On one of the many threads within this website I read about someone who has used a large wire feed welder to weld aluminum WITHOUT the use of a spool gun. If I remember correctly he used a shorter whip with maybe a special liner?? IIRC it also had the proper diameter and welder settings mentioned also.
I have some thicker aluminum I need to dirt dobber together but don't own a spool gun or tig machine.
If anyone knows the thread I would love to cut and copy the info for a later date. I have searched till my eyes hurt with no luck......
You can put aluminum wire in your mig, problem is if it is too thin then it binds up and doesn't feed worth a !@#$. The spool gun usually takes care of this as it has a nicer feed mechanism and doesn't bind as much. the use of plastic or Teflon liners inside your gun cable will help ensure smooth, consistent aluminum-wire feeding. For guide tubes, use chisel-type outgoing and plastic incoming tubes to support the wire as close to the drive rolls as possible to prevent the wire from tangling. When welding, keep the gun cable as straight as possible to minimize wire-feed resistance. Check for proper alignment between drive rolls and guide tubes to prevent aluminum shaving.
Use drive rolls designed for aluminum and for the proper size of your wire. Set drive-roll tension to deliver an even wire-feed rate. Excessive tension will deform the wire and cause rough and erratic feeding; too-little tension results in uneven feeding. Both conditions can lead to an unstable arc and weld porosity. Usually the thicker wire such as .035 runs a little better than the thinner .025 stuff .045 is even better if your mig can handle it. This of course would depend on what you are welding.
Hope that helps.
Once you take flight, your eyes will forever be turned to the sky." "Lack of appreciation is the worlds biggest crime."
All of the above. Plus, 5356 alloy wire is stiffer and will birdsnest less than 4043.
Keep the whip laid out as straight as possible.
Another thing that will help is you can straighten out the gooseneck of the gun, basically anything that will help the wire run freely with less resistance.
After all that be prepared to cuss a lot, and when the job is done tell yourself you will never do aluminum again without a spool gun or better yet a push-pull. Everybody should do it this way once so you appreciate it when you get to use a proper setup.
You might add 100% argon is a must. Then preheat the aluminum with a torch if possible, don't grind the aluminum with the same disk you use on aluminum. Wipe it down with acetone.
Steve
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Yea, make sure your aluminum is shiny clean. Use a stainless steel brush, make sure it has not been used on anything else, especially carbon steel. Take the top layer of oxidation off before welding.
Once you take flight, your eyes will forever be turned to the sky." "Lack of appreciation is the worlds biggest crime."
For what's it's worth, we played a round a little with this idea some years back. here's what we found.
On the feeder inlet and outlet guides as close to the drive rolls as possible, dual drive rolls just make things worse.
U groove drive rolls smooth not serrated.
We could never get .035 aluminum to push any farther then 6 feet maximum with a gun cable played out as straight as possible.
Liner type did not seem to matter much just as long as they were new and never had pushed steel wire through them.
Yes we did try Teflon, seemed overall that regular liners worked just as well.
Straight Argon shielding gas was used.
And after all that it still sucked.
We were running two Cobramatics push/pulls at the time and just needed one more gun on aluminum, needless to say a spool gun was ordered up the next day.
short answer, i'ts possible, but unless you are only doing it once in an emergency it's not worth it.
long answer,
for sheet and extrusion use 3/64" 5356 100% argon, short and straight as possible. bernard tips work the best. use 1/16" tips for 3/64" wire. u rolls, teflon liners do help but it is possible to use the std one. just don't expect many inches of weld before it shaves enough aluminum off to jam up right at the gun. best welder i have is an old beat up xmt304 and a spool gun, just runs, real smooth and reliable, bought another new one. still like the old one. just used to it.
in short
Buy a spool gun. great investment. I have at least 5 welders set up all the time and the all have spool guns and an extra spool gun on the wall just in case. two of these are millermatic 350p with push pull guns (and a spare push pull gun) they still wear the spool gun most of the time.
unless you have a specific reason to use a push pull or are doing an emergency repair. spool gun. simple, reliable, easier to crawl around with because you don't have to worry about your lead as much, starts smoother. pulse welds better.
