Welder World Blog

Posts Tagged ‘propane torch’

In the expansion of the aluminum industry, aluminum castings have played a vital role. Anyone who is into the business of metal castings must be willing to learn some tips of welding aluminum castings with less amperage. There are few Tig welding inverters that can help you to meet your objective of power saving why you try to weld your castings in aluminum. These inverters use power as low as 115v only. These machines are first-class power sources but their output is limited to 200 amps only. At 200 amps, it’s not hot enough enabling you to weld with more comfort.

Another proven method to reduce amperage during welding is the preheating of the aluminum parts at a temperature of 200 degree. For preheating aluminum castings, you may use either a furnace or an oxy-fuel torch. But if you won’t have these two tools in place, still you have options to lower your amperage. Now in such a case, you need a gas grill. You may spare a gas grill just for preheating of aluminum parts but not for cooking anything on it. When you are ready with your gas grill, use aluminum foil to wrap the part to be preheated. Then put it on the oven. Keep the flame at medium and allow the heat to conduct through the part. Using a small propane torch won’t be a bad idea to make the part hot enough by moving the torch over it.

If you didn’t like the idea of using gas grill, here is another tip for you to reduce the amperage. When you try to Tig welding aluminum castings with less amperage, prefer using a 50-50 helium/argon mix as a substitute of straight argon. This mix does the magic, as helium provides more energy. Especially, for thick aluminum, use of helium is generally recommended. Helium adds more voltage to aluminum arc and supply of extra current is not needed. For aluminum with a thickness less than ? inch, use of straight argon can be a sensible choice.

Still, there is one great tip for Tig welding aluminum castings with low amperage. Now, you can think using a small Tig cup. Sometimes it is also called as Tig welding nozzle. This is actually a ceramic tip that is fixed at the end of the Tig torch. This Tig cup allows release of less shielding gas and prevents the oxidation of the tungsten electrode. The idea is not to use too much torch gas. The less amount of gas projected on the aluminum parts demands for less mount of amperage. Moreover, the degenerated arc energy adds to the gas shielding. Thus, welding parts get an extra amount of energy. In fact, allowing too much gas to flow will make it difficult to work with it.

Today, aluminum industry is a well-developed industry and hundreds of compositions of aluminum alloy castings are available keeping in mind their commercial usage. In most types of commercial casting processes, these tips for Tig welding aluminum castings will be greatly beneficial to reduce amperage.

More Propane Torch Welding Articles

Brazing refers to the joining of two metals. It is easy to do and substitute the welding part quite efficiently. It most often makes use of torches to join two metals. Propane torches are one such equipment which is popularly used for brazing. These can be easily sourced from any of the hardware store or a plumbing supply house. Metalsmith and jewelry supply firms too can provide propane torches. Mentioned below is the basic process of brazing two metals using a propane torch. Take a look:

Materials Needed

-Propane Torch
-Brazing Wire

Step 1
The very first step in propane brazing is to clean the metal that you plan to braze. For cleaning, one can make use of sandpaper to remove oxidation while acetone should be used to get rid of grease. Also, use simple soap and water solution to remove the remaining dust particles from the metal surface. Now once all the dirt and grease is removed from the metal, rinse it with water and let the clean metal air dry completely. It might take a time of few hours.

Step 2
Next, put the metal over a work surface which is fire-safe. Then arrange the metal to be brazed properly so that it does not move from the point it has been placed. One should make use of either binding wire, or a third hand or a vise for holding the two metals together as depending on gravity alone for handling the metal in place would not be a good idea.

Step 3
Now the next step in brazing process is to heat both the metals that you plan to join together. As soon as the metals arrive at the perfect brazing temperature, brazing wire needs to be applied to the seam. Keep heating the brazing wire till the time it melts into the seam.

Step 4
Lastly, let the metals cool down to the room temperature and you are already done with the brazing process using propane torch.

To know more about torch brazing, click here.

I’d like to do a few things around the house and to my RV, but I have no knowledge, is there a propane-torch level of welding that’s strong? Meaning, do you have to invest in a lot of equipment and intense learning or can it be simple? Thanks.