all about welding

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

Can I ask Phil or Robin or anyone:

I am making new outer fender or wing panels for my 1950 land rover . In order to get the correct radius on the top corner I have to weld in a section, rather than make the panel in one big lump.

The metal is 18 gauge aluminium . I read that its possible and easy to mig weld thin alum. with ER 4043 wire , but it has to be .3 size wire. After googling , I found some suppliers in the USA , but none here . I can only get .9 wire here .

And, dont know how .3 wire will work in my machine , its rather thin wire , will it feed ok ?

BTW they recommend pure Argon for shielding , not CO2 mix with Argon
Mike

Mike

When welding aluminum you use a heli-arc machine..with a foot pedal volt/amp control..
Auto wire feed and you can butt weld two pieces of aircraft aluminum skin as fast as you can move your hand with the stinger..
And look like you have been welding for years..
I used to go to the metal shop on the hanger line and play with the heli-arc welder with scrap aluminum..with a few minutes instruction you would look like a pro..Helium is the shielding gas..
Check out your local air craft repair facilities..
Of course I had the whole RCAF aircraft metal shop to play in...
Heli-arc was the old timers terminology..TIG welding is what it is called now..
Here is a good video of the TIG foot pedal operation..the more you press the hotter it gets..You can by lightly pressing on the foot pedal butt weld your thin aluminum sheet with out filler rod with a little practice.
Enjoy your welding..]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpPQNq7Y-WY&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8B3q...feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvk8r...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEEpi...eature=related