So who's done it? I am just learning on .050 Sheet aluminum... quite difficult if you asked me... all you pro welders.... what should I be doing to get a successful aluminum weld??

I'm no pro but I would have to say wire feed, that what they use at work

I have welded aluminum with a TIG (not mig) befor and it is dificult as hell to learn and get the hang of it

just my .02

Make sure the aluminum is really clean, all the oxides on the surface can screw with the weld puddle if you don't clean it good enough. Use a wire brush (supposed to be stainless steel) and make it nice and shiny :D

I would assume that you are using a Tungstan Inert Gas
(TIG) What are you doing? blowing holes through? bead looking like shit? what is your polarity? you need about one amp per thousands...

Originally posted by Fullreversal
what should I be doing to get a successful aluminum weld??

1. Practice, practice, practice. Welding aluminum is very different than steel.

2. Welding thin sheet is especially difficult. Use a copper backer bar to keep the aluminum from dropping out and burning through.

3. The cleaner the surface the better. Shine it up with either a Scotch Brite pad or a SS wire brush you only use for aluminum.

4. Practice makes perfect, but practice includes testing your weld.

yeah It is difficult as hell to do sheet... im doing .050 now with not tooooo much trouble, but still, there are so many variables. I am using AC on a Lincoln Square Wave tig, with pure argon gas, green tip electrodes (non thiorated i think), and everything is clean... the main aluminum welding guy here says i need to work on my torch movement to get nice uniform heat, but im about to practice some more, so ill see if im any better lol thanks guys :)

As PinHead said :
"Practice, practice, practice. Welding aluminum is very different than steel. "
And make sure your joints fit tight with the thinner stuff as they like the burn down easily. Try some .063 as it is much more forgiving as easier to control than the .050 and once you get the hang of that then go on to thinner sizes.

Here is a little bit .050 that I just did.

that sure is purty.

other than practice alot, i can only tell you to practice alot.

just wait till you start to do round stuff

daayum... those are pretty... I just finished doing some .063 for our CVT cover, and yeah it is a lot better to work with. I did make significant improvements this afternoon so I'm pleased with that.
I am concerned though about the rest of the CVT cover, the outside is .063, but the sides are .02something, for weight savings. Whats the trick with welding thin to thick sheet? Any optimum size filler rod for that application? Thanks for the tips!