Welding Aluminium

[Rikk]

I've been trying to research this without much luck, is there any not ridiculously priced way for a home gamer to weld aluminium. It won't be huge lumps just sheet, pipe etc. Also I really need it to be usable from a 13A socket.

Thanks

............Rikk

[Strudul]

https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/r-tech-tig-mma-wel...

Not exactly cheap, but your alternative is hiring one or getting someone to weld for you.

[Rikk]

Thanks I had seen that, but I thought you needed AC for welding Ali?

[Mr2Mike]

It's entirely possible to MIG weld aluminium (not thin stuff!), though wire feed can be problematic when using a standard hobby MIG (PTFE liner required) and it's not easy to get a decent looking weld. You need to use a suitable shielding gas for the alloy composition you are welding, usually Argon or an Argon/Helium mix.

MIG welding guns with a built in wire feed and spool are available, if you have a suitable MIG machine that supports their use (search for "spool gun").

It's much easier to weld with a TIG however, though good AC/DC machines are far from cheap.

You could also consider the aluminium "brazing/soldering" rods, they are very easy to use and make a surprisingly strong joint.

Edited by Mr2Mike on Wednesday 28th February 15:55

[Stig]

Durafix aluminim welding rods. You use them like solder, just heat (well) with a propane blow torch and flow it in.

I was sceptical, but they work brilliantly and are much cheaper than a welding rig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1njyuPBIH0

Edited by Stig on Wednesday 28th February 15:58

[Rikk]

Thanks for the pointers, those brazing rods for what I need would be perfect apart from I really need the ability to tack in place. Most of the stuff will be additions to wheelchairs, basketball chairs etc, they'll all be one off's so need that ability to tack in place a few pieces, adjust a little etc.

I'll look at the MIG machines as suggested, if not this looks to be about the cheapest i could find.

https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/tig-welder-240v-ac...

Thanks again

[Mr2Mike]

Rikk said:

I'll look at the MIG machines as suggested, if not this looks to be about the cheapest i could find.

https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/tig-welder-240v-ac...

Thanks again

One of the cheaper decent machines certainly. You can get unbranded Chinese machines for about half the cost, though as you'd expect reliability isn't the best and since they can be difficult to repair it's becomes an expensive thing if you have to ditch it.