groove rollers. Liner life is terrible. Actually, some ally fab shops are using steel liners quite successfully, BUT and this is a big BUT, they are dedicated to ally use and never see steel wire. I still recommend teflon liners though. The main feed difficulty encountered when running ally wire through a steel liner that's been used for steel wire is that the ally wire gets caught in the groove worn in the liner by the steel wire leading to all sorts of trouble and strife. Ideally have an ally and a steel gun set up for your welder, but at least swap liners.Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael G
Knurled rollers will do exactly as you suggest and act like a rasp as well as producing aluminium shavings. Both the increased roughness and shavings will contribute to feed issues at some point.
Many people make the mistake of cranking the pressure up in order to "solve" feed issues. This usually exacerbates the problem, leading to more pressure and so on. If your wire won't feed, be it soft or hard wire, best to find the cause and properly rectify it.
As a point of interest, there are relatively few feed roller styles and sizes used, (excepting Fronius and Kemppi, who sort of do their own thing), therefore, if you have trouble getting a roller to fit your machine from the manufacturer, take a feed roll in to a welding supplier and I will nearly guarantee that they will be able to source a similar feed roll from a different machine. I think I was told that the majority of welders use one of only about 3 styles of feed motor and rollers.
Gazza, if I were stuck on the dark side of the moon and had only a set of knurled rollers to weld up my space ship, I would definitely use them. Once I got back to earth though, I would buy a set of U grooves. Sort of like using pantyhose as a fan belt.