To weld aluminum operators must take care to clean the base material and remove any aluminum oxide and hydrocarbon contamination from oils or cutting solvents.
Welding 1mm aluminium sheet.
Using too small a filler rod can be a problem too.
Aluminum oxide on the surface of the material melts at 3 700 f while the base material aluminum underneath will melt at 1 200 f.
I used 1 16 1 6m 4043 rod for this outside corner joint in 040 and it worked out ok.
Another rule of thumb for tig welding sheet metal thicknesses is try not to use a filler rod that is thicker than the metal you are welding.
Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal.
The weld to the left is the reverse side of an aluminium weld where the edge of the metal was not cleaned before welding.
Weld and cut in one kit with this torch from eastwood that s made in the u.
The oxide layer on the edge prevented the two sheets from mixing and has left a crack in the weld.
Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal.
But that is only a guideline.
Learn the tricks to gas welding aluminum sheet metal with mike from cobra torches.
For thin metal this isn t a problem but a continuous weld seam weld would be much more appropriate for steel over 1mm.
With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet.
Tig welding sheet metal.
This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line.
Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards.
The effect is quite neat though this is a cold method of mig welding.
To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity.
How to weld thin sheets of aluminium t 1mm.