Aluminium welding

[JRVB]

Hi, Guys.

New to the forum, so thought I'd get started with this post / question:

I currently own a Clark MIG 250 TE welder, which I've had for a few years now, and done lots of work with it.

But because of the work I do (cleaning / restoring vintage motorcycle parts) I'm after getting into TIG aluminium welding, so have any of you got any suggestions as to which machine I should go for. I'm also going to do a TIG welding course (which is in Swinton, Manchester).

I've seen some machines on that well know auction site, for £280, but I wouldn't know if there any good or not. So what do you think guys, which one to go for.

Yes, I know I could do some aluminium welding with my MIG and a spool gun, but it would be too messy, for what I want it to do, i.e. small cracks and tidying up little imperfection on crankcases is quite a delicate task.

Cheers Jeff

 

[Tom Orrow L]

Unless the £280 machine on the bay is a second hand decent brand i'd say avoid them. Especially if its a WSE200 jobby.
Take a look about and see what you can find second hand, £500ish should get you a good second hand machine that'll serve you well.

Aluminium TIG welding will be a very good skill to have, always fun to learn & for your application will be a hell of a lot neater than aluminium MIG.

 

[F.J.]

Are you going to Wilkinson Welding Academy by any chance? They are also a distributor for Jasic welders which come with a 5 year warranty and do get good reviews. Not sure on your budget but id stay away from a machine that cheap if you want to weld ally.

 

[backpurge]

Wouldn't advise buying off eBay, go to a local welding equipment distributor and see what they have in the way of second hand or ex hire machines. I know IWS were selling ex hire 210 amp AC/DC machines that ran off a domestic socket for around the £600 mark last year, with that you would get some warranty and maybe a bit of coaching as well

 

[F.J.]

Wouldn't advise buying off eBay, go to a local welding equipment distributor and see what they have in the way of second hand or ex hire machines. I know IWS were selling ex hire 210 amp AC/DC machines that ran off a domestic socket for around the £600 mark last year, with that you would get some warranty and maybe a bit of coaching as well

@JRVB Incase you don't know, IWS is just around the corner from Wilkinson Welding too

 

[Tinbasherdan]

You're round the corner from me it would seem, come round and have a play with my thermal arc 202 and get a feel for it. You have pm

 

[JRVB]

Are you going to Wilkinson Welding Academy by any chance? They are also a distributor for Jasic welders which come with a 5 year warranty and do get good reviews. Not sure on your budget but id stay away from a machine that cheap if you want to weld ally.

Yes I was going to try Wilkinson Welding Academy out, only live a couple of miles away (Worsley) , so local to me. Plus the website seams quite informative.

 

[backpurge]

Yes I was going to try Wilkinson Welding Academy out, only live a couple of miles away (Worsley) , so local to me. Plus the website seams quite informative.

They have a good set up there

 

[JRVB]

Big thanks to Tinbasherdan for letting me call around to his place yesterday. Took a small cast alloy part with me, to see what sort of finish I could get on a small crack / defect. So will be on the look out for a Tig soon. Thanks for the help Dan. Cheers Jeff

 

[Tinbasherdan]

No problem Jeff, any time mate the kettles always on

 

[Richard.]

You got some good tutoring there by the sound of it. Tinbasherdan is a sound bloke with good Alu tig skills so that visit had to of been worth it's weight in gold. I always say the key to aluminium tig is pool control.
As things become soaked up with heat, keeping control of the pool becomes more difficult. It's something you need to see and practice. If Dans kettle is always on I'd suggest taking the new toy round when you get it for a refresher.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

You got some good tutoring there by the sound of it. Tinbasherdan is a sound bloke with good Alu tig skills so that visit had to of been worth it's weight in gold. I always say the key to aluminium tig is pool control.
As things become soaked up with heat, keeping control of the pool becomes more difficult. It's something you need to see and practice. If Dans kettle is always on I'd suggest taking the new toy round when you get it for a refresher.

Thanks for the kind words there richard, if you find yourself in my neck of the woods by all means get yourself in

 

[Richard.]

Thanks for the kind words there richard, if you find yourself in my neck of the woods by all means get yourself in

I'm up and down the length and width of the country quite regular so a very kind offer that I will take up I'm sure.