How to TIG Weld Aluminum part2 AC Balance

full article including video here goo.gl/T6UtKQ
This is Part 2 of a How to TIG Weld Aluminum series.
I asked for comments in part 1 and wow did I get a lot of comments.
over 350 so far.
Questions about AC balance, AC frequency, tungsten electrodes, shielding gases, techniques for feeding wire, how to keep a tight arc without dipping in the puddle, and a lot more.
While I figure out the best way to answer as many questions as possible, I have to start by answering just a few of those questions about how to tig weld aluminum.
For Tig Fingers and other welding accessories, visit my store weldmongerstore.com/ Below are some products that I don’t carry, but I use them in my videos and can vouch for their quality.
WELDING MACHINES
Lincoln Viking 3350 w/4C
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Lincoln Square Wave TIG 200
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Lincoln Power MIG 210 MP
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AHP Alpha TIG 200X
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AHP Alpha 160ST
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TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES
Lincoln TIG Gloves
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Metabo WE15-150 Grinder
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Milwaukee Band Saw
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SWAG 4.0 Portaband Table
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BLUE DEMON FILLER METAL
er70S2
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er308L
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309L
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er4043
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er5356
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er70S2
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er308L
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309L
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er4043
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er5356
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[@ThisOldTony]

I probably don't tell you this enough Jody but ... I love you..r videos.

[@weldingtipsandtricks]

This Old Tony thanks brother

[@jdbrewer6638]

This Old Tony your videos are amazing!!

[@ianbertenshaw4350]

weldingtipsandtricks Warning ! Warning Will Robinson ! Tony is not what he seems , he will turn your videos into the most hilarious videos ever seen !

[@ThisOldTony]

Thanks JD! Heard you on the podcast. good stuff!

[@jdbrewer6638]

(Is this real life??) That is a HUGE compliment to me, coming from you! Thanks alot! I'm a huge fan of your videos and I watch them almost as much as Jody's! looking like the Cheshire cat right about now....

[@alaskamike3577]

There is no way to thank you enough for what you do and teach with these videos. You have taken me from a novice backyard welder with a buzz box to having advanced mig and tig capabilities with all kinds of metals. Pls keep them going Jody, thank you.

[@6061]

Great content Jody. 8:13 is my preferred style of feeding rod.

[@SomeTechGuy666]

You need to change the name of your channel to Welding University. Outstanding content and delivery.

[@shirothehero0609]

I know this is an old comment, but I recently took a welding 'class' and Jody's short vids are significantly more helpful than 35 mins of discussion and an hour of going at it. I've put a flatpanel TV with a Chromecast in my garage and watch these vids and follow along on my welding bench. Its damn near like having an expert instructor with you while you're welding. Even his comments time almost perfectly with the questions that pop up while you're puddling along. Dude is wicked helpful for sure!

[@alaskamike3577]

You are the best Jody, you have helped me immensely over time with your videos. Cannot thank you enough. Welding for me is an obsession and a joy and what I have learned from you in timeless. Thank you Sir for what you do.

[@bigolkoch2078]

Hands down the best welding channel on the Internet. I'm trying to jump into welding in the aerospace industry, and your videos are extremely helpful.

[@turbocobra]

Excellent Tips, I definitely need to practice the rod feeding techniques!

[@jellybeansupra]

I'm a self taught tig welder (still learning with a long ways to go) and your videos have helped me so much, along with the podcast. Thanks Jody.

[@OlTrailDog]

I'm a retired carpenter/wilderness manager/mule packer in my seventies that picked up a Lincoln Squarewave 200 to work on some bike and trailer projects. I've buzz box stick welded in the past, but TIG aluminum is a new experience. I picked up several tips that helped me on my latest project, building a portable Milwaukee bandsaw stand for combination horizontal 'chop' miter and upright mini-table, from this 1 and 2 series that help a lot: setting my balance; shortening my arc to reduce the hinky; pause/lift/puddle poke feeding coordination; foot pedal fluctuation (hard for a guy who can't walk and chew bubble gum at the same time); and trying out the Kankid feeding method. Although right handed I typically torch left/feed right which isn't the typical method. Help out a bunch.

[@ScrewDriverxxx]

Hey Jody, just a quick thank you for all this amazing info. I am a very infrequent/part time hobbyist and just watching your vids really helps me to make pretty damned decent welds. Also, I was welding up a tricky bracket today and needed to prop my hand on the workpiece. Then I remembered I'd bought a TIG finger off you. What a brilliant accessory. Really made a huge difference to the process. So thanks again. S.

[@acek100]

My new addiction other than welding is watching your vids on youtube. I just started tig welding about a month ago just for a hobby when im off work and weekend warrior on the weekends i use your vids and knowledge you provide and its really showing in my work so far.. never thought tig welding could be this fun.. n that tig finger is something else . Just need a few more lol. Thanks Jody for the vids..

[@sanatarium1234]

Great timing Jody, I am just struggling with learning AC TIG this week! Thank you as always. Great content

[@200xcBruce]

Jody I just grabbed a filler rod and tried Kanekids method and I immediately liked that method of feeding filler rod, arthritis in hands makes this method great. My go to technique from now on. Thanks again.

[@AllThingsODs]

Your videos have helped me get to the top of my welding class. You know everything about welding

[@Onward4Christ]

Thank you Jody! You are such a great teacher. I’ve learned all my welding from you. When I first started I had never welded a day in my life, but now I’m stacking dimes like nobody’s business 😎 thanks man!

[@bvbhu3dg]

wow. thanks Jody. Always excited when you get a new video out. Always a lot of information and personal experience tips.

[@pedromontemayor1620]

Jody is the bomb!! This man has helped me to get from a helper to a rig welder!! Love your videos brother keep em coming!!👍

[@Ninjavaz]

Great work. Taking on board more each time you post. Appreciated. Thanks

[@100Ronster]

Great teaching, thanks for sharing your wisdom.

[@Nick-sh9bv]

Jody, Your videos are awesome. Learning tig right now and your channel is so so helpfull!

[@charliechancontraptions5951]

Excellent presentation. One thing I learnt after 50yrs of hobbyist welding (gas,MAG) was to use a backing plate. It's a case of 'of course' in hindsight, once shown.? TIG welding Alumin(i)um is new to me having just bought a Sherman AC/DC TIG. Incredible to use, although my results at present are nothing to 'write home about' :-)

[@ericchevalier6260]

Love the videos and also like how you bring the other pro’s to help educate us. I jump all over the place and do different types of welding all the time. So if I haven’t done in a while I always go check for a Jodie video. Thanks. I’ll need to stop by the store and help you with the funding part.

[@mrgreenswelding2853]

i found 2% lanthanated electrodes and haven't gone back for aluminium. thanks jody, another awesome video. that guy is you show feeding the rod is so quick is friggin awesome. he show you dont need to have the filler rod in line with the torch. keep up with the fantastic work!! can you do a vid on aluminium mig welding please. and how to get rid of the smut.

[@krazziee2000]

The Tig Finger and DVD Set are great tools to have on hand, thanks for all your hard work helping others,

[@buubised]

thanks! that rod moving tip is awesome, just a moment ago i was welding a long joint for a radiator fan shroud and i frequently had to stop because my hand went too close to the weld.

[@PANTYEATR1]

priceless is too weak of a word to describe the wealth of your videos Mr. Jody. Thank you. I would like to see your process of how you position yourself comfortably to perform your welding. sometimes I find myself in my own way or not having enough travel space to perform a decent bead without getting in my own way. sometimes I even bump into my welding helmet!

[@wondertetteh5237]

words re' not enough to extend my gratitude ur teaching are helping me alot in the welding industry ,much respect legend ❤❤❤

[@ls2005019227]

Thanks for another fantastic video Jody!

[@birdfighter0307]

I really like your videos featuring the sqarewave 175, as that is what I have in my garage

[@skeeter50001]

Great series Jody, thanks very much.

[@spelunkerd]

Excellent review, as always. I am surprised to see you advance the rod with each ripple of the puddle. That's going to take practice.

[@jerrydaugherty4657]

Absolutely fantastic videos!

[@richgallagher70]

Jody love the videos your doing a great job inspiring people. Questions 1, sizing filler rod to material thickness 2, best filler rod if you are only going to have one or two for welding say 6061, 3 techniques for welding other than straight joints ( round, odd shaped and out of position ) 4 maybe pre-heating. 5 Joint preparation and fit up and cleaning. Just some questions I had when I started welding Alu. years ago I think they would help some of the new people to welding. Keep up the great work Jody.

[@donyboy73]

hi Jody, can you make a video dedicated only on best argon flow settings for different metals?

[@vanmann8347]

As always, you rock brother. Always very informative videos.

[@HowdenDaniel]

Took in what you said in these two videos. It was very useful and addressed most of the problems I was having while trying to weld aluminium. I was using a gold tungsten and did get the end to ball up in an irregular way. I believe that gold is 1.5% lanthanated and I have now ordered some blue 2% lanthanated as per your recommendation and I hope to get a better result in my weld. When welding a T joint I find it is very difficult to get a positive direction for the arc when it is balled up in an irregular way, I guess with the 2% if it balls more uniformly I may have better luck directing the arc. Thanks, love your videos here in the UK.

[@iandibley2985]

Hi Jody i have learned heaps from you vids ,i have done many years of stainless really enjoying doing aluminium I have learned lots thank you . Dibbo

[@mikemiller3876]

Albert

[@jasperdillen3089]

Lifesaver man gotta do this in school and had no idea how to

[@TheAussiePirate]

I'm not a welder… yet. However I find these videos are getting me closer and closer to going out and buying a welding unit. I just need to figure out whether I start with mig, tig or arc.

[@nailbanger138]

Another great video! I would really like to see a comparison of square wave vs old school sinewave. Especially in a thick to thin application.

[@unitedstatesofbuild4915]

Thanks for another one Jody!

[@stevenhart9004]

I'm starting to get the hang of this. Thanks 💥

[@bobzeis5461]

You know I've watched a ton of your videos Jody and learned so much. I'm a first time tig welder, using an AHP 200. But I must be dumb because I didn't realize that I needed to pulse the pedal each time I layed a dab of weld in the puddle. I've gotten the puddle going and just kept moving along trying to keep up with it. The aluminum welds were flat to sunken and not nice and shiny and I just didn't figure it out. I just tried pulsing with the pedal and its like the light bulb went on in my head. Now I can lay down a nice bead. (embarrassed newbie) I think this will start to be more fun now! LOL!

[@kevinmorin7965]

Jody, I use pure with a Dynasty and get a dome- but I use the next size up for most work. So instead of a bulb/outside bulbous sphere- I get a dome. I get good performance in AC on aluminum.

[@Rprecision]

Thank you! I have never seen someone feed rod like Kaine

[@donyboy73]

great series Jody! I'm having a hard time with aluminum lap joints i.e. 1/8"

[@ChrisB257]

Thanks Jody - just makes me realize just how much practice I still need. Above all - wish I could find a way to cope with unsteady hands (age!) - so easy to contaminate the electrode and go off line!

[@6061]

This won't apply to everyone, but have you ever tried pounding a beer first?

[@magnusdamkjaer]

Amazing good intruducing to the welding aluminium art thank you

[@cbking95]

Rush's work is amazing especially considering he is just running an old syncrowave.

[@slcbodyshop]

Great work for a old man

[@nola2635]

What difference does cup size make with aluminum tig welding and how do you determine the right size cup?

[@heaviesculture5516]

How does this video get so many dislikes? people don't like knowledge or something? great vids, and learned much from you Jodie! Thank you!

[@stanley.watson6406]

Thanks for another great video

[@daviddominessy]

Great as usual Sir!

[@adamtheede2575]

Thanks jody always learn something from you

[@itoroots7291]

Another great video

[@Machin3Mad3Man]

Great video as ever, especially for someone who is just starting to learn tig. What i would really like to see is the bench set-up and prep.. Are there any particular clamps, bench surfaces, material cleaning products or tools which don't usually get mentioned, would really appreciate it, thanks jody, keep up the good work!

[@johnmcmillan7048]

Jody, I know this video is two years old but ...About your experience dropping the frequency to put more power into the weld: Power is a function of the area of the waveform. You can visualize this by drawing 1 cycle of an ac waveform (starting at a “zero point”, waveform goes up to a peak then down to a negative peak then back up to the zero point), if the waveforms are the same amplitude...voltage , compare the area of a 1 cycle waveform that extends across the entire sheet of paper compared to a 1 cycle waveform that extends across half the paper ( twice the frequency). The area inside the waveform is the power. We have all heard the music coming from a car stopped near us in traffic with the windows up. You can hear the bass really well but likely none of the higher pitched instruments. The lower the frequency the more power. Sorry for the lecture

[@luclaviolette6612]

Love the series. I know you get tons of comments on your forum and here but I would like to see the after work of weld mend also. How, what happens to the welds post welding? Are some metals, mild, carbon, stainless, chromoly or even aluminium suited to a post welding heat treatment? What about hammering to release post welding stresses? OK. There are videos for the next year! Keep em coming!

[@uvmetalworkingfabrication1873]

Can you please talk more about the cracking and what your approach would be to correct the situation/finish the work to a satisfactory level? Thanks

[@thegripworks2419]

This is just the best welding university in existence

[@bstanga]

as always a great video jody

[@wallbawden5511]

okay i made a comment about your TIG FINGERS last time and stated hard to fined here in Australia Well i found an out let that stocks your brand of TIG FINGER so all set for a start and nothing but rain just recently along with house reno so no welding here but soon just like your form of teaching and tricks thanks

[@MichaelA-rp2hy]

awesome and informative video.

[@darreneck3744]

such awesome videos!!!!! thank you

[@blueskybanshee8013]

Jody you're a gift brother 🤙

[@mcBaronGonzalez]

its been so helpful 🎯 thanks

[@ManyoNation]

Talk about material thickness, and which tungsten to use in which situations? Welding 1/8 plate to 1/4 or 3/8 plate for example (something thin to something thick, and vice versa)

[@bkh1324]

thanks for the information it's a priceless thing. how do you go about welding over a tack and blending it in thanks again.

[@eglicomet]

Howdy! Thanks for the videos. Can you explain the frequency functions and how they affect the weld? Thanks!

[@fastechmachine7877]

great info

[@SomeTechGuy666]

Fantastic instruction on feeding the rod. I was pinching the rod between my thumb and index finger. Any comments on using a "TIG Pen" for feeding rod ?

[@Regal2800]

Can you talk a little about independent amplitude settings on AC welding?

[@brandonvance1368]

good video

[@GibClark]

Great stuff, thanks you!

[@toolman9081]

What should the back side of my aluminum welds look like? When you and Crummy teamed up and did those water tanks for the auto application, what did the back side of those welds look like? Thanks much for this series of videos!

[@rakeshpersaud8957]

good job bro

[@sylvestresanchez4848]

Thank you

[@bsideadventures2180]

Jodi you are the bomb

[@Hipsterinbenzworld]

Just wondering... how would you weld most of the welds you did on this video, if you didn't have pedal to work with? slow starts and tapered offs? for example torch with button on side to start arc.. (if questions still wanted? :) ) ... "how would you weld differently if you didnt have pedal to work with?"

[@maeso34]

Thanks for your videos. I wonder if you could tell something about AC Bias setting. My machine has got it besides ac balance and I still can't really know what it does. Thanks in advance.

[@caseycat]

hey Jody, would you mind talking about the importance of torch angle for different joints? Tee joints are a little tricky for me and it can be difficult to learn the correct way to hold the torch. thanks

[@jeremydoblinger3609]

just discovered amazin blaze dude!!!omg did i laugh and show everone....great!!

[@vanmann8347]

“I never bawled”

[@Henrik.Yngvesson]

I instinctively close my eyes when arcs are lit, and after watching this video of all the welding my eyes hurts. Damn placebo :P

[@WazzupWill]

Thank you for your fantastic videos Jody. I am just learning to TIG weld in preparation for a aluminum boat project this winter. Do you see any reason why I should start learning and practicing with steel before moving onto aluminum or is it reasonable to dive right into aluminum.

[@loganyoung7038]

hey man thank you

[@yuriigross3569]

very good👍

[@JeffKreska]

What is the bare minimum feature set to look for when buying a welder to start welding aluminum? What about for the weekend welder?

[@MRT_H]

I have an old Hobart transformer machine, and when I go to weld aluminum, I have to lift start it with the foot pedal, I don't with DC though. I think I'm missing a setting somewhere but I'm pretty new to aluminum welding with this machine. Any ideas?

[@rogerdale4800]

like to see the type of ally filler rods for different welds

[@matthewfoster6620]

What is the correct procedure for redressing a tungsten after accidentally dipping?

[@angelmena5881]

What a master

[@fliperskater]

Hi Jody, what's your thought about weaving on aluminum. Thanks

[@HisKidd2]

Great teaching video again! got my dvd set in the mail already!! my question this week is, when welding a "T" joint on both sides, should the weld etch meet in the middle?

[@weldingtipsandtricks]

HisKidd2 no each weld should penetrate the root but that's enough

[@shreyas229]

Hi, just wanted to know what should be the coupon size that i should use while learning to TIG weld aluminium. what is the coupon sze that you have used on this video? Amazong videos btw... really helps a lot in learning the concepts and know how!! 😃

[@robertadams7318]

What settings do you recommend for the Lincoln Squarewave Tig 200 for aluminum

[@TWENTYB]

Looking to start learning to rig, mostly aluminium, first project is a tray for my ute. 3" aluminium tube, 4mm wall, should I but joint or chamfer and what settings rod, electrode etc should I be using. I'll practice on scrap first.

[@ccmooth]

how much torch angle you're using without loosing shielding gas? and how close of arc length you use without snuffing out the tungsten?

[@COMotorsports]

Question... I find myself welding aluminium sometimes and all of a sudden the puddle goes to hell, and I can't add filler rod. It happens generally on an edge, or in a hole and I believe it has to do with gas flowing a different way due to turbulence or something. Is there a way or a sign I can look for that it's going to happen? It's very tough explaining this question, I'm a hobbyist and have built lots of aluminium parts but run into this issue from time to time in the middle of a piece and I can't understand why. I do use gas lenses also. On a side note, your videos have literally taught me everything I know about welding. Watched your vids for years before buying my first tig. So thanks!