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TIG Welding Aluminum

Posted April 21 2009 05:00 AM by CarCraft 
Filed under: Editorials

Tig Welding Isn’t As Difficult As You Might Think

 


I mentioned last time about the Miller welding seminar I attended. I also had a chance to experiment with the new Millermatic 211 MIG welder. The machine has a multiplug adapter that allows you to plug it into either 120V or 230V outlets. The higher voltage outlet also delivers up to 150 amps at 30 percent duty cycle. While most car crafters are conversant with typical 120-volt MIG welders, the big advantage with the Miller is easy operation with very simple dial-in on the voltage and wire speed based on the material you’re working on. We also took the opportunity to use the aluminum wire Spoolmate gun adapter to MIG-weld aluminum. The problem in the past was that small diameter aluminum wire tends to get snagged inside the cable before it ever gets to the gun. The solution is the Miller Spoolmate gun adapter. But be advised that to weld aluminum, you will also have to switch polarity, and you’ll need a different bottle of welding gas that is pure argon instead of the 75/25 percent Argon/CO2 mix used when welding steel. However, this investment will quickly allow you to MIG-weld aluminum, and we found that the welding technique is not that much different than with steel, so your learning curve should not be very difficult.

 

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