mig aluminum strength

[bstall]

I know everybody is tired of the aluminum qeustions but i cant find the answers i need in previous post.I have built several hunting treestands"personal use" out of steel with my lincoln 175.I would like to build some out of aluminum and have good tested plans but am unsure of migged aluminum strength.Also what would be the best type of aluminum for such a project,i have researhed and it seems to be 6061 but would like to hear it from some pros.By the way i do know how to set the welder up for aluminum plenty of previous post on that.

[Rojodiablo]

Originally Posted by bstall

I know everybody is tired of the aluminum qeustions but i cant find the answers i need in previous post.I have built several hunting treestands"personal use" out of steel with my lincoln 175.I would like to build some out of aluminum and have good tested plans but am unsure of migged aluminum strength.Also what would be the best type of aluminum for such a project,i have researhed and it seems to be 6061 but would like to hear it from some pros.By the way i do know how to set the welder up for aluminum plenty of previous post on that.

Aluminum mig is plenty strong enough. My engine box on my sportfisher has a 225HP outboard motor hanging off of it, and that monster weighs like 525lb. it also will shove a 6,000lb boat around the ocean up to 50 mph. It is 1/4" aluminum, mostly mig welded. Only tig work was the mount plates, which were too thick for my welder to heat sufficiently at the time. If I did it today, my new mig could do it with preheat. Your 175 will do 3/16 aluminum with no issues for you, and it would be plenty strong. My ladder jacks for working high up are mig welded aluminum, and the material is .095 thick, all mig welded. I put 2 guys up on planks when I have to, so the stands are very strurdy.

[elvergon]

I don´t know much about that, but I dont think that a 175 MIG would do a nice weld enough to support you over 3-4 meters over the ground in a three. However I don´t know a lot about this and someone else could just make me shut up, lol.

[bstall]

Originally Posted by elvergon

I don´t know much about that, but I dont think that a 175 MIG would do a nice weld enough to support you over 3-4 meters over the ground in a three. However I don´t know a lot about this and someone else could just make me shut up, lol.

If you dont know much about it then how did you come to form such an opinion ,even to state the maximum safe height of the stand.It seems to me that if you "dont know a lot " about the question you shouldnt even post a reply.

[Roy Hodges]

Originally Posted by elvergon

I don´t know much about that, but I dont think that a 175 MIG would do a nice weld enough to support you over 3-4 meters over the ground in a three. However I don´t know a lot about this and someone else could just make me shut up, lol.

i KNOW that a good quality weld is just that; no matter what machine was used to make it. "pretty" , by itself don't mean crap, except to amateurs. and a serious matter , like he was talking about. this "lol" has no value in a serious matter , you didn't ask me , but I am saying it anyhow .

[Roy Hodges]

Did you ever see a "farmer weld" , on a frame of a disc or plow, where he had 14 layers of weld ,one on top of the other, with a crack through ALL the layers top to bottom ? it doesn't matter what machine he used , a bad weld is a bad weld ! end of story .

[chopper5]

what ROY said is right on the money

[elvergon]

First of all, please excuse my LOL, I´m mexican and I usually laught, and for me that doesn´t mean that I´m Joking. (that´s for Roy Hodges)

To Bstall, I said I didn´t know much about the aluminum MIGgin, however I tried to give my educated guess SAYING THAT I DIDN´T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE THREAD. I have read stuff from other threads and here it is to proove it. Next time try reading slower and understanding perfectly what you are reading.

Also, I know about the welder and not the welding machine, however you woulnd´t expect to have a 3/32 stick weld holding up a 1" thick plate. You should balance both stuff to achieve a good weld.

And in answer to the one´s who said its the welder, I was based mostly on what MAC702 was saying. I think he is a pretty nice welder and what he said is true. Here´s what I´m basing on to...



Aluminum Mig Welding with a Lincoln 175 Plus
Here Is my first question can I use straight Argon for mild steel and Aluminum? Should I use a spool gun for Aluminum? Any help with this would be appreciated.


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Re: Aluminum Mig Welding with a Lincoln 175 Plus
Pure argon GMAW for steel will be a VERY low-penetration, high-profile weld bead. You can MAYBE make some artwork stick together, but anything else would be a lawsuit waiting to happen.



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Re: Aluminum Mig Welding with a Lincoln 175 Plus
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weld35
Here Is my first question can I use straight Argon for mild steel and Aluminum? Should I use a spool gun for Aluminum? Any help with this would be appreciated.

I have both Mig and Tiged mild steel with argon . I dare say its not ideal and there fore there may be some compromises in weld quality and \or strength that I'm not aware of . I guess its up to the requirements that will be expected of the joints but yes you can do it.
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[lotechman]

Our shop recently did some qualification tests on aluminum. I found out that you can do a quick macro etch using a solution of drain cleaner such as Draino. You only need a few drops deposited on a weld sectioned and sanded smooth. It will tell you if you are fusing to both sides of the joint and reveal any porosity.
We use 6061 almost exclusively for passenger gangways.

[Roy Hodges]

lotechman; good info . Very good.............. - Elvergon ; I stand by what i said, my point is their are few , if any absolutes. Sorry , there are almost no pat answers to many of these questions. YOU will have to learn many of these things for your self .

[chopper5]

Originally Posted by elvergon

First of all, please excuse my LOL, I´m mexican and I usually laught, and for me that doesn´t mean that I´m Joking. (that´s for Roy Hodges)

To Bstall, I said I didn´t know much about the aluminum MIGgin, however I tried to give my educated guess SAYING THAT I DIDN´T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE THREAD. I have read stuff from other threads and here it is to proove it. Next time try reading slower and understanding perfectly what you are reading.

Also, I know about the welder and not the welding machine, however you woulnd´t expect to have a 3/32 stick weld holding up a 1" thick plate. You should balance both stuff to achieve a good weld.

And in answer to the one´s who said its the welder, I was based mostly on what MAC702 was saying. I think he is a pretty nice welder and what he said is true. Here´s what I´m basing on to...



Aluminum Mig Welding with a Lincoln 175 Plus
Here Is my first question can I use straight Argon for mild steel and Aluminum? Should I use a spool gun for Aluminum? Any help with this would be appreciated.


MAC702's Avatar
MAC702 MAC702 is online now
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 652
Re: Aluminum Mig Welding with a Lincoln 175 Plus
Pure argon GMAW for steel will be a VERY low-penetration, high-profile weld bead. You can MAYBE make some artwork stick together, but anything else would be a lawsuit waiting to happen.



Brett Brett is offline
WeldingWeb Journeyman

Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 76
Re: Aluminum Mig Welding with a Lincoln 175 Plus
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weld35
Here Is my first question can I use straight Argon for mild steel and Aluminum? Should I use a spool gun for Aluminum? Any help with this would be appreciated.

I have both Mig and Tiged mild steel with argon . I dare say its not ideal and there fore there may be some compromises in weld quality and \or strength that I'm not aware of . I guess its up to the requirements that will be expected of the joints but yes you can do it.
Reply With Quote

there talking about the machine at not the process the process of MIG,STICK or TIG will all make good welds ,if the person has the skill and the machine is large enough for the task

[elvergon]

Originally Posted by chopper5

there talking about the machine at not the process the process of MIG,STICK or TIG will all make good welds ,if the person has the skill and the machine is large enough for the task

Yeah, and the guy who started this topic has the same machine which is not recommended in that thread, or at least they suggested doing it on non critical welds.

[bstall]

Okay now im really confused.What i wanted to know was is the lincoln 175 capable of making quality welds in .250 aluminum and smaller.I do not care about appearance nor am i asking about the weldors(person doing the welding) capabilities, can the machine do it.By the way all the threads elvergon refered to say nothing of this machines ability to accomplish this task,which was my original question .Maybe he needs to read more slowly.

[bstall]

By the way thanks for all the replies

[Rojodiablo]

Originally Posted by bstall

Okay now im really confused.What i wanted to know was is the lincoln 175 capable of making quality welds in .250 aluminum and smaller.I do not care about appearance nor am i asking about the weldors(person doing the welding) capabilities, can the machine do it.By the way all the threads elvergon refered to say nothing of this machines ability to accomplish this task,which was my original question .Maybe he needs to read more slowly.

YES, it can do the job. If the aluminum piece(.250 thick) is say 2-4" wide, the heat will be effective on some high settings and correct feed rate. If the piece was a large sheet, you would have to preheat the area, as the heat generated in the arc would dissipate out into the sheet. That would make the weld stay too cold, and it would not get the kind of penetration you would need. There's always a way to get it done, it just takes more steps to do it. But I don't really have the room for the monster welder I would like to have, so I stick with my Dynasty 200 and my mig 175. Since time is money, and many here weld all day for a living, they have access to 300-500amp machines that can melt almost anything in their way.

[Roy Hodges]

I agree w/Rojo. even the biggest machine can't do it, unless done with proper gas, etc. It seems most of these guys don't have experience with multiple passes . At one time , at Kaiser Steel, I was welding with innershield -"flux core wire - 1 &3/8" fillets (!) it took many passes , even at 350 amps , 31 volts.( 7/64 " wire ) I used my largest fillet gauge ( 1")
and guessed the rest - talk about smoke ! ( steel )

[WHughes]

6061 is probably overkill for what you are doing and will put your machine to task for sure.
I am interested in how it turns out though.
Post pics when you are done.
Bill