TFS: How to Bridge Gaps and Holes on Thin Aluminum

[@joelbrown3479]

As a sheet metal worker I've come across this situation countless times. Love your instructions and disgust! The reality of working in a ceiling with 12" of space to crawl through to get to the weld area... you are a breathe of real world application. Thks

[@Wenvalley]

More close ups of the finished weld would be great. I know you got a close look, it would be great to show that to the viewers too. Nice job, I enjoy your teaching style. Very nice.

[@split150]

Great tips. Until someone tries to tig aluminum that's not cooperating, they will never appreciate the delicate touch your example took to pull off. Thanks.

[@justtinkering6054]

This was a great video. Real world repairs are not always perfect. Thank you.

[@StuartTizard]

😮

[@weldingjunkie]

“ if your fit up game is this bad then not knowing how to bridge a gap isn’t your problem” LOL I’m still rolling. Great video brother.

[@JeremyWilson]

Want to thank you for giving me hope where before I was hopeless. Yesterday and today were my first TIG aluminum attempts, and the gap bridging was really hard. It turns out that the techniques I stumbled on were pretty much what you showed, with similar results. So, onwards I go.

[@JeremyWilson]

@@2000jago Good point. This video was so long ago I had completely forgotten it.

[@vintagespeed]

i was glad to see you mention that what's important is matching YOUR SPEED to your settings on the machine. either hot & fast or cold & slow. most ppl say there's only one setting & one speed that works, which isn't true. it's all relative to how fast or slow YOU are moving. good stuff! that thing would probably buff out if you got it low enough!

[@robwashburn612]

I weld odd shaped extrusion all day with loads of gaps from non welder fit up. I love the videos! You have helped many, including myself. Thank you

[@JohnDoe-q7h]

I've been welding for 35 years! And your right ! Gaps are hard to weld !

[@tactownturbotime982]

Dude thank you so much for sharing all this tech info. I just bought my first ac/dc machine and am learning so much more from you than from my dad that works at ingersol rand. A welding company!

[@danl.4743]

Ugly schmugly my shiny behind. That was a VERY informative and helpful video. Tone of useful information and I learnt a lot. That was a super good video Justin.

[@rona291]

Dito , could not have said it better!!

[@emeryrowand2903]

I think I learned more watching you make that ugly weld than the beautiful clean welds you normally make. Thank you for sharing. Clearly, none of us would want to bridge the huge gap in thin aluminum, but if you can do that, it seems like smaller gaps in thicker aluminum can take advantage of what you should us.

[@joewhitney4097]

This was very helpful. I don't have a lot of skills or knowledge of tig welding aluminum but want to learn. I recently had a repair of a driveline for my cousin and interestingly enough, the tube pretty close to what you were showing. I struggled a lot getting it fixed for him but would have benefited a lot had I seen this prior to the work. Thanks for sharing.

[@10000rambos]

I know this channel is more of a auto fab channel, but this is pertinent to a lot of metal fab shop and manufacturing applications. I’ve received aluminum parts with 3/16”-1/4” gaps because the press machine was goofy, or the laser cutter fucked up. You just have to know how to do these gaps. Great content as always.

[@johnbrevard5966]

You made all the sense in the world about amps and how they effect pedal, so setting the machine to 20 amps you have full pedal to adjust from 0-20..... cranked to 200, your going to have to have a smart steady foot to maintain say 13 amps....Awesome video man!!!

[@poogy3]

Aluminum plus gaps=big challenge. You gave me some ideas to float around and try. Thanx!!!

[@davidhagerman7165]

When i was a high pressure gas pipeline welder, their were many time you could not get the ideal spacing for a full pen weld on fix tie in welds.. I have dealt with extreme HI Low and wide gaps. All the welds had to meet API 1104 or ASME Pressure Vessel codes. All where subject to ex-ray evaluation. The bridge technique you used iI employed several times although the gap was not the extreme you used. I also had to use this on hot tie-ins were the natural gas was set on fire in the welding gap and then it was welded shut. I used this technique with SAMW, GMAW and FLux Core arc welding. This technique was used in horizontal and vertical.

[@pairadice49]

awesome video and great explanation! the only times i have ever experienced a gap THIS large is usually when im tasked to fix a part that has chipped out a nasty gap and it has to be welded to fit something specifically, thus i had to close it. never pretty but sometimes it happens!

[@NellsMechanicalManCave]

Been welding for 40 years but only just taken up tig. Thanks for the in site, very similar to how I've filled with stick on steel. Won't be trying what you just done any time soon thought, I don't have anywhere near your level of control yet. Keep the videos coming please, they are a great help !

[@weldingjunkie]

Neil upshall give it a shot you’d be surprised with some patience what you can do

[@oby-1607]

When I weld tears in aluminum irrigation pipe much like your example, I always use a patch or band-aid as I call it. Irrigation pipe is not structural but has to contain pressure. I would not be able to bridge a gap as wide as that. Takes real patience for that.

[@Fullchiselchainsawartistry]

I live in the real world of working for the government, sometime our budget doesn't allow us to buy material and well we have to use what we have. This was great. For us it's about functionality. I try to make it look good, that's pride, but in a case we're I could learn this it could really be helpful and get us out of a pinch! Good stuff brother. God bless and thank you

[@cory41287]

Manual pulsing with the foot pedal helps a lot when filling gaps on aluminum. Especially for that first edge weld.

[@NoShowNC]

I’ve been diggin for aluminum tig information and this helped a lot I just wish we could have a pedal at work. We have that finger slider on one machine and a roller knob on the other so I’ll have to apply this to that slider. Thanks Justin!

[@rbrought]

Watching this made me feel much better about the job I did with thin (0.040) aluminum large gap bridging that I did on a project.

[@tonybaumgartner6014]

Thanks for the great videos they really help beginners like me. You make everything look so darn easy!

[@johnswilley6764]

I'm not a welder, but I do weld, with an arsenal including a red 175 transformer type with fixed freq. I think that your efforts at sharing techniques was excellent, pragmatic if not beautiful; and if doesn't work then looks are irrelevant. Thank you Sir, and please keep those important principles coming. (Just subscribed)

[@michaelszczys8316]

Just got done building a crazy contraption lunchtime project made out of lawn chair tubing and old aluminum tent poles. 10 - 15 minutes at a time and most of the material is way less than clean. Most joints are not even coped out good so I have a lot of gaps with solid tube on one side and edge of tube on the other. I use mostly .030” aluminum MiG wire for fill. I have to build up the open edges like you did here and build a lot of bridges. I find that until you get a connection between the two tubes it is very unstable but once you get connected it balances out the heat. With thin tubing like this I also find that to aid in the heat transfer I have to go in ‘ surges ‘ more than just trying to be real low and slow. ( also because I am in a hurry ). Aluminum is cool and when you can weld it you can make anything

[@sc1999]

Any way you could put a PIP with the pedal, would be sweet to see what your doing with foot/amps

[@witcheater]

Good info. I learned in my early years while stick welding that there are times for the extremes, but I also learned that there are lots of places between the extremes that one can be to get the weld right. God knows that even today I am impatient and put down some fugly welds... but they hold (I am not going to compromise on that aspect). If I may be honest I think that MIG welding has made me sloppier; I still prefer stick (though it is slower to put down). That being that, thanks for sharing.

[@osbornebay944]

This perhaps the most informative and fun video, love your jokes and skills to make a tough weld looks so easy and fun!

[@rick9380]

Don't be shy, give us a close up hehehe ;)

[@kerrygatling663]

same thing I was thinking.

[@nychillboy8724]

I wanna see the inside 👀

[@jostafew]

Came here looking for a how to on plugging holes, I didn't find recently that but good info that I can apply and enjoyed the video. Thanks

[@dAtfRkLiFfGuY]

cant believe u made that look so easy! im a beginner at tig welding... bought a machine and am teaching myself slowly but surely... i have tried to do that exercise it extremely difficult

[@thomasestepp5546]

Fine Job!!!! Love the video really helped me learn tig tricks. Certified in all others but never tig welded. Thanks Again.

[@Sicktrickintuner]

Thats a massive gap, if it ever happened id cut a filler piece with it being that wide like 3/4” I could basically fill up to a 1/4” gap, after that its a start over kinda thing

[@forsterarts]

I would never bridge a gap like that with only filler. But he is demonstrating the point very well.

[@BM-xc9sq]

Too much time wasted on filling a huge gap like that. Cut a patch, fit it in , tack and weld and dress it off. Excellent video though.

[@edreiss3637]

Nice job I am always looking to learn a new thing. May God Bless You for teaching people these awesome skills.

[@marcelloferrari3017]

No matter what I learn things from you buddy I am a metal fab built race cars and hi end furniture and housing fixtures. Thanks

[@tommyt2854]

Cool info, I even learned a bit about what frequencies do to the puddle! But my welders an old transformer, so.......60htz it is!!

[@dresdensvo]

My first attempts at welding intercooler tubing progressed to that good after a couple of weeks. I was new at tig with a diversion 165 {no extra knobs to change}. Slightly better now.

[@JaredBrewerAerospace]

I love how his foul clumpy disasters look better than my flat plate lap welds.

[@mudnducs]

Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger.

[@christiandore7518]

Would have been cool to see the inside just out of curiosity.

[@jasonjoens279]

Way better than I could have done, man.

[@Rick-yf1lt]

I have gone over some of my welds with a pulse setting high amps on pulse and around 30% off it almost gives u that stack of dimes effect

[@doreenleach3068]

I do that too, not crazy on perfection, but I want my welds to look good if I can help it. Except I don’t change settings just pedal pulse over the weld and it looks good 😅

[@jschlosser6930]

Hammered and home from the bar. Time to watch some TFS 🤘

[@TheFabricatorSeries]

Glad you made it home safe.

[@saab9251]

I just welded up some aluminum radiator tubing last night and was fighting it non stop. First aluminum I’d welded all year and definitely wish I had seen this first because the gap wasn’t very big when I started...

[@BattleForEden]

You are a blessing to the world.

[@drpipe]

Real life situation welding love it dude. Grind it perfect 👍🙏🙏

[@Busterchimes.welding]

Dude your welds look great. Have you ever heard or red hot. Aluminum paint. It blends in your welds perfect after welding

[@MRTYREMULISHA]

Good Technique man,you can also back purge it if you need it to be a better weld and not get all funky on the inside.

[@Gottenhimfella]

Pretty wasteful back purging with a gap that big. Would take most of a bottle to do one job.

[@ibrahimlat4001]

Very very nice breather Good job

[@johnroach2378]

Some serious skill here.

[@marcelloferrari3017]

Great man and great and great workmanship Thank you buddy

[@timekeeper5275]

Thanks for all your detailed videos.

[@adrianm5147]

What's the inside of that thing look? What do you do about built-up material on the inside? That's main argument for not doing this method. I've proven it several times before, you end up with a big clump of melted snot blocking the flow.If you're lucky enough to have access to said clump, it'll take you another 30 minutes to grind it all off with a die grinder. Any tips or advice?

[@177SCmaro]

Reminds me of some of the fun times I've had with welding sheet metal with an overpowered MIG that isn't happy on low voltage.

[@PeakyBlinder]

Mate you are the guru.

[@RC-Heli835]

I have some aluminum fan louvers 8 to be exact. They are all bent in a 3/8 inch deep 3 inch wide x 36 inches long box pattern. Originally they came with some sort of hollow hinge that looks like a rivet. They each hang at the top one above the next and open when the fan comes on. Years went by and all 16 holes wallowed all the way through to the edge. This is 1mm thick aluminum. Do you think its worth trying to fix the holes, maybe reinforce them with thicker aluminum or trash the thing and get a new one? Even with them all fixed some type of hinge will still be needed.

[@spelunkerd]

Brilliant demo!

[@zerihunsolomon102]

A great Technology, that I have got, Thank you so much, I tried to weld Aluminum, Aluminum alloy, cast Aluminum

[@zerihunsolomon102]

Engie parts, cylinder head,intake manifold & waterpump, Engine parts more expensive in ETHIOPIA, so that I will doing business in welding, the problem is How to get A Mig machine, in ETHIOPIA not a good. Genuine mig machine, but only China mig not to work properly. Anyway Thank you so much!!!!! Very good video.

[@mickeycruz912]

I would have liked to see some close up shots of the weld. Also a shot of the inside of the tube. But as always good video

[@bigchungus1865]

That’s how I weld giant gaps with the mig, ofc what I do doesn’t have to be nothing near perfect because I’m building grills out of old natural gas tanks but if I have a 1/2 gap or 1in gap I’ll start to layer up on the sides closing up the gap till I get to the point where I can weld the 2 together

[@user-tp8qn3uk9v]

You an Dabs are my heros!

[@dcal4666]

Lol that beginning segment is gold

[@besteriophonic]

"hloes" great technique to make us watch the video . and make us comment . nice mistake or cleverness . it is working

[@brianmiller4466]

Awsome channel Doc. Quick question fer ya? What issues might i expect trying to weld a billet blow off flange to a cast discharge pipe? You da whip! Cheers

[@tjbugeye]

Hey Justin. How do you like the Everlast machine. I've been looking into getting one. Just getting into tig and didnt want to break the bank. I've looked at welders that are only DC but I want the option of welding aluminum if I get brave enough. Just wanted your opinion on the machine. Looking at the power tig 185 DV by the way.

[@gardenaplowboy]

Is there any tips you could add, if doing this without adjustable frequency?

[@miked9104]

🤣🤣 I was screwing up fit-up last night with some .125 wall square tubing. I managed but this video has prepared me for my future failings as an amateur 👍🏻👍🏻

[@scottthomas7571]

Great video. I need more practice at this with my everlast tig welder.

[@kylegeorgeson9436]

the thumb nail for this gives me the chuckles :P P.S. i have enjoyed your videos over the years from the times when you were still in the garage building roll cages and such. Keep up the good content! And it would be awesome to see some build action again!!

[@TheFabricatorSeries]

Working on the build stuff. Demand is really high for the tech stuff but I'm itching to actually make something haha.

[@sansdecorum4600]

Good stuff as always. This is one of my favorite fabrication / welding channels. However, for us poor, struggling, DIY types working on less cool projects; do you have any tips on welding up old lawnmower decks that have been worn thin by way of abrasion (mostly) and some corrosion? John Deere wants almost $600 for the bare deck alone. Seems pretty steep for a steel stamping. I only have a transformer MIG welder (Airco Dip Pak 150 bought new decades ago) and cannot seem to find a combination that doesn't blow holes thru the material. In addition to voltage / wire feed gymnastics, I've tried copper block backing to absorb excess heat, sandwiching the holes with sheetmetal and way too much colorful language. No joy on all counts. Currently only have .030 wire and tips, but considering .025 as an experiment. Never had any trouble welding new 14 ga. steel tubing so long as I kept moving at a good pace. Guess deck around wounded areas is less than a millimeter or so. Would TIG allow for possible success due to more control of heat being applied? Would love to try TIG, but there is that darn money thing again. Thanks.

[@2BFabrications]

You need to either cut out the thin pieces and butt weld it little by little or just throw a patch on it and a few small welds. Or maybe just fabricate a new deck since your going through the trouble anyways. At my old job i had to weld 18 gauge to 12 gauge with .035 wire. Its doable.

[@sansdecorum4600]

@@2BFabrications Thanks for the feedback. I did cut considerable material around the hole in search of thicker metal and got to something I thought doable. Still had issues, but probably more operator than machine. I finally did much the same as you suggested and at least closed the breach, but it is a butt ugly fix. Resigned myself to the fact that form following function is the reality here. Probably try a gas torch and brazing next time around, if need be. . Plan on selling the property and once sold, the mower is no longer an issue. Again, thanks for taking the time to offer up a solution.

[@michaelrichards7223]

I wish the inside of the pipe had been shown afterwards. They often come out ugly, and sometimes helpful hints carry over into how to clean them up. Obviously, in automotive, it's not a good idea to use abrasive media on the inside as it embeds in the aluminum and comes out later through heat and vibration. Sometimes I've had luck running a holesaw through a straight pipe if it is short, but other times it's just a carbide bur on a flex coupler. I was wondering if you had any neat tricks to share?

[@charlesblake7552]

I am not a welder, but do enjoy your videos so, Question; why not cut a peace of the metal to fit the hole and weld it in?

[@TrojanHorse1959]

Great video, explanations, and subject matter!

[@joshuasherman3892]

Good info! Nice video and welder choice!

[@michaelszczys8316]

I think that okay to go over after filling up such a huge gap. That’s what I would do. A lot of the time when welding thin stuff it’s hard to make it look good on the first pass. Of course I’m not a super good welder and then most of the aluminum I weld is old beat up dirty stuff and I’m usually in a hurry plus I’m usually not worried about it looking like a ‘ stack of nicklels’ just want it to be a sound joint

[@michaelszczys8316]

Sometimes even when it does look like a stack of nickels I go over it to make it smooth

[@dooopersuper1497]

ive been learning a lot on your vids man... thanks! you are awesome

[@michaelmcclure8673]

Great video, but everyone might not have a fancy machine like that. What's the drill if you can't adjust the hertz?

[@truckerdaddy-akajohninqueb4793]

Stop being a perfectionist. You did it 👍😎

[@EKHondaMotive]

I have a question. I know this was a demo but in practice wouldn't a segment of aluminium patch/"pie cut" been a better solution for larger gaps? 🙄 -100

[@sblack48]

Hot and heavy puts less overall heat into the part which reduces distortion. Counter intuitive but it’s true. Heat is really a function of time.

[@garypostell5268]

Question if you had some copper backing on inside would it be easier?

[@nuthintoprove]

When has anyone said "I will fill in this hole and it will be a work of art!!"

[@thisguy3322]

Awesome, I usually stick the filler rod to one side, and then stick it to the other. Then weld over my rod stitches.

[@bomataralshamsi]

I don’t care about how to was ended but I’m sure hundred percent 💯💯💯✅ that you taught me how to fill the gap so thank you sir 👍🏻

[@DustinApple]

i would have cut another wedge of material to fit in that giant gash. visually it would still suck but at least it would take less time.

[@GetItAtWiLL]

What exactly goes into quenching a piece like this. Is it just water or a specific solution to quench it in? Or am I misunderstanding what that means all together?

[@Frandrago]

Just passing by years later to say : In high pressure welding a gap like that is way outside tolerances and the apprentice that cut something like that is gonna get in trouble. Sometimes the best solution is accepting that you have to redo the whole thing. :P

[@LTCDRRAZOR]

Why not use a few small chunks of rod and bend them to fit the gap, then weld over/through that layer?

[@osbornebay944]

l run into breaking off job often, edge building skill are vital.

[@supercharged6771]

Great video

[@madcapmagician6018]

awesome =) think aluminum has been my nemesis since the first time I picked up a tig torch lol these tips will come in handy =)

[@lifeand2wheels381]

That was pretty interesting to see actually

[@laiky71]

I would grind it flush just to see how well you put the metal back

[@datdudedat1guy]

Usually when you grind something like that you end up grinding away the base material on the foot or toe of the welds. So then gauge aluminumdon't grind it unless you absolutely has to or the protocol calls for that. just from what I've seen working in a machine shop and also doing structural welding stuff or even airplane part repair welds.

[@davidgtrr34]

1 thing i would like to see is welding an fittings or something onto a cast rocker cover. I welding 2 an fitting onto an evo 3 rocker cover a few weeks ago and it was a nightmare.

[@Okie-Tom]

Looked like it did what you needed. I would love to read what Jody at "Welding Tips & Tricks dot Com" would say about this and how he would do it different. This is hard to do for sure. At a welding demonstration one time I saw a guy welding aluminum foil together. Crazy!

[@reinierwelgemoed8171]

I would actually stand those 2 pieces on end and build up the sections with a edge weld so when You lay them together the gap would be very small.

[@blahblahtuesday1172]

thanks

[@MICKIN310]

what filler rod do i use to weld carbon steel to 304 SS need to do an exhaust system thanks

[@TheFabricatorSeries]

309

[@Eluderatnight]

With a mig on thin steel I would use a copper spatula. Is it there a role for a spatula on tig?

[@henrye718]

Hey what about air cooled torch heat, does the slow technique guy run the risk of burning up the torch.

[@michaelportt632]

Haven’t been welding as long as you, but I would have put something inside to pat my beads on. Thanks Mike

[@Gottenhimfella]

If it's a long tube that's not an option