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Old 05-22-2014, 01:53 AM   #37 (permalink)
Michael Moore
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA USA
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I've got a Miller 250DX and something that size is likely to be as large as you'll ever need.

One thing to keep in mind about welding aluminum is you'll be fully annealed in the area of the weld. Steel is much more forgiving, 1018/1020 (which is all you really need) is relatively inexpensive, easy to find and easy to weld and a steel structure very likely can end up just as light or lighter if you do it right. Plus, if kept below the fatigue limit steel can be cycled pretty much forever where every cycle on aluminum brings it one step closer to failure.

So consider steel for structure and keep aluminum for low-stress parts like fuel/oil tanks, bodywork, etc.

You can buy a fire-retardant lightweight cloth welding jacket pretty reasonably and that will give you arm/neck coverage. If you are TIGing you shouldn't need thick leathers to protect you from molten metal blown out of the weld pool.

I've heard that some of the Miller helmets use a proprietary battery so you might want to check that out.

cheers,
Michael
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