On Wed, 12 Feb 2014 02:18:02 +0000, Bob Lowe
wrote:
replying to Ned Simmons , Bob Lowe wrote:
news wrote:
On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 18:51:04 +0700, John B.
I did quite a bit of welding on masts back in the bad old days, mostly
on boats 40 feet and up as well. Halyard winch bases and radar mounts
were the first things that came to mind.
--
Ned Simmons
Okay Ned, I have a question...I don't know how far back your bad old days
were but in the 50's when I needed some aluminum welding done I always had
it done by Heliarc, as if the gas welding flux hadn't been developed
yet...I really don't know this for sure. But now that I am retired my 'To
Do' list has grown to a couple of life times long and I can't get
everything crammed in. I have I think at least 3 gas welding outfits, the
regular industrial, a mid sized venturi air type and a little Map
Gas-Oxygen affair. I haven't gotten around to teaching myself how to weld
aluminum. I see the flux coated gas rod and this is my question....could
this be an easy way to get started on this? Or could you recommend
another starting point? I don't want to bother with getting into the Mig
welding area.
I had a business fabricating marine hardware that I eased out of
beginning in 1985, so the bad old days were earlier than that. The
business is still operating, the owners are former employees.
http://www.nautilus-marine.com/index2.html
My aluminum welding experience is limited to TIG (Heliarc, GTAW). I've
only seen demo videos of gas welding aluminum online. Looks like
voodoo and black magic to me, but I've heard lots of folks say the
same about TIGging aluminum before they get the hang of it. Because of
aluminum's high thermal conductivity it takes a lot of heat to weld
it, and I imagine the practical thickness limit for gas welding is
pretty low.
I'd suggest a vocational class if you want to learn TIG. It's probably
a long shot expecting that you'll find an instructor that's familiar
with gas welding aluminum in a local voc program, but it's worth
asking. If you've already learned to gas weld steel, I'd suggest
reading and viewing all the info you can find on aluminum and give it
a shot on your own. What's the worst that could happen?
--
Ned Simmons