Jon, Welding aluminum( aluminium, across the pond )is an ART...... not
easily mastered by most of us mere mortals ...... do it right, with TIG. As
to
your choice of a good TIG welding machine,again, do it right : get a good
Lincoln set-up ....... ask Tony Greco about this as he attended their welding
school . Yes, there are other very good welders: Miller, etc ......
Everything TIG welded on the Black Radon fuel altered was done with a
Lincoln welder, and we were very happy with its' performance. I do also
recommend
you get a torch with water cooling....... you will be glad you did ! Tig
welding is basically just like gas welding, but you have a controlled
atmosphere around the metal being welded, resulting in far less impurities
in your finished weld. If you can gas weld already you will find TIG( old
term:heliarc )is no problem at all, and with practice your welds will be
strong, sound, and great-looking.
Just for fun, try gas welding some aluminum, and you will see it can
melt away suddenly, unlike steel, where you can readily see when the parent
metal is ready to be joined with some assistance from the filler rod .......
patience is a virtue and a real necessity here.
If it's important, and/or on a race car : TIG IT ...... just my two
cents' worth.
Bruce, started gas welding in 1951, went to night school on it in
'54 ......I never did really get the hang of it on aluminum ......was having
too much fun with my torch on steel projects and customizing body work on my
old flathead coupes.
PS: I really look back and wished that they had plasma cutters back
then !!!
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