99% of what I dig weld is aluminum. Self taught. Started with the same machine (Miller Diversion 180) basically
The foot pedal is crap but it works. A nice SSC pedal is better and I'm good with those guys if you need a deal
Tips..
Just use a 3/32 tungsten for the time being. Pick a color and have at it. Don't get too lost in the shuffle of different flavors, diameters etc etc.
3/32 is a great all around size and go with 2% lanthanted (blue) or 2% thoriated (red also radioactive so people shy away from it) or some LaYzr (CK worldwide brand, green) or whatever as long as it's not Pure (green) tungsten. Quality of tungsten is important here. Cheap ones are just that, cheap shit and will deform. Ah shit I have some 3/32 blue weldporn laying around if you want. I also have tons of scrap aluminum that come off the cnc plasma.
A gas lens kit will be your friend. Tons of different kinds. Just anything that fits a 17/18/26 torch will do you fine. Stubby gas lens are what I like but they don't fit a full 7" tungsten. Or just stick to regular cups/collets for the time being. Nothing wrong with them either.
Cup size. Everything is in 1/16th of an inch. So #8 cup is 1/2" or 8/16. #5 is 5/16.
Tungsten stick out. Stick out about half the diameter of the cup is the general rule but you can do the diameter of the cup. If you start to see brown or black shit you don't have good enough gas coverage
Gas coverage: good rule of thumb. x2 of cup size. so #8 cup = 15cfh (12-15 is good, so you can always go a little less but again this is just a general rule of thumb to get you in the ball park)
Helmet: I dont care what helmet you got it's probably not great. You get one set of eyes. Spend money on them. Literally night and day difference. If you need to borrow or buy one I have 5 of them. Mostly the ones I use are a 1/1/1/1 or 1/1/1/2 rating. I use a Optrel Vega View 2.5 which is a few years old but still awesome. A shit helmet makes for a bad experience, it's like driving at night with fog lights when you want low or high beams on.
Cleaning:
Be careful of any chemical you use. DO NOT USE BRAKE CLEAN. Yes there are some safe ones but just stay away from it all together unless you have a death wish.
Acetone in a spray bottle and some lint free rags. A wire brush for just aluminum, one for just steel and one for just stainless.
Practice: Practice practice practice is all it is. Do dry runs. You need to worry about torch angle, speed, dipping filler. Don't get hung up on trying to feed filler with one hand like they tell you you need to. You can choke up on it and dap as needed. I like that better than feeding it as I weld.
Aluminum: by far my favorite to weld. It's more picky with gas flow. 4043 is a go to rod. 5356 is a great rod but has some magnesium in it so if you see it turn green as you dip that's normal. With aluminum smash the fucking pedal hard until it puddles then back off a little, dab n move. very picky on how clean it is.
Steel: needs less heat. Sometimes it flows well and sometimes its shit. mill scale makes it flow well but you need to get that shit off.
General rule of thumb: 1 amp for every .001 thickness. so 1/8" thick is .125 or 125amps. Again general rule of thumb. If steel I would use 125amps if aluminum I always add more. I weld a lot of 1/8" aluminum and have my machine set at 160amps. Always have extra power available if needed.
Don't be scared. Always hook up the ground. Or the HF shock is a bitch. Don't let your arms sweat while you weld and touch the table. That shocks like a bitch too.
Torch angle: Ideally in a perfect work having the torch perpendicular to the work piece is best as you get best gas coverage but it's not realistic. So angle it back a little, maybe a little less than a pencil. Now put the filler in the other hand. The angle these two should make is 90*. Too much torch lean and you are spitting a large flame. Torch distance to work piece (aka voltage) should be about 1/16th - 1/8 to get started. Practice keeping this distance constant is very important. The further away the torch is the more voltage, the closer the less. I like mine really close where it's about 10v. Your machine display don't tell you. If you get stuck, get off the pedal, rock the torch until it breaks and clean it.
Tungsten grinders are amazing but not needed. It's a nice luxury for sure.
Practice running bead after bead on a plate. One or two beads then stop. As the base metal heats up the bead consistency will change and you will need less amperage. So a few beads, grab it with pliers and dunk it in a bucket of water. Blow it off with compressed air until dry and do again. I used to get bar stock and just cut them into 4" sections and have a lot at the table sitting here. Weld them in pairs, then stick them together and so on.
Lots of people say aluminum is harder than steel to learn. Personally I thought it was easier. Fast paced yes, but less time to think and just move.
Sadly you can't control post flow on your machine. I'd figure out a way to build in a timer. One guy on youtube did it with his Lincoln square wave 200. At max amps that thing is going to piss out about 17 seconds of argon EVERY time you hit the pedal. So keep the bottle close or do a timer because the cost of argon will add up.
Let me know if you need any help.
BTW haven't welded in a little, these pics are all I had on my phone
More pics on my IG: instagram.com/gamblegarage
