trevmust
New member
strong enough to use as a frame? and if so how to weld it properly? its round tube btw.
6063P series aluminum
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trevmust
New member
the piece im looking at is 1-1/4x3/32nds so about 10 ga aluminum according to the chart I saw.
mckutzy
Well-known member
I think the better question is can you weld aluminum, Ie. you have a tig setup and know how to use it, a tube notcher and all the prep tools.
A fluxcore spool gun can do it, but equally, can you weld aluminum. It needs some skill unlike from the properties steel.
It can be done depending on the design. the cart won have a good life to it as it wont be as durable as steel will be.
I would probably go up a size on the tubing, about 1/8 thick if it were me.
Why aluminum?
A fluxcore spool gun can do it, but equally, can you weld aluminum. It needs some skill unlike from the properties steel.
It can be done depending on the design. the cart won have a good life to it as it wont be as durable as steel will be.
I would probably go up a size on the tubing, about 1/8 thick if it were me.
Why aluminum?
souperman000
New member
Its harder to weld, more expensive, and not as strong as steel.Maybe you should recycle it, Lots of money in aluminum.
trevmust
New member
I have not bought it yet. it says it has a 17,000psi tensile strength. The place I want to buy stuff from doesnt have small enough steel. the lightest gauge steel they have is 10ga... lol
r97
Measure twice cut once
Aluminum is not going to be a very good building material for a go kart. I would suggest you find another steel supplier if the one you are using can't get you standard kart building materials.
mckutzy, where have you seen aluminum flux-core wire?
mckutzy, where have you seen aluminum flux-core wire?
trevmust
New member
I gotta contact the company and see what they have.
mckutzy
Well-known member
I havent personally seen aluminum FC wire. I belong to a welding forum and it has been discussed a few times there, I just know it exists if not rarely.
OP- so what kinda skills/tools do you have. What kind of project are you making.
OP- so what kinda skills/tools do you have. What kind of project are you making.
fowler
New member
Don't know about flux core welding but mig welding ally is common and not too hard
The settings are just finicky
The settings are just finicky
machinist@large
Active member
And the power supply has to be able to support it.
fowler
New member
Yeah u guys only run in 110 amps
There must be some serious amps coming out your plugs?
There must be some serious amps coming out your plugs?
devino246
Official DIYGK Chem Nerd
120V (or 115, or 110), usually either 15 or 20 amp circuits. Things like stoves, ovens, whole-house A/C units, clothes dryers, etc. use 220V on anywhere from 30 to 50 amp home run circuits.
machinist@large
Active member
My apologies guys; I didn't go into detail. What I meant to say is that your welding power supply has to be able to support it. For tig you need to have AC with high frequency; I'm not sure what all you need for mig welding aluminum. I've never mig welded aluminum, so I just don't know. It looks like we have some high skill welder posting; advise, please?AMMFAB
New member
if ur referring to me im sorry to say i can not help with the mig welding aluminum questions as i do not do it. ive got a tig welder and am self taught. i only say that because if i had some schooling in welding (stick, tig, mig) i may be able to help a little bit.
as for making the frame out of aluminum.... i too have thought about doing that. the only thing i for see failing would be the tabs holding the arms in the front and rear..... i dont know if the op is thinking basic go kart or suspension all around though.
mike
as for making the frame out of aluminum.... i too have thought about doing that. the only thing i for see failing would be the tabs holding the arms in the front and rear..... i dont know if the op is thinking basic go kart or suspension all around though.
mike
r97
Measure twice cut once
From what I have read on the subject, welded aluminum frames for vehicles like ours would not be a good choice. Apparently the aluminum welds are brittle, and they have a low fatigue strength. In short, all of the frame flexing would be cracking welds all over the place. I'm not sure what it is that motorcycle manufactures do to their aluminum frames, probably some form of heat treating to remove stress. Unless you have a huge oven, heat treating an entire go kart frame would be tough!
MIG welding aluminum is just like MIG welding steel, except you need some specialized/more powerful equipment, and all the little problems with steel are drastically exaggerated. MIG welding aluminum requires good skills with setting feed speed and voltage, usually something beyond just reading off of the chart in the machine. Aluminum also requires more heat, feed speed, and travel speed. Since aluminum is better at conducting heat than steel, aluminum will dissipate heat faster. This can often lead to cold starts, and burn-through at the end of welds. There are also special gasses (I'm using 100% argon), and techniques specific to aluminum.
Aluminum also differs from steel in that MIG welding aluminum is done with spray transfer welding, most of the time steel only requires short circuit welding. To achieve spray transfer the welding power source must provide higher voltage, this and the need for a higher duty cycle makes a 230V machine a very important part of the puzzle. Along with a larger welder, MIG welding aluminum is best done with a spool or push-pull gun. As most of you know, aluminum is a very soft metal, because of this aluminum wire will not be easily pushed all the way through a standard MIG gun. You can make some modifications to the gun so it feeds aluminum more smoothly, but if you want to do more than one or two welds you really want a specialized gun.
Unlike TIG, aluminum MIG welding is done with direct current, and without high frequency starting. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't HF starting not necessarily required for TIG welding aluminum? I know it is very useful, but I'm under the impression that you can get by without it. I'm just starting with MIG welding aluminum (My biggest problem so far is that I burn through contact tips!) so if anyone sees a mistake please let me know. For more info on the subject, look at the link below.
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/mig-welding-aluminum.html
MIG welding aluminum is just like MIG welding steel, except you need some specialized/more powerful equipment, and all the little problems with steel are drastically exaggerated
. MIG welding aluminum requires good skills with setting feed speed and voltage, usually something beyond just reading off of the chart in the machine. Aluminum also requires more heat, feed speed, and travel speed. Since aluminum is better at conducting heat than steel, aluminum will dissipate heat faster. This can often lead to cold starts, and burn-through at the end of welds. There are also special gasses (I'm using 100% argon), and techniques specific to aluminum.Aluminum also differs from steel in that MIG welding aluminum is done with spray transfer welding, most of the time steel only requires short circuit welding. To achieve spray transfer the welding power source must provide higher voltage, this and the need for a higher duty cycle makes a 230V machine a very important part of the puzzle. Along with a larger welder, MIG welding aluminum is best done with a spool or push-pull gun. As most of you know, aluminum is a very soft metal, because of this aluminum wire will not be easily pushed all the way through a standard MIG gun. You can make some modifications to the gun so it feeds aluminum more smoothly, but if you want to do more than one or two welds you really want a specialized gun.
Unlike TIG, aluminum MIG welding is done with direct current, and without high frequency starting. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't HF starting not necessarily required for TIG welding aluminum? I know it is very useful, but I'm under the impression that you can get by without it. I'm just starting with MIG welding aluminum (My biggest problem so far is that I burn through contact tips!) so if anyone sees a mistake please let me know. For more info on the subject, look at the link below.
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/mig-welding-aluminum.html
machinist@large
Active member
From what I have read on the subject, welded aluminum frames for vehicles like ours would not be a good choice. Apparently the aluminum welds are brittle, and they have a low fatigue strength. In short, all of the frame flexing would be cracking welds all over the place. I'm not sure what it is that motorcycle manufactures do to their aluminum frames, probably some form of heat treating to remove stress. Unless you have a huge oven, heat treating an entire go kart frame would be tough!
MIG welding aluminum is just like MIG welding steel, except you need some specialized/more powerful equipment, and all the little problems with steel are drastically exaggerated
Aluminum also differs from steel in that MIG welding aluminum is done with spray transfer welding, most of the time steel only requires short circuit welding. To achieve spray transfer the welding power source must provide higher voltage, this and the need for a higher duty cycle makes a 230V machine a very important part of the puzzle. Along with a larger welder, MIG welding aluminum is best done with a spool or push-pull gun. As most of you know, aluminum is a very soft metal, because of this aluminum wire will not be easily pushed all the way through a standard MIG gun. You can make some modifications to the gun so it feeds aluminum more smoothly, but if you want to do more than one or two welds you really want a specialized gun.
Unlike TIG, aluminum MIG welding is done with direct current, and without high frequency starting. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't HF starting not necessarily required for TIG welding aluminum? I know it is very useful, but I'm under the impression that you can get by without it. I'm just starting with MIG welding aluminum (My biggest problem so far is that I burn through contact tips!) so if anyone sees a mistake please let me know. For more info on the subject, look at the link below.
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/mig-welding-aluminum.html
Sounds about right for the mig welding portion; all my instructor's had to say about it was "if you can mig weld steel, you can mig weld aluminum. You're supposed to be in your booth working on your tig welds; why aren't you there?"
As for tig welding it, it only works using AC, and High Frequency is an absolute must. The actual weld is done (primarily) with 50~60 cycles (your home nation's standard) with the HF beind overlaid by the electronics in your welder (aka 'the power source"); you need it to "Clean" the surface of the metal in the weld zone. Aluminum has an extreamly tenacious oxide layer; the HF basically "POP's" it off as you go. www.weldingtipsandtricks.com has some really good video's that show just what I'm talking about. Hopefully some of the others with experience chime in.
r97
Measure twice cut once
Okay, thanks for the correction. Some day I wish to at least try my hand at GTAW welding, if not get myself a machine to build some cool stuff with! Good GTAW welders are just expensive...
AMMFAB
New member
the good thing about tig welding aluminum is if u u cant clean the area to be welded very well u can always adjust the a/c balance for more cleaning which will leave a wider haz trail but the beads will look good. the same goes the other way around, if its super clean u can back the cleaning down which will give it more heat in the material for better penetration.
mike
mike
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