pttm
Rusty.
Hey guys I was just wondering if 0.095 inches is a good aluminum circular tubing wall thickness (4 a yard kart frame). Thanks 4 ur help
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Aluminum thickness
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Do you know how to weld alluminium? It is not the same as steel
that depends on the alloy in question...
Duraluminium (AlCu4Mg1) with a diameter over 30mm in 2.4+mm wallthickness will be plenty..
or other alloys with a 2xxx number (check first; most are, but very few are not!)
Or to be on the safe side anything with a 7xxx number (aerospace grade)
Anything else is going to be a matter of research to find the exact strength.
'sid
Duraluminium (AlCu4Mg1) with a diameter over 30mm in 2.4+mm wallthickness will be plenty..
or other alloys with a 2xxx number (check first; most are, but very few are not!)
Or to be on the safe side anything with a 7xxx number (aerospace grade)
Anything else is going to be a matter of research to find the exact strength.
'sid
pttm
Rusty.
on that note how do u weld aluminum
firemanjim
Just kartin' around....
I take it that you want a light chassis. The aluminum would work, if engineered correctly. But let's face it, square tube .065" thick is plenty strong enough, still fairly light, and a lot easier for a beginner to learn to weld with..... From a safety aspect, steel is still the way to go...... Aluminum welding is usually done with a TIG welder, although you can buy aluminum rods to use with an arc welder, not as pretty though...... It takes a lot more skill to do aluminum, you can't just "learn as you go" with that one......
88nightrider
New member
Have not tried to weld aluminium tubing, but aluminium plates distort really easily by the heat of the welding 
firemanjim
Just kartin' around....
Have not tried to weld aluminium tubing, but aluminium plates distort really easily by the heat of the welding
I was told to use a stitching gun with an arc welder to prevent excessive heat build up.
88nightrider
New member
I was told to just spot weld (TIG) it. And go over it multiple times to get full seams.
firemanjim
Just kartin' around....
A stitching gun let's you lay down a continuous bead, with low heat/amps, and not distort the aluminum. IIRC, the gun pulses on / off, rapidly, allowing a continuous arc but keeping thermal build up to a minimum. I'll post a link in a few.... It might help the OP if he chooses to stick with aluminum, against the general consensus.....
EDIT I was close.....
http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-stitch-welder-how-to-operating-instructions
EDIT I was close.....
http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-stitch-welder-how-to-operating-instructions
88nightrider
New member
Havent seen one like that before.
The TIG and MIG welders I have used have had there own setting for stitch welding.
IIRC two adjustments. One for how long to weld. And one for how long it should stop welding.
Just guessing if set to minimum on both, it might work somewhat similar
Never fooled much around with those settings...
But if I had the money I might consider one of those
directdrive
New member
Aluminum
There are two common methods of welding aluminum Tig (tungsten inert gas welding) and Mig /GMAW (gas metal arc welding). Mig welding aluminum is done with a "spool gun" which is a gun that contains a 1lb. spool of aluminum wire. The wire is soft so it's hard to feed through a regular whip (line) therefore it is fed from the gun by a small drive. There are push pull systems but that's more elaborate. Tig welding is done with a torch using a tungsten electrode shielded by an inert gas and is similar to oxy gas welding in that a filler rod is generally used.That being said, I have both types of welders in my shop. They are expensive machines and take skills that need to develop over time both in theory and practically. As far as an aluminum Kart frame, how many production race Kart frames do you see out there? There's a reason for that. It would require a ladder type structure or diameters and tubing thicknesses that are impractical. It can be done, I just don't see the point.
There are two common methods of welding aluminum Tig (tungsten inert gas welding) and Mig /GMAW (gas metal arc welding). Mig welding aluminum is done with a "spool gun" which is a gun that contains a 1lb. spool of aluminum wire. The wire is soft so it's hard to feed through a regular whip (line) therefore it is fed from the gun by a small drive. There are push pull systems but that's more elaborate. Tig welding is done with a torch using a tungsten electrode shielded by an inert gas and is similar to oxy gas welding in that a filler rod is generally used.That being said, I have both types of welders in my shop. They are expensive machines and take skills that need to develop over time both in theory and practically. As far as an aluminum Kart frame, how many production race Kart frames do you see out there? There's a reason for that. It would require a ladder type structure or diameters and tubing thicknesses that are impractical. It can be done, I just don't see the point.
dudeness30
New member
I weld aluminum and steel, and I recommend you start with steel first.
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