picture of HH 135 aluminum welding

[Jerry P]

Here is a picture of my welding job.
Not awesome, but the strength, and penetration is good.
I definitely need some more practice.
plus all I did was wire brush and shoot the bead.
I have found you reallly have to keep moving the gun with that wire speed set so high, 75.
on my project i only need four welds the same as this, about 3/4-1 inch long
I posted the same picture in the attachment, on my web page at:

http://www.lou-telecom.net/~prdmr/alweld.htm

[Thomas Harris]

looks a little cold.

[Guest]

I agree with T.H....I wouldn't trust that weld at 1000 feet! I would weld it all the way around and not worry about warpage...aluminum is easy to straighten. You may have to let it cool before welding the backside.

Nice Trike....did you build it from a kit? Looks like a lot of fun, too...and maybe a little scary!

[Jerry P]

Not my best weld, but I'll be practicing a bit more.
I definitely would not use it for anything structural, eventhough the metal is breaking away from the weld on destruction tests.

I bought the trike, it is a one off design, and it is a hoot to fly.
Kind of an obsession.
I bmy first one, and this one was a good deal, and everyone wants to copy the design, because it is so well thought out.


The project I am working on is a clamp, and mount to hold a radio, GPS, or MP3 ect...on the front strut/tube of it.
I have the overall design pretty much where I want it, but I need to get those welds a lot prettier. I hate to grind off weld to make them look better. Much easier to weld it proper, and move on.
I think I will try the propane torch.

[Roger]

Your weld has typical aluminum MIG cold start and hot stop. It's why run on and run off plates are used. Easier to use on butt welds. Try clamping run on/off plates to vertical piece. Start welding on run on plate above bottom plate then move weld to bottom plate right at beginning of real joint. Stop welding when your on the runoff plate.

The other way to get better starts is start a little further along joint and quickly jog back to start of joint and continue welding back into joint.

To fill in the stop crater use one or 2 quick pulses right after stopping.

To insure good shielding gas coverage at starts, pull slack wire from contact tip and cut wire flush with contact tip.

Have fun.

[Jerry P]

Roger,


THANKS!!!!!! for the info. I'll try it out.