acheived what I'd hoped for with MIG

[Johnny]

This was done with a Millermatic 140 + Spoolmate and it's the exception to what I can usually produce- still practicing as much as my pocketbook will tolerate. Aluminum is quite expensive to "play" with but I'd rather ruin a practice piece than a project.

The pieces joined are 3/4" square (1/16"wall) and a piece of flat bar of the same thickness. I am defnitely always pushing the gun, turned the argon down, and experimenting with pre-heating the thicker materials. The thin stuff is still a pain in the a$$

[Paul Seaman]

Looks like practice is paying off.

For practice scraps, contact your local sheetmetal fab shop and tell them you are interested in some scrap and willing to pay for it. If scrap is going for say $.80 per lb then tell them your willing to go to go say, $1.50 for small quantaties. Just explain that this is in no way a competative thing just trying to learn, most of the time they will just give the scrap for the purpose of educational purposes.

Peace,
Paul

[Sberry]

That looks good.

[Johnny]

Thank You gentlemen.

My neighbors might be thinking I am a little whacko...
Q: "what are you making?"
A: I am practicing
Q: "for what"
A: I have always wanted to learn about this
Q: "are you going to make a living at this?"
A: no

Jeeze, I am gonna move to the backyard just for some peace. So far round, then square, tubing butt joints have proven the most difficult and I'll carefully plan any projects around that.

I got a Harbor Freight 10" 80 tooth carbide blade yesterday ($20) and that has immensely helped get some square and mechanically superior edges to weld. The aluminum cuts like butter. It always seemed wrong to cut metal with a wood blade but apparently it works and I like the results.

No questions at this point because I know I could use a a lot of help with torch control especially after having seen my neighbor do it properly.

John
Thanks for tip about hounding for scrap from fab shops!!

[SundownIII]

Johnny,

It always helps the board be more helpful if you post up where you're located.

Fab shops that do aluminum throw out more aluminum in the course of a week than you'll use in a lifetime I suspect. Most of the time if you just explain (as mentioned above) that you just need drops for practice they'll give you all you need. If you're near VA drop me a PM and I'll hook you up.

The last place I worked, a boatyard doing marine towers, etc., threw out some really nice stuff. Just wasn't economically feasible to try to use small pieces. The stuff that went in the drop bin was gathered up about once a month and taken to the scrap yard. Money from the scrap yard went to the soft drink fund. When I gathered up a good pile, I'd just throw about $10 in the drink fund. All said, it probably worked out to about .05/lb.

Sometimes it's amazing what a case of beer can get you with a yard foreman.

PS Buy "good" beer, preferably his brand.

[Johnny]

I'll update my profile.

Thanks again. I worked for a company with a tooling shop and they were generous with the size of material they called "scrap" since the proceeds from its sale was the pizza and donut fund.