confirming penetration on AL tig welds

[Clavacle]

I was wondering how some of you guys confirm that you are getting good penetration on aluminum tig welds. I was taught in tech school to weld one side of a t-joint, then stick it in a vice and hammer it apart and see if you are melting the edge of your verticle piece. Does anyone else do this, or how do you check it? It's pretty easy to see if the edge is fused but some times when I break them apart the weld doesn't budge and the aluminum square tube shears above the weld.

[Steve]

Get some metal same thickness as to be welded. Weld it in the same fashion as the weld to be, then cut it crost the weld to give a sectional of the weld. Then look at it. The hammer test only proves if the pieces will stay together and probably won't realistically mirror the actual forces on the weld in reality.

[appsys]

I was wondering how some of you guys confirm that you are getting good penetration on aluminum tig welds. I was taught in tech school to weld one side of a t-joint, then stick it in a vice and hammer it apart and see if you are melting the edge of your verticle piece. Does anyone else do this, or how do you check it? It's pretty easy to see if the edge is fused but some times when I break them apart the weld doesn't budge and the aluminum square tube shears above the weld.

Please try Ceramaic Weling back up tape for perfect penetration. This will avoid oxidation also. for detail s,visit www.applicationsystems.net

Best regards