In this episode we'll weld aluminum with a TIG welder
Hi folks, I'm Custom Cez and I welcome you to this new episode of Roma Custom Bike were
I'll try to bring some clarity on an interesting yet still, for some, mysterious subject: How
does a TIG Welder work. So let's get right to it and let's try to
understand what we are dealing with.
TIG, Tungsten inert Gas, where the Tungsten is the material of witch the electrode is
made of and the Inert gas is the gas coming out of the torch's nozzle, commonly Argon gas.
The lens, the pink piece at the end of the gun that add a much needed feminine touch
to an overly masculine design, can have different shapes and it affects the way the gas is dispensed
onto the weld and the amount needed to shield it properly.
Here's how it works: the electrode is charged with enough voltage to create an arch with
the part and enough amperage to create the heat necessary to melt the parts that need
to be welded together.
Once you have created a little pool of melted metal we can start adding the metal filler
to fill up the space between the two parts and strengthen the joint. You do need to get
into the right rhythm though, you add the filler and you spread it with the torch. If you get
it right you'll get the sought after staked coin look, typical of this welding technique.
To join two thicker pieces it is ideal to bevel the edges to form a v shaped gap between
the pieces to ensure a deep penetration of the weld. If needed more passages can be overlapped
to achieve full filling of the gap.
But why the gas you might ask, well the inert gas is there to protect the meted metal from
contacting the oxygen that would cause oxidation and as a result a week weld.
Ok, now that we know the what, we can get into the how. You know that I suck as a welder
and usually I let my partner Polsky Rage take care of the welding, but although he is an
expert on Mig welding, TIG is a new thing for him too, so i figured I needed to ask
for help and find someone with the right experience to show me the how is done. For that I resorted
to the official facebook page of the show and I posted an help request. Btw, the link
to our facebook page is in the description. Anyway, my call for help was immediately answered
by Paolo Di Russo, another customizer from Rome that promptly offered his help.
Ciao my name is Poalo I love mechanics and motorcycles
Custom Cez needed someone to help him with Tig welding and I decided to help, so I would
also get to meet him in person.
Paolo is the best guy ever, he showed up with his own equipment, fillers and even his own argon tank
Polsky and I some time ago bought a Tig welder too, but i guess it's not the right
kind for aluminum welding.
Cez has bought a DC welder, that is no good for welding aluminum because you need an AC
welder to brake trough the aluminum oxide that forms on top of the base material.
That's right Paolo, so let's clear that up:
When exposed to oxygen, aluminum forms an oxide layer that melts at a much higher temperature
than the aluminum itself, 3600 degrees F, versus
the 1200 degrees F of the base material.
To solve this problem, AC welding, has two cycles:
during the first cycle, called EP or Electron Positive, where current flows from the work
piece to the electrode, the aluminum oxide is blasted off the surface, creating a clean area.
during the second cycle, called EM or Electron Negative,
where the current flows from the electrode to the work, the arch produces enough
heat to melt the clean aluminum and fuse the joint.
The two cycles combine the cleaning stage to the welding one.
Now that we know how the material reacts to the process we can start setting the machine,
the base settings we used were based on Paolo's past experience, but then we adjusted them
to better suit our project. We set the power to 140 Amperes given the
thickness of our aluminum being 5mm. Then we set the pulsar:
The pulser allows the operator to keep the temperature of the work piece in check alternating
between two amperage values, the maximum and the minimum.
He can decide the frequency of the switches... and the percentage of the time of one phase
over the other. All this to try to keep the work piece at
the ideal temperature.
Then we have the post flow settings, it determines for how many seconds the flow of gas will
remain active after the arch is shut off. This is done so that the weld can be protected
from oxygen contamination long enough for it to cool off.
Now that we know what the controls do it will be easier for us to adjust the settings as
we start encountering problems along the way.
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already shown and let's keep going with the tig welding.
To achieve great results another important step is the cleaning and preparation of the
piece prior to welding. For this demonstration I prepared 2 pieces of 5mm scrap aluminum
left over from an other project. We start with some sanding to remove the impurities
we find on the surface, then we follow what we talked about at the beginning of the video,
beveling the edges to create a v shaped gap between the pieces and to ensure a nice, deep weld.
Excellent, just like I like them. This makes for a nice and low weld saving us some time in
the finishing process.
Now we use the bench grinder to shape the tip of the electrode, nice and round like
suggested by the welder manual. Once ready it's inserted in the torch in a
way that sticks out about 10 millimeters from the top.
Paolo can now ware the helmet, also a miller of course! and we are ready to go!
Tension in the air is now palpable. He gets in position and lets do this thing!
In this first weld you could see the pulsar function in action, raising and lowering the
amperage at set times and values to keep temperature at bay.
The result is real nice. You can see the area surrounding the weld that got cleaned
during the EP Electron Positive cycle.
Let's take a look from another angle. We can see that Paolo stays on the starting spot
untill it gets the material hot enough to create the paddle, then he begins to add the
filler rod.
Here you just witnessed the post flow of gas, about 4 seconds after the arc is shut off
just like we set before.
I shoot this through an electronic welding mask so that we can actually see a bit better what
goes on during welding. This is pretty hypnotic stuff. If you ask me, a bit like watching a
fire burn.
As you can see the process has its own rhythm, melt, add, spread, melt, add, spread, and so
on and so forth.
That's why many people like to listen to music while they weld so to keep a good steady rhythm
and produce a nice and evenly spaced weld. Now it's my turn, let's put this to the test
right away.
All right, not that bad for a first timer. As you know I think that everyone should specialize
on something but also be able to do a bit of everything. I think that I got the gist
of it.
Another feature of this welding machine is the pedal that allows to control the power,
like a human pulsar function.
This way Paolo really has maximum control over the melted
metal pool, if he needs more he presses more, if he needs less he holds back the foot.
we have set the amperage to a maximum of 140 Ampere, with the pedal pressed all the
way down we get the 140 Amperes, when I pull back I reduce the power.
Here is one more shoot where we can see the pushing motion that he is doing with the torch,
the more steady the move, the easier it is to get the iconic stacked coin effect.
Now that we have practiced a bit and refined the settings for the type and thickness of
the material, we are ready to weld the piece that started this all thing.
My awesome aluminum mini chain cover. The piece has been machined and then bent.
Now the corners need to be welded and reinforced before we proceed with powder coating.
Again we clean the parts with a sanding block. It's important to find a comfortable position
that will allow for the full movement required by the weld.
Here Paolo touched the electrode to the piece and it got welded on it. We will remove it
later with the grinder.
A good old cinematic cooling of the piece in a bucket of water and the part is ready for
some powder coating, process that I did the next day.
Here it is now, al done and installed
on the bike with all the copper inserts typical my designs.
So, i can now say that to work on heavy structural things I still prefer the stick welder, cheap
and portable, makes for ragged welds on thick plates.
To weld thin sheet metal like the stuff we have seen in the speed triple project, the
mig welder is still my preferred choice. Last but not list, if you have skills like Paolo, for
welding aluminum or very controlled welds, TIG is the way to go!
Cool guys, if you made it up to here it means you liked the episode, so please remember
to click the like button, subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and share our
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show site and check out the new custom handmade accessories we have been producing.
I am Custom Cez and I'll see you in the next episode of Roma Custom Bike.