Stan need advice on 1" Aluminum

[tomsign]

need to know if this is correct, have a job for a friend this weekend (correct no paying) to weld 1" aluminum solid, am I correct on hand filing each piece to a 50 - 60 degree angle top and bottom
will use 1/8 tungsten sharpend to about 70 degrees
inert gas will be 75 Helium 25 argon
amps 200 (thats all I Have)
#20 torch with a 1 1/2" gas lens or should I use the 2" the I have
CFH set 20 - 23 or higher more like 25 - 28
1/8 rod
should I push as much rod for 1 bead or should I do a triple bead weld
Tomsign

[Gadget]

Sounds like a pretty big project Tom good luck.

[tomsign]

P.S. Stan or should I tell him to pay the $780 it is out of my abilities
Tomsign

[SICFabrications]

WOW!!! 1 inch aluminum is alot more than i would try with a tig machine.... but, if ya must, you dont need quite that much gas flow, but you WILL need some preheat..... the rest of the settings sound proper and go for multiple passes... if youre using 1/8 filler, the bead width and height shouldnt be any more than 1 and 1/2 times the size of the filler....

[SICFabrications]

ok, i have a little more time to talk about this..... and i just re-read your post saying that all ya have is 200 amps..... you are gonna have one mega headache just trying to get a puddle started.... i have a dynasty 700 miller and its about the only machine on the market (that i am aware of) that has enough juice to tig 1 inch aluminum... this is really a job for mig... you would still have to pre-heat the metal even with mig... i am sorry to say, but your pal would be better off having someone with the more capable machinery do the job.... no sense in burning up your machines on a freebee job...

if you were gonna mig this, this would be the settings and procedure that i would use....'


using .035 solid wire mig, 100% argon, 28 volts and 850 wfs (wire feed speed or ipm) preheat the metal to approx. 200 to 250 Fahrenheit, lay the first bead dead into the center of the joint using a slow weave side to side to tie in. the progressive stringer beads to fill the joint in.... all in all, there should be about 6 to 8 passes with mig... you will have to watch your interpass temperature closely as well and hit each progressive bead with a hand brush too...

what i mean by the interpass temp is this.... aluminum anneals around 700 degrees... you DONT want the HAZ to extend very far past the joint, so you will have to make a pass, then wait for the HAZ to cool to around 250 then pass again, then wait... dont force cool anything, just let it cool on the table. aluminum is some funky stuff....

i have some pics on my phone of some 4x4 5/8 wall square tube welded to 1 inch plate for a sign stob, and as soon as i can figure out how to make this motorola tundra "talk" to my computer, i'll post the pics...

[Kel Fab Creations]

What is this for Tom?

[tomsign]

Stan thanks for all the info,
and I like to help when I can, But!
I am going to pass on this one
I don't have a gun for my Mig
But thanks for the quick reply back
Tomsign