John's Alu Profile build

[AndyUK]

I'd be very happy with that as a first welding attempt - nice one! But yeah MIG isn't going to be best for that material size - I'd be surprised if it has enough penetration.

What's the phrase? Grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't.

[Evengravy]

Thanks Andy! it seems to be strong enough but I'd guess it's penetrated around 1-2mm into the base metal, or so (looking at the front corners). I can pass over the inside with the ARC once I get the hang of it too so I'm not too worried at the minute, I was more nervous to stuff up the alignment to be honest but it's bang on where it needs to be.

I've been playing around with the ARC a moment ago on some scrap. I like it much more than MIG as a process so far, at least I can get a good pool going with it. Enjoying that a lot.

I'm hoping to weld up a steel frame of some sort so it's worth learning something new whilst I'm about the house a lot.

[JAZZCNC]

I'd be very happy with that as a first welding attempt - nice one! But yeah MIG isn't going to be best for that material size - I'd be surprised if it has enough penetration.

What's the phrase? Grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't.

Mig is more than capable of welding that material, but 100A isn't. It would need 250-300A and thick wire. The trick with Mig is setting the wire feed correctly.

Also when your butting 2 pieces like you have if you grind a chamfer on each edge where you want the welds it will give you a stronger weld as you have larger weld area, it also gives you a flatter weld with hardly any grinding required.

[Evengravy]

Mig is more than capable of welding that material, but 100A isn't. It would need 250-300A and thick wire. The trick with Mig is setting the wire feed correctly.

Also when your butting 2 pieces like you have if you grind a chamfer on each edge where you want the welds it will give you a stronger weld as you have larger weld area, it also gives you a flatter weld with hardly any grinding required.

Hey, yes sorry I was referring to my MIG in particular, I'm sure with more current it would work absolutely fine. Ten four on the chamfering, I'll keep that in mind for future.