Spool gun required for aluminum?

[johnny340]

I'm planning to buy my first welder and was thinking the 30-180A 230V Lincoln Electric.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...08474396672983
This should be good enough for what I need but wondered if it would be frustrating to weld aluminum without a spool gun. I'm not building ships here and was hoping a new machine would handle small jobs with 5000 series wire. Comments?
Thanks for any welder recommendations too!

[matt_R]

That is a good welder and will weld fine on aluminum. The problem is that the wire is so soft that you will run into problems feeding it throught the liner to the tourch unless you and keep it as strait as possible . I tried it with my HH 140 and it was a pain in the neck. If you are going to weld aluminum a good bit go for the spool gun.

[metalmeltr]

A teflon liner will help with feeding problems.

[wmgeorge]

I'm planning to buy my first welder and was thinking the 30-180A 230V Lincoln Electric.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...08474396672983
This should be good enough for what I need but wondered if it would be frustrating to weld aluminum without a spool gun. I'm not building ships here and was hoping a new machine would handle small jobs with 5000 series wire. Comments?
Thanks for any welder recommendations too!

I used my Miller 175, granted with a new liner, argon and the proper wire to weld up an alum framed Go-Kart. It works. And for a little aluminum once in a great while it would be fine. Using it for a big job or to get paid, go with the spool gun.