[jemaddux]

I am driving myself crazy trying to get TIG weld Aluminum down. I can run a bead on a flat surface but when trying a T joint it all goes to pot. Any suggestions on reading that can help out?:realmad:

 

[jemaddux]

What part of the world are you in? Do you have access to a good library; probably a decent number of good books exist, and one or more just might be available there.
I can't think right now of any one book which goes into greater detail and has a good troubleshooting section, too, specifically about your situation. If you don't have any books yet, I'd recommend you start with the Lincoln bible: The Procedure Handbook of Arc Welding

I am in Ventura County California. What a joke, I went to the library thinking they should have some stuff and they had one book that was on stick welding from the 60's. Things have changed a little since than. So I went over to the book store, Borders, and all they carry in the store was Jesse James' Monster Garage How to Weld Damn Near Anything book, that was also a joke. I guess I will have to order the handbook your talking about on line. Thanks for the info.

 

[jemaddux]

jemaddux,

Also, and as a separate comment. Don't be impatient. Tig welding is not going to be learned in a day. Even after you get the basics down, it will still take a good deal of "arc time" til you develop the "motor skills/coordination" needed to be a good tig welder. Personally, I'd rather see a new guy develop those motor skills practicing on mild steel rather than aluminum. Aluminum likes to be welded hot and fast. Steel, on the other hand allows you to watch the puddle form and teaches you when it's time to add filler.

QUOTE]

Well this one is my fault here. I am not being clear on some stuff. I worked for a few years in a shop as a welder. I used to build the dies in a packaging plant for vitimans. The film is fed down into the sealing dies for the packages of Multi-Vits like Kirkland, GNC Good Earth and many many more. The dies are made from nickel and some stainless for special projects and have to be done perfect every time. One bad weld means the whole die is bad. I am not one of the people that ran out said I had a few grand to dump and bought myself a welder so it can sit there and collect dust. I weld stainless and steel all the time. I am the idiot that ends up fixing everyones 4X4 when they break it and older firearms when needed. I had just NEVER ventured into the aluminum world. Its just figuring out the alloy and how it reacts to the heat. One thing I have learned over the last couple days for anyone learning to weld AL is CLEAN CLEAN and CLEAN. You can not be to clean, take the time and it will pervent A LOT of problems right there. With Steel you can get away with moving your tip a little ways out and it won't kill ya, you do that with Aluminum and your weld looks like hell. Other things I am learning here is with steel you can tell pretty easy when you have a nice pool going, AL isn't that nice to just let you know its hot enough to start. It is going to take time but I figure the more questions I ask the more I can learn and get this down better. Thanks for all the help with answer everyone:drinkup:.