Anyone hav pics of Aluminum MIG welds using pure argon?

[Sammy da bull]

Anyone Have Pictures of welds on AL made with pure argon shielding gas?

Our vendor that supplies our Bottles at work are wanting to eliminate the helium, (we are using 75/25 Argon/Helium) and I was just wondering what the difference /benefits are with either/or, whatever. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

We did have a Gas proportioner for a while before it fritzed out, It was a sweet piece of equipment. I could manually adjust the mixture as I needed, and I found that if I was running too much argon, say more than 85 or 90 percent, I had a real hard time getting the puddle to "wet out" on the thicker pieces. The stuff I weld varies a lot, ranging from 14 gauge to 2" thick.


I Will try to post a few pics here for example.

http://i28.tinypic.com/1zevbxi.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/2u928h0.jpg
http://i32.tinypic.com/359e2c2.jpg

This is a medium duty gate. Some of the stuff I do gets even thicker. Those corner gussets are 3/8" thick

http://anthonyliftgates.com/products.php

[Joe H]

That's all we use at work is pure argon. No troubles. I never weld anything that thick though. Mostly .125" and under, occasionally up to 1/2". The helium gives you a hotter arc, more penetration. You may need it for the thicker stuff but should have no problems with 1/2" and under. I'm sure you'll have to adjust your settings though.

[partagas]

At work we use the mix. Straight Argon runs to cold for us. We weld from 2mil to 20 mil. I know we could use the straight on the thin stuff. But then again we do not use bottles. We use trucks, that are plumbed through out the building.

[koreanbeefcake]

your welds are very nice.

[Sammy da bull]

appreciate it korea.

But for cryin out loud this post has been up for 3 weeks at least, are you guys tellin me that nobody has any pics of argon shielded welds on aluminum thicker than 3/8"? somebody prove me wrong please!

I tried welding a couple of 1"x2" pieces of AL Bar together with pure argon and the arc was fluttery, cold, and unstable. I toyed with the inductance, pulse dynamics, and arc length correction to no end and I just couldn't get the kind of smooth "stack of dimes" look that I can get with a little bit of helium, but our vendor is biichin that helium is getting more expensive and harder to obtain lalala...... I'm lookin for opinions and pictures either way guys so feel free to jump in anytime!

[Mr Meck]

YOUR supplier is bit**ing about the cost? Isn't he in business to supply you AND make money? All this time I thought you just pointed and grunted, threw money on the table till you got what you want and they left.:rolleyes: I did some half inch once on a truck. AC, 40/60 balance, Blew out the cooler line on the torch cause the previous guy plumbed it backwards. Sorry no pictures. You really don't want to see.

[aametalmaster]

Here's a little job i did with 1/2" alum plate and my 3035 spoolgun, .035 4043 wire and argon gas...Bob

[partagas]

I am taking tomorrow off. But on Monday I will Run a bead and take picks of both pure Argon and mix. Lets see what happens.

[aametalmaster]

Hey Sammy those are great looking welds by the way...Bob

[Sammy da bull]

YOUR supplier is bit**ing about the cost? Isn't he in business to supply you AND make money? All this time I thought you just pointed and grunted, threw money on the table till you got what you want and they left.:rolleyes:

Supply is their major beef. Here in central Illinois anyway, you might have to drive all the way to Chicago for a helium bottle to fill up balloons for your kid's birthday party, the civilian consumers are pretty much completely shut off, even at the local Praxair distributor down in Bloomington. Something to do with a lot of shops getting new laser cutters like the Bystronic we have at anthony's, which chews up bottles of "ultra high purity" helium like popcorn.

[B_C]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b7d701b3127ccec27dd9e7800d00000010O00AcNGjdq4ct2 IPbz4Q/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D560/ry%3D300/


WR450 Yamaha, I repaired the guys broken cases (kick starter gear failure)

I think the Alumix will be faster, especially on what your showing in the picture.
You will be able to weld it but without pre-heat you might have to hang out in one spot for a while till things warm up....

[CFRacing]

i had to weld up the nurf bar on my four wheeler the other day. it was the first time i had tried aluminum welding and i'll tell you now it wasnt the prettyest weld :D but good enough to get the job done