Thanks, JD. Lovely job!

It may well be an optical illusion due to the angle it was filmed at, but it doesn’t look like Matt was tracing the front of the puddle, which is normally something you stress on your MIG videos. If that was the case, was it deliberate and why not? Thanks, Matt and Jody.

Pulsed MIG sure looks as if it could change the reasons why MIG isn’t on my preferred list of processes!

Trim is basically inductance?

On the subject of high humidity that Matt referred to, on Page 28 of the following Hobart document, there is a very interesting section on the dew point and how a humid environment can make a mess of aluminium welding unless you take suitable precautions:

https://www.hobartbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Aluminum_Welding_Guide.pdf

(with acknowledgment to DZ, who made me aware of this Hobart guide.)

Jody, your close-up shots show that walking the cup is a naturally more consistent method than freehand, but it can leave tell-tail lines either side of the weld. Perhaps that’s why it was frowned upon: perhaps they wanted the welders to be able to make a cosmetically pleasing weld without leaving drag lines? Jody, did that fab shop take precautions to prevent carbon-steel ginding dust finding its way into the stainless areas? Many thanks.

Many thanks for an excellent live chat. There was a lot of great information, and a lot of things I’m going to pay more attention to, for example, watching for good cleaning action in front of the puddle rather than concentrating solely on the cleaning action at the sides of the puddle.

The personal anecdotes are the icing on the cake, Jody. It’s always interesting to see how you go about trying to identify an unknown workpiece, or at least to rule out certain grades. The more I learn about the metallurgy, the more interesting I find it.

Thanks, Jody. Looking forwards to Part 2.

It might be a simple little project, but it keeps bringing plenty to the conversation, Jody.

Given that this was an old, “mature” piece of aluminium, did you have to set a higher DCEP cleaning action on the AC balance than you might otherwise have done? (It goes without saying you obviously were using square wave).

Thanks, Jody; I’m eagerly anticipating the next phase when Aren sends it back.

DZ DZ, thank you so much for those 2 links; I’m going to get them printed off. I’m of an era where I far prefer to read stuff on paper rather than on a screen. I just received my copy of the 32nd edition of the Hobart Pocket Welding Guide from the USA, but I see there’s no mention of 4943 aluminium filler on Page 122, whereas your first link is up to date and much more comprehensive. Thanks again for going to the trouble of making me aware of these links.

Great video on how to fix a wheel, Matt. Only joking!!! You coukdn’t have made it more clear. A neighbour once asked me if I’d weld his alloy wheel, and I told him under no circumstances would I do so, and for his own safety he should scrap it.

If you haven’t already recorded part 2, would you explain in the video how you would go about trying to identify the specification/composition of the base alloy so you can decide on the correct filler wire you’d use?

Many thanks, Matt.

Hey, Jody,

The high-speed pulse really does make a difference; any idea why that is? Is it possibly that the puddle freezes faster on pulse, though to the naked eye, it doesn’t look like it?

You said you’re never letting the pre-heat fall below 500F; why’s that?

From your intro, this is the sort of job where an understanding of steel alloys and the iron-carbide diagram would certainly help to ensure you ask the right questions before you start. Perhaps you could throw in the odd “down-and-dirty metallurgy” video from time to time, because no matter how good a weld one can lay down, it’s no good if you’ve ruined the metallurgical properties through ignorance?

Padding beads is never boring: it tests your consistency to the limit if it isn’t to look like a horrible mess afterwards. It’s really hard work to make it look even half decent, and a lot more demanding than a single-bead joint!

Great video, Jody; looking forwards to Part 2.