Welding Aluminum with a spool gun

I got a break in the weather today so i hooked up the spool gun and got some 100% argon and decided to start some practice beads. First off don't reverse the polarity like your grandfather says... good new is if you do, you will find out rapidly. I was used to welding with an arc welder and mild steel with a mig, i have welded with tig and gas etc... but i don't have the money for a tig welder so i went with a spool gun. I only did a couple thin plates of aluminum and i'm already getting the hang of it. Just thought i would make a real simple thread here for those of you who may be having trouble or just starting like i am. Here are a couple things i have learned.

push the weld, don't pull like you normally would welding steel (this is in the instructions)

run your shielding gas at between 25-30

make sure your material is fairly clean (cleaner the better)

don't weld all in the same area at once, you will warp your aluminum, unless it's really thick. spread your welding job out, and allow ample time for area's that may need a couple beads to cool before pooring the heat to it again.

These are a couple things i've learned, and for those of you who know what your doing, please don't take my simplicity as an insult, even though some of it may be fairly common sense. And for those of you who may be attempting this as well, we can give eachother some help perhaps. I don't have any pictures right now but i'll try to get some up. And if anyone with more experience has anything to add please do.

does MIG welding aluminum produce a lot of spatter similar to flux core welding on mild steel? how do you protect surrounding areas within the boat?

thanks

Buggest thing for spooling aluminum is patience. I run .030" on the boat and it'll do about anything a steel wire will, push or pull, spot or fill welding. It's harder because the aluminum doesn't give you much warning before things melt through. I've been running .035" on an aluminum trailer I'm fixing and it's night and day difference is speed and quality vs. the .030". I'm running an Miller 210 and 30335 spoolgun. I also have a Miller 350Tig but suck at it.

Jamie

So how hard is it to learn how to weld aluminum for a guy with little experience? What type of welder is preferred? I'd really like to be more self sufficient for this than always bring it to a shop?

Its all about practice, I cant tig at all, i have only tried 2 x tho. I prefer to mig weld alum for the speed and ease, Tig is by far superior to mig IMO tho.

Tig welding takes alot of practice.I've been welding aluminum for 40 years & ya in that time you learn the little tricks.I do everything with a tig.I run a water cooled torch with remote pedal.The Cadillac in my opinion.

Nussy hope this answers your questions....
I'm 55 and have been welding since i was 14.Over the years I've gotten proficent enough with stick, mig, fluxcore ,tig, and acytelene and learned a few things.You can forget about welding aluminum with stick despite salesman and manufacturers claims they are only good on heavier metal ,weld horribly with very little control and soak up humidity out of the atmosphere as soon as you open the package . Welding steel with stick rods produces excellent welds, have a medium learning curve and relatively fast production. Migs w spool gun are easy to learn {I could teach a chimpanzee to mig}, are easy to control,and fast in production. My favorites are the miller 210 and 250 with spoolgun, these units are tough with good controls and will hold up in an industrial enviorment. You'll never go wrong with miller, hobart, or lincoln machines they are the standards in the welding world. You don't need all the bells and whistles of the top of the line model. The lower and middle price models work great,and have much less BS to break . I'd stay away from the no name brands as parts are usually unobtainable which turns your nice shiny welder into a trotline weight. Fluxcore vs Migs , IMHO migs are more preferable.When your welding steel you have no flux to cleanup, and they don't cover you up with sparks and with a little practice produce beautiful and strong welds. The only place a fluxcore excels is in a windy enviorment and fast, high production commercial work. Now we get to Tigs the Cadillac of the welding world , also the most expensive, the hardest to learn and the slowest in production. tigs also are the most controllable, capable of welding most any metal or thickness, and argueably produce the best most consistant weld .{remember when TIG welding alum you need an AC machine} You pays your money you take your choice ,but for a novice who doesn't want to spend a lot of time learning, and wants the capablility of welding steel or aluminum easily, I'd definitely reccomend a mig for your shop.

p.s. checkout millerwelds.com great site for beginners and oldfarts too

Hey Flat Bottom show some pictures of your welding when you get a chance....I would like to see how well you are doing. I am off work for the next couple of weeks and will probably fire up the Miller 210 with spool gun I traded for a few months ago to do a little work on my 16' LoweLine....Keep the tips coming.

Flintcreek