i need some advice :/

[moneymaker17]

Hey im starting out with a project and its all aluminum. i have a lincoln 125 mig. has gas hook up on it.
my question is how "good" would it weld aluminum??
a guy told me aluminum takes twice the power so it wouldnt work very well.
i would have to buy the spool gun and 100% argon but other than that. im also on a budget build.
also how good would it be to weld with a torch kit?
Any advice or guideance would be great
Thank you!

[DesertRider33]

Good luck..

That machine is low on power so anything over 1/8" thick is going to end up with alot of spitting and spattering and not much welding.

It probly doesn't dial down all that low either, so anything 1/16" or less will be very difficult to weld as well. Thin aluminum is difficult to mig even with a machine that can dial down low.

I suppose you could weld something within that very narrow range around 3/32" thick with it if you get the spool gun, the argon, the flow meter and a roll of .030 4043 wire, but don't expect much, either from the machine or from yourself, as the machine is not ideal and learning to mig aluminum isn't a walk in the park either.

Personally, I wouldn't waste the money investing in the spool gun and all for a machine like that. My advice is to just take your aluminum welding projects to a welder who can tig it for you. You'll have much better (and safer) results.

[Jack Olsen]

+1 on what Desertrider says. Just because it's technically possible to use a 110v machine to weld aluminum, there's going to be a very big initial expense, and a very narrow range of thickness (not too thick, not too thin) that you can actually work on.

Depending on what you're building, you might want to consider 3M's structural 2-part epoxy adhesives. They're used a lot in bodywork nowadays, and if you prep the metal right, the bond will be stronger than your material. I made a 72" wing on my race car out of aluminum flashing and other aluminum stock and it has no welds and no fasteners. It weighs about 6 pounds, and withstands downforce of 400+ pounds -- buffeting -- at speed. (I static tested it with 350# of sandbags.)

Some pictures (because this has got me remembering it):





I used 3M Scotch-Weld DP-460. But they make a bunch of different adhesives with different characteristics.





It's not pretty, but my local track is very fast and this thing (combined with a front splitter piece) gets me almost two full seconds a lap.