noob here

[jay1601]

hi guys. i'm 100% new to welding

i need to make some custom pipes for the intercooler on my car.

i need to weld the aluminium pipes together.

so my question is what welder would i need for this, TIG,MIG, ECT....

i'm going to bring some aluminium home from work so i can practice before doing any real stuff

thank you for any help

Jay

 

[Wozzaaah]

Hmmm..100% new to welding?
Note sure you've done much research if any but basically, here's an outline of what you'll need;

AC/DC tig = about £1000 +
mask/gloves etc = about £50 +
appropriate filler wire +
Pure argon = £depends on source but not cheap +
lots of practice.

 

[jay1601]

i've looked online, says mig welder in needed for alli.

what welder is best to get

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

its not quite that simple! youll still need all your gloves mask ect and a big bottle of argon if you intend on welding anything more than hinge on! i would suggest learning to weld on normal mig steel first

most would use a tig for ali

it isnt something you can just buy a welder plug it in and do to x-ray standard.

 

[Wozzaaah]

i've looked online, says mig welder in needed for alli.

what welder is best to get

You obviously haven't looked on here.

As I said, an AC/DC TIG welder.
You CAN weld alu with a mig but I'd imagine the pipes are thin-walled which means you'll probably blow them into a molten pile of poo the moment you start welding. Alu welding with a mig is a pain at the best of times, once you get the weld pool going you have to go like hell to avoid blowing holes and it's VERY smoky meaning you'll struggle to see what's going on.
On pipes it will most likely be a nightmare as you'll have to travel round the pipe very quickly.

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

yep, i would have thought a decent welder would struggle on ali with mig iv tried it and its ghastly, tig every time even though im not that good yet!

 

[s410man]

i would spend plenty of time reading this forum before spending any money

dont go into this thinking youll be great when you start or you will be dissapointed

mild stell takes a while to weld good never mind ali

 

[Nomolos]

You might want to consider a college evening course if you’re a complete novice, that way your mistakes are pointed out and you will learn to adjust technique etc.

Not saying you can’t get a welder have a 5 minute play and then produce great welds that will do what you want to do, but I think realistically a little help and instruction would make that great looking weld skill come sooner rather than £100s of pounds latter

Best of luck

 

[stuvy]

welcome to the forum mate.

As the chaps have already stated its very VERY difficult to weld ally in general but not impossible! your best bet is to get someone like Bailey products etc to make you the pipes as you wont have a finished, quality product that you can use in the next two weeks.

Have a read through the forum and seriously think about a college course if you want to do it properly. But most of all dont be put off!

 

[Seano]

Not wanting to be blase *sp, about this, but practice..........practice.......practice....practice, and that's until you get somewhere near being anywhere good enough to lay a consistent bead, let alone produce a proper joint, and then practice a whole pile more, unless this is a skill you want to improve for future use then my advise is farm it out, let someone who knows what they are doing fab them for you, you will actually save yourself money in the end, have you ever done any gas welding....? if the answer is no then you really are on a hiding to nothing, sorry if it all looks and sounds very negative but that is the real life of it, tig is a very difficult skill to master, and unless you are talking about quite thick material forget mig altogether.

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

hi just my 2pennet'h iv found its easiet and more forgiving to learn to tig on stainless first withough a filler just fusing the 2 pieces and watching the puddle run together then add your filler by betting the joining pieces to a near liquid state then put a dab of the filler in grom a near flat angle and see a sort of spot of weld form then move about 5 to 8mm and repeat then daub a bit more filler in
this is the way i taught myself