[Guest]

This shows the weld after disk sanding.

[Guest]

This shows the weld after disk sanding.

[Guest]

This shows the weld after light buffing.

[Guest]

This shows the weld after light buffing.

[WildBill]

I am an aluminum welder by trade, and you are doing well for your first time. the hardest part is keeping it from blowing through because the aluminum, is so soft. When welding aluminum and making mufflers i like to use a TIG welder(Tungsten Inert Gas). it is so much neater but is also even harder to weld, i make most of my exhausts out of 18 gauge aluminum which is thinner than the stuff you are using, keep practising it takes awhile to get good but once you are the possibilities are endless.

[Guest]

Bill I used to weld everything including aluminum myself when I worked in a non union shop. I work at Fords and am not allowed to use the welder as my trade is tool and die. None of the welders currently in the plant can weld aluminum to save their lives. I went the gas route so I could do it at home. The cost of $300 US for the complete set up including the mini torch and hoses is well below the cost of a home tig or mig to even attempt aluminum welding. So far I am very pleased with the results and this should serve all the need I have. I have welded aluminum with a tig and I can tell you this is harder than the tig. Unlike the tig you do not have a foot control for infinite heat range. All you can do is moderate the heat by how close and how long you keep the flame on the seam. Parent welding is the hardest. That is wear you weld the seam using no filler rod. Haven't done well on that one yet need more practice. I don't think I will have much need for it as they only seem to use it in aluminum auto repair.

Dennis

[jamesbissonjr]

I do that sort of welding every day of the week pretty much now. Never touched a welder before I moved here to work in the family business. Once I started welding it was only a matter of days before I was getting the hang of it. There's a fine line between the welding rod's melting point and the aluminum's melting point, but once you've practiced enough, it's a lot easier to judge.

My brother handles all of the TIG welding portion of our mufflers and that's something I'll be learning this coming year. Should be interesting.

[Guest]

James I have always wondered is it a brazing aluminum process that you use as well. I have not tried out the brazing part of the kit I ordered nor the aluminum soldering. They are all different fluxes with different alloys and of course different melting points.

Dennis