MIG Welding Aluminum for the First Time

I try my hand MIG welding aluminum for the first time. I show the entire process from setting up the welder for aluminum to actually getting it dialed in to lay down something presentable and I share some tricks I learned along the way that might save you time if you are trying it for the first time.
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[@robbieb1254]

I am an apprentice at an Aluminum boat building company but I can give you guys some direction. Ps, I'm Australian so I don't know if you's use the same measurements etc. TIG ally is typically 12 litres/minute gas flow while Mig is always 18. That is an extra 50%. You HAVE to push the pool, no weave or circle, just step quite quickly or straight run. No vertical downs. 1.4mm wire on everything. And typically don't need to preheat unless like 10/12mm plate (5000 series) or extrusion (6000 series). We only mig 3mm and higher, any smaller we just tig. You'll find a synergic pulse machine works much better too. Fronius tps270 are one of the best push pull on the market. With one of these, a good welder can make the beads almost as good as tig.... they're just expensive, worth it though. Hope i have helped.

[@robbieb1254]

Oh...also, argon for gas obviously..but if you are after an even better weld...argon helium mix is the best. Just a lot more expensive haha

[@melgross]

Some interesting, though odd, in some cases, recommendations. You can’t use the liner that you use for any steel wire. You should get a Teflon liner. Anything else can scrape the wire and cause problems. Make sure you clean that aluminum really well. You can’t run on dirty surfaces. Yes, that’s true for MiG welding aluminum. Doesn’t the welder have recommendations for aluminum welding? It should. You don’t need helium unless you’re welding thicker metal. Depending on the power of your welder.

[@kansaspool8243]

Any tips on welding 1/4 aluminum MIG, on a open corner, burn through is always an issue when my settings are even slightly off so if there’s any tips on efficiency I’d gladly take them

[@jafinch78]

@@melgross Just to make sure others are aware... from what I understand... dedicate not only a liner, dedicate the whole gun and drive rollers for aluminum to avoid impurities. Is that correct?

[@michaelpukmel4776]

Thanks Robbie!!

[@franko3006]

I love the way you show how to play round with the settings in real world so amateurs like me can relate to this video and learn ALOT. THANK YOU

[@802Garage]

Right? Made me feel less bad about how much I tend to fiddle with my dials.

[@Daniel-ww3hl]

On god , like a buddy in class

[@calebgregory9818]

How yall doin on the aluminum?

[@krusch75]

Basic knowledgde after 25 years in the welding business. Argon-teflon liner-right contact tip (1mm mig wire you need contact tip 1.0A or 1.2mm regular). Do not tighten the feeding wheel clamp to hard (you should be able to stop the wire roll with one finger, but this is individual from machine to machine), alu is soft and flattens if you put to much pressure. And this will cause a nice curl of wire in your welding machine. Do not use a longer gun cable then 3meters (unless you have a push pull gun), and try to keep the cable as straight as possible. Push the welding pool and keep moving faster then you do on steel. If you have the sound of frying eggs like on regular steel. You need more power, or less feeding. Tig is way more controllable on thinner materials. But will never compete in speed with a good mig setup. A pro tip is to run the wire through an earplug (just stick it through) before your feeding system. Try this and you will se a lot of deposit on the earplug after a couple of minutes of welding. This alu dust on the wire is one of the main reasons you liner will cause problems after a while. And if you do as you did and put the material flat on a thick metal surface it could cause problems with penetration, as alu is a excellent heat conductor. And alu needs heat to get a good weld. And as other mentioned, always clean the surface on alu just before welding.

[@JustVoss]

All really good info! Thanks for taking the time to explain all that. The ear plug is definitely a pro tip!

[@jafinch78]

Awesome ear plug tip! Thanks for sharing and the detail.

[@jaquesdaniels2964]

good tips - but remember to remove the ear plug from your ear though . Seriously though, excellent points on the build up on the wire - remember in TIG we clean the filler wire ? -nice post sir , thanks .

[@christbearer3494]

I welded for vibration reduction equipment for years. Caterpillar motor mounts especially. We used the ear plug trick often on some of our welders because dust in our shop was a serious issue.

[@heffegaming]

I have a weld test in two days on aluminum.. this was handy af

[@briandry3522]

Thank you for posting a 'raw' video. As a new amateur mig welder, this is a great video and the comments below are really helpful to many, like me who are just starting out. Please keep posting.

[@JustVoss]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lkb19977]

really good video, and a great attempt. I am an aluminium mig welder on rail vehicles. We use top of the range miller machines with push pull guns and still have lots of issues with wire feed. Watching this video I would say you need more amps/wire feed, but without a push pull gun you are probably at the limit of your wire feed with the soft aluminium wire. Hence why it just melts back to the tip the more power you put in. You definitely needed more amps for your beads, there should be no need to play the pool. You should be able to string it as with steel. As someone else said mig isn't good for less than 3mm. Another thing to note is that rollers for aluminium should be round rather than v shaped (the groove).

[@danielbeaudoin6799]

Went trough two branded spoolguns, but after seeing your video I bought a new teflon liner for my lincoln 210 mp ,a U shaped feeder roll,5356 wire and a cup of water to cool the tip after each pass : 3 rolls of 5356 and five cattle gates later I changed only two tips and never had more fun welding aluminium!!! Just remember: minimum tension on the feedrolls to avoid birdnests....and 5356(because it is stiffer )

[@bossgoss2284]

Thank you very much for the time and suggestions. I am proficient at stick and might but I have wanted to try mig aluminum and I was worried about not having a spool gun. Thanks again

[@robbs96]

I love how you learn with us and having us follow your thought processes. Thankyou

[@michaelpukmel4776]

Cool vid, thanks for showing your learning in progress!

[@henryedwards6564]

Love that you show a view behind another camera with a helmet. It really helps. I just learn as I go/need. I am not trying to be a welder. Just like building.

[@richardmalangone2572]

Just what I needed to finish my project. Thanks, good video.

[@mbahmannz]

Great video. Thanks for sharing man

[@marksmith5208]

Awesome. Thanks man. Love your shop. I like a lot of room to move around...

[@marcelorodriguez9601]

Thank you, very informative. I got some tips that I never thought about it.👍👍👍👍👍

[@kidcompany]

Thanks! Better than so many other vids with triple subscriber base. I am trying to mig aluminum and having so many issues. This really helped.

[@daveyJ213]

Deciding how to get into welding for the first time. Great demonstration and information. I learned much; thanks for posting.

[@williamjames3304]

That was just fun. Thanks 😊

[@morbugs63]

really good project, thanks

[@Rattletrap2]

Nice video and we all probably learned a few things from your detailed set up and trial and error. It is something I want to play around with as well. I now have a TIG machine that can do aluminum, but as someone said, for heavier stuff, this could be a lot faster. Well done!

[@oldmountainmarineandmetals9736]

Your the man Justin! That's exactly what I have to do. I only have a 110 Lincoln mig and a big bottle of straight argon. Thanks bud!

[@user-en6dv4sk3b]

I have a Millermatic 350p and the beads and the overall usage is so simple and in the right hands looks like it was tig welded now so many newer machines run way better.

[@kretehambos2972]

Very helpful. Thanks!!!

[@ScrapMansWorld]

So nice to see a video of reality, I do not feel quite as bad anymore. You make great videos! thank you for showing this all the way

[@bobquinn3689]

Thank you for your video. You are a good instructor..

[@TheMonkdad]

Thanks for the lesson

[@DavidQuin]

I have had a go at welding Ali with my Mig with mixed results. So if you get the time to do more videos like this it sure would help. My son is an aluminium welder and they tig where you can see it and Mig (for speed) where you can’t, but I only have a dc tig so Mig is my only option but I have a lot of learning to do. BTW your videos are awesome

[@Underwatergoat1]

Really good vid. I hope I can pick up mig aluminium welding as well as you seemed to.

[@WestiePaul]

Most definitely super cool 👍😎👌 Paul ✌️

[@bobzendejas7413]

I like that you did the trial and error to show us that we are not alone.

[@seau2007]

You are now my mentor. Off soon for my first job.

[@FlightEngineering1]

Great video, thanks. I used a standard gun for a while then went over to spool gun...no comparison, definitely the way to go. It`s all about speed as you say. I use it to repair castings where pre-heating is even more important otherwise they are more likely to crack after cooling. I must say I`ve never tried 0.090" with it! I must give that a go, never thought of MIG as a sheet aluminium technique.

[@jonkodi8505]

Very helpful , thanks

[@WTFisAuserFRCKINname]

All these people recommending different welders to use like this isn’t a sponsored video or anything. It’s like “This video is sponsored by Blue Demon. Today I’ll be using the Lincoln Electric C300.” Come on guys lol.

[@lunchlady2023]

Promotional videos are the worst.

[@christianeriksson4733]

Well for some people it would be helpful to know what tools are used in the video. Then you can replicate the settings etc. But maybe you are interested in other things than the tools and results of the welding in the video.

[@wrthrash]

Thanks dude, just got a bottle of argon and rolls of 4043 & 5356 for my first dive into aluminum MIG (had a spool gun), so will cut my chops trying to fab rib racks for my smoker! Oh, and the comments will help immeasurably as well, thanks for those.

[@clivewilliams1406]

Good video that I can relate to. A couple of things also worthy of note: 1) Use a teflon liner in the MiG gun, this will allow the wire to slip easier through the cable and crucially not leave sticky bits of aluminium in a steel cored MiG gun cable. Its relatively easy to swap to a teflon liner for each application so there is no great need for separate guns. 2) Use at least a size larger tip to the wire you are putting through. Aluminium wire will expand as it heats up causing it to stick in a size for size tip. 3) Check the feed rollers carefully as aluminium wire is very sensitive to the pressure on the rollers. Get the rollers to just feed with the minimum of pressure as It is extraordinarily easy to end up with a birds nest in the machine. 4) The material must be scrupulously clean. wire brush the material only with a stainless steel brush.

[@notajp]

It also helps to wipe down with acetone immediately before welding.

[@wayneflucks3445]

Thanks for the video buddy

[@jasonchaney5382]

It's been 20 years since I welded aluminum... with a spool gun... but one thing I remember is that it really needs to be clean. I was using a wire brush just before welding, but wiping it down with acetone would probably work too. Your preheating may have just been providing some cleaning action. I could be way off though. It's something to experiment with. I'd be interested in the results. I've been putting off buying a spool gun for a long time. Maybe I don't need to.

[@colincamus2098]

Enjoy the learn as ya go approach, pretty much what I'm used too :)

[@nejic7809]

Informative, i should've seen that preheat coming. My dad had a buddy that would weld cracked cast iron, he would usually heat the part in a fire prior to attempting the weld. Alloys like the preheat

[@freemarketjoe9869]

Great video. He is right in thinking you should be able to mig weld with a standard mig torch. Teflon coated hose is said to help. 6 foot hose seems a good compromise. A spool gun can cost almost as much as a welding machine and they are so bulky, the spool right in your way. I am assuming he is using tri mix gas here, argon, carbon dioxide and helium. The helium gives better penetration, but gives hotter temps witch you have to watch out for. I think his results were excellent. There is also the alumiweld soldering process, witch just needs a soldering torch and aluminum rods, witch his sponsor, blue demon makes great ones that cost about a buck apiece and look like they do a great job welding aluminum.

[@Steamshovel]

I just MIG welded aluminium for the first time today. Actually it was the first time I have Mig welded any thing. Just bought new machine. Why? For speed and I'm having to weld a lot of 10mm plate. I've Tiged a lot of 6mm plate but my machine was maxed out and everyone I speak to are amazed I haven't blown up my tig welder after 2 1/2 years. I had to weld 30 ali posts onto 30 10mm weld plates today. I'm amazed how fast it was. I've still got a way to go to make the welds pretty.

[@bluedemonweld]

Great finish boss! The SYN feature on this machine is preprogrammed for ferrous material which is the most common use of the machine, thus why it wasn’t reacting correctly for the aluminum wire. 👍🏼👍🏼

[@JustVoss]

Makes sense!

[@benjaminsmith3284]

We weld aluminum pipe on substations, I’ve only been at it for a year and a half. But I love it.

[@JustVoss]

Right on!

[@driveheronman4304]

Nice find👍

[@richardjackson2016]

Great video, I've stick welded in the backyard off an on for 30yrs, but never tried Mig or Tig. until now, I bought a Cigweld Transmig 175i second hand and the fabricator that sold it to me said yes you can weld alumin, just change the liner and tip and put the correct roller in, he had spare rollers to suite 1.2mm alumin wire. At the local Cigweld store when I enquired about liners and tips they said its impossible to mig weld alumin!!!! and that I needed a A/C D/C unit!...... and then tried to sell me a new unit (entry level at that) for $2,000 AUD. I went to another welding outlet had similar advice, could be done but needed to but a spooling gun for $500!..... Now, after watching your video Justin I can see its totally possible.

[@JustVoss]

Nice! The benefit of a spool gun is that it doesn’t have to push the aluminum wire all the way through the hose where it can get kinked up.

[@jamesposs]

Good stuff bro

[@noearias2006]

Very interesting video. Thank you for sharing

[@user-co2tn8dp2o]

PERFECT !!!

[@kabaottoemulsion1869]

Great job!

[@JustVoss]

Thank you

[@meanboycoins6250]

You earned my subscription doing this 🤓

[@TheNicko773]

Very cool video Justin. I'm a 100% tig guy, but this was interesting to see different techniques. Thanks for sharing.

[@JustVoss]

Me too 😁

[@ogreunderbridge5204]

Very relatable. God vid. Thanks

[@douglasbernick5908]

Thank you, I was just thinking can you use a mug in a pinch, And yes you can!

[@lewcore]

fine explanation and video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@JustVoss]

Glad you liked it!

[@billarroo1]

Preheating aluminum goes a long way especially on a small low power welder, mostly the first inch of weld . GREAT VIDEO Thanks William Orange county, ca.

[@phprider]

Niceeee im excited to try this tomorrow hehe had exactly the same problems today high wire speed with low volts

[@802Garage]

Pretty colors! Did you switch the welder to DCEP? Apparently that's better for removing the oxidization. Would also put more heat into the part if I'm not mistaken. Awesome results, either way! My only critique for the video would be to show more close ups of the welds after you finish. :)

[@ernestmurphy3898]

I bought a mig welder with the spool gun because I couldn't reach the area with the tig welder of the Mercury boat motor support that I was trying to repair. But I didn't preheat it and the weld was worse than fido's butt. I sold the boat. Thanks for getting out there and sharing the failures many of us have then getting through the task by trying something different.

[@JustVoss]

Haha sorry to hear that. Something like that even if it does the job would bug me so much I'd have to sell it too lol.

[@sculptorl9722]

Hello, I'm enjoying the video. I always liked the red vice on the table because it was so pretty, but I'm so curious. Can you tell me which company product it is and how many inches it is?

[@oldmountainmarineandmetals9736]

Thanks buddy, it worked for me, that's all I have is a Lincoln SP-100 with 110v. I think we may be neighbors, I moved to Statesville from Md in 2008 to pursue my dream of working for a race team and although that never panned out because of health reasons I have had the opportunity to help fabricate a few late models for Hickory and Bowman Gray

[@azizgrigri4887]

thank you for sharing us this video جزاك الله خيرا

[@jrmorrissey207]

A quick pre-heat with a torch might be helpful to allow for better penetration. The AL is just sooo conductive that the heat disappears instantly, so some pre-heat can take the edge off.

[@jinxtacy]

Do you know anything about Mixed ACDC function like on the Weco? I'm trying to wrap my head around it

[@erickirklin2962]

Have been wielding aluminum with a mig for a long while. This video shows folks not to be afraid of it. The mig spool gun makes it very easy (with a little practices). Just wanted you to show us that wonderful 67 that is in the background. Or is that a 68, she is beautiful.

[@rodgerlogan]

Great video. I'm setting up to do the same thing with my Everlast MTS 221Sti. I general do TIG aluminum. But I'd like to see if I can push some .035 5356 through a 3M whip after I put a Teflon liner in it. I appreciate all of the trial and error you did, which should cut my experiment time significantly. By the way, I did try doing this once with no success. Even though the Everlast had an aluminum setting for synergic MIG, I welded the wire right to the tip! On a side note, that wasn't Teflon tape I saw on your gas line was it?!

[@alfredozertuche784]

Was thinking the aluminum was having trouble cause the table was helping cool the aluminum. Had a buddy trying to weld a piece with similar thickness and as soon as he removed it from the table welded perfect. Guess it was acting as a heatsink. Aluminum has a lower melting point. Nice video seeing trial and error. Exactly why your changing a specific knob and reason for it.

[@reyj808]

Thank you so much I'm gonna try this on my hobart 140. Aloha. Will update you.

[@2slofouru]

What about ground clamping directly to the piece and sitting it on a piece of glas fabric so the heat stays in the piece?

[@olbear9984]

Great Vid. Learned something at 84 years old hacker. 🐻

[@nathanmciver6496]

Yup! I'm sure! "So I do have the option for gas on mine" ugh lol

[@timthomas9137]

Try to go larger diameter on your contact tip. The wire heats up and expands inside the tip.

[@theewelder]

like that tool box man :o

[@shadow7423]

Thank you

[@tombrown1032]

Thank you!!

[@JustVoss]

Welcome!

[@GameOverRank1]

im a welder and im also new to Alloy welding. i just got problems with the wire twisting at the feed end every 10 sec into welding. the wire are 0,9mm alloy what did you use? i came up with a trick to make it not twist around. i losend the pressure screw allot so everytime it would twist the wire just stops moving insted of twisting and the 2 feeding wheels will slide on the wire how do you guys get around it?

[@ItsHow1e]

Never welded aluminum with mig, just tig high frequency. Took a test for a job Thursday and it isnt as hard as tig. So anyone worried about there weld test. I believe in you go get it done boss

[@midwestfab6313]

Surprised the old liner didn't contaminate the aluminum. Cool video.

[@georgesvan]

You may also need to consider using a Teflon liner and using Ally rollers to feed your wire ...

[@Cameron.....]

If you need more heat in the metal and your wire is spattery and balling all over the place, switch your polarity!

[@kawi704racing8]

Is that true?

[@captainKedger]

@@kawi704racing8 no

[@tonyfrewin4822]

I can’t see that making a difference if it’s an ac welder.

[@Cameron.....]

@@tonyfrewin4822 🤣🤣🤣 It's not an AC welder you idiot. If it was an AC, he wouldn't be having those problems. I'm clearly talking about DC.

[@Milo19970]

@@Cameron..... Calm down "idiot"

[@simonwhite699]

Thank you mate really appreciate the video, could you please tell me where you put the other lead with the crocodile clip? Also did uoy reverse polarity? Many thanks Simon.

[@JustVoss]

The ground was just clamped to the table top and I was using DC electrode positive polarity.

[@colinsimmons2913]

absolutely fantastic job I'm buying a spool gun, great vid 👍👍😂😂

[@htscalemodelarmour8768]

Only tip I can give from my experience is NOT to do circles, or go back over the weld. Get the puddle going and flow with it, I found by trying to get a ‘stack’ or a ‘pretty’ weld, you pull the contaminants into the weld beads and extra wire is deposited. Just by getting going and go fast I get some really good welds with mig.

[@scottrussell2411]

Another tip without a spool gun use a teflon liner for your mig whip

[@Stopvotingdemocrat]

and up a size in the tip

[@lancerudy9934]

Turn gas up? To what setting are you changing every to to? Wire speed , volts ?

[@meca13b]

Very informative! So no need to change the liner on this 140 msi ? Been thinking about buying one . Liked and subbed

[@davidduffield7553]

The finished weld bead with wire feed used on aluminum, rarely looks like one done on steel. Preheat helps a lot. In a sense, using tig is a method of preheating the direction of the bead. Make sense of the use of the process.

[@fer8888888]

The black soot is due to using 5356 filler. What is even more impressive is how the mig process forces you to go faster and when using 5356 I can tell your welds won't be cracking when cooling when they should with TIG moving slower. 5356 is a very difficult filler to use with TIG. You have to move very fast with light penetration or else the weld cracks. To much penetration with 5356 and when the metal starts to solidify unevenly it cracks. That's why most people use 4041 filler with tig due to its eutectic properties.

[@douglasbernick5908]

Can you tell me the machine settings you had on the last run

[@shelbyglazer3948]

can you mig weld aluminum on any mig welding machine with Argon and aluminum mig wire spool?

[@willhall7777]

OTC makes the best aluminum mig welders by far. i used one for 3 years. Those welders have more settings and options than any Tig ive seen.

[@lukacapak5112]

you need argon and helium mix for the weld to bi good but you can use only argon as well but not as good of a weld

[@benc8386]

Nice work! MIG welds will always look disappointing when you're used to TIG but I think they use aluminum MIG on Ferrari and Lamborghini chassis so it can't be that bad!

[@JustVoss]

If I was building anything large and production like that I’d mig it. Well learn how to do it well, and then mig it haha

[@benc8386]

@@JustVoss I think they often use robots. MIG robots are easier to program than TIG ones.

[@trianglechokeU]

if you set the machine right you can make it look like it was tig welded.

[@djasynchronous7777]

the take away for me was your positive attitude. no try this, no try this, positive, awesome, best attitude to share 🤙

[@scottrussell2411]

Run it mainly as push pull Just a few tips that I know about from doing

[@jrmorrissey207]

Likely been said below, but worth noting to never let go of the spool with at least a finger tip until you get the spool screw tighten up a bit. Maybe not aluminum, but some mild steel will fly off the spool the second you let go, and create a birds nest of expensive waste. It's not even really the cost, it's more the loss of welding material you need to use. Basically don't let go of the spool once you cut the end of the wire loose is all. It only takes once to figure that out for oneself. There are other things you should do before you weld AL with a standard setup MIG gun, so hopefully he'll go into the details here.

[@1012Mrjesse]

When welding aluminum with mig, it’s always best to push rather than pull. You could also get a push/pull gun setup or spool gun, either work great.

[@1012Mrjesse]

Also, when you terminate the weld with mid welding aluminum, it’s common to have it look sooty and black

[@kishredbird3599]

I only push. Pull only penetrates better on thinner metal according to the textbook but as far as actually being able to see, push is superior. Pulling just doesn't really make sense

[@waderobinson4911]

More heat and wire speed this is why they tend to use spool guns to mig aluminum pre heating the metal was a good idea also cleaning aluminum is extremely important just like any welding

[@geoffmickelson9235]

Would enjoy seeing more aluminum mig welding thanks

[@JustVoss]

You got it, I have A LOT to learn too.

[@mbahmannz]

Agree

[@donaldthivierge2231]

Wire brush with a stainless steel brush help

[@scooter1391]

Also DCEP is a must

[@isaacdelgado38]

Can I mug weld with my 304 xmt and that mig gun you using? Or I can use my regular mug gun?

[@etapgarazsmarci]

Hi. Aluminum welding. A Teflon spiral may also be required.