Beginner Welder. My Very First Time Welding.

[mrsleeve]

great info.
Mr.sleeve, thanks for pointing that out. Someone also suggest heating the metal up first with a torch and then tackling it.

I'm going to finish this exhaust and see how it holds. After that I may be taking it back for a gas 220v.

yeah you can preheat, but thats more for revealing the thermal shock on Hardened (more brittle) steel's or really thick metals, and or in the case of AL. just getting some heat in the work as AL sucks heat way from the welding area really fast.

[b*saint]

I tried gas welding aluminum once without knowing anything about the properties of aluminum. I had to scrap the whole project. Then someone explained the aluminum oxide melts at a lot higher rate than the more pure aluminum under the surface. Thus when you break through the oxide, usually you make a huge hole. I was told to first grind where I want to weld.

[mrsleeve]

^

The other part of that is that AL oxidizes nearly instantly when in contact with air, thats why its next to imposable to solder or braze