weld ?

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ishootthings

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hey this is my first thread and i had a question bout welding. im reving up to get my project/mod started (2005 klamath jac) and i want to have an all aluminum floor.

now my question. what do i need for my mig welder to be able to weld aluminum? i know it needs argon gas and a spool gun is that all? should i just someone to tig weld it?

thanks for looking (and hopefully repying) this is an awesome site btw
 
Just my personal opinion here but I insulated my floor with closed cell insulation and rivetted aluminum to the cross members and it looks and works extremely well. Maybe look in to that before you pay someone a lot of money to weld it.

If there is one thing I have learned from this site it would have to be that there are 10 different ways to accomplish every goal.
 
Depends on what MIG welder you have. If you are running a 115 volt machine, don't even bother. There just isn't enough juice there to weld aluminum much over about 1/16", and furthermore, 1/16" is no easy feat with a MIG welder, even if you spend 6 grand for a high end pulsed setup.

If you have a 175 amp class or better machine, you'll be adequate for many things, so yes, a spoolgun and a tank of straight argon will get you going.

But really, you can do a lot with just rivets, as bulldog mentioned. They take a little more design consideration, but the end result still gets you where you want.
 
Me personally I would either rivet or screw the floor in. IF you happened to do some damage to the bottom side of your hull, you would be able to remove the floor and make any necessary repairs. With a welded in floor, you have a lot of grinding and then rewelding to do.

I'm real close to putting a floor in my boat and I will probably just screw it in to the ribs, so I can take it out later if needed.
 

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