General TIG Gas

[Ja99a]

I was going to rent / buy a bottle of gas for my TIG set this weekend.

I am planning to weld Aluminium and Steel and sometimes some stainless.

I already have a mig and use food grade CO2 on that with ok results both on steel and stainless.

To weld aluminium I was going to go for (I think it's called) Heliarc by BOC which is a argon / helium mix.

Will this argon / helium mix weld steel ok or can I use the CO2 of my MIG or should I choose an alternative gas to weld both Aluminium and steel?

 

[hotrodder]

Pure argon will cover ALL metals with TIG, mixes bring some benfits for certain alloys (argon + hydrogen for stainless and nickel alloys, ArHe for aluminium for example) but are not necessary.

MIG gases will NOT work with TIG, CO2 will cook the tungsten imediately. CO2 and mild steel argon/co2 MIG mixes shouldn't be used on stainless either

 

[Paul.]

I would just go for pure argon, argon helium mixes are more expensive and to no advantage for the average user, you cannot use co2 or, argon co2 mixes with tig.

 

[Hitch]

I would get pureshield argon, it will be cheaper than helium mixes. The pureshield argon will do all 3 metals.

The helium mix will give you a bit more heat for the aluminium, allowing you do work faster, not so much of an isue for home work.

 

[Ja99a]

x

Thanks for the replys so it's Argon all the way.

Cheers
Guys.