Glen-L.com

New to this site, but very experienced in welding aluminum. I have built over 60 aluminum boats. I am a vocational welding instructor and do consulting work for different welding contractors in the SE.

All of the info posted on this site is pretty accurate. However IMO if you are doing anything more than doing sheet metal repairs on car bodies any 120volt is a waste of $$.

Currently Lincoln products are ahead of the curve on the latest inovations for welding machines. The new Precision Tig 185 is an incredible machine and moderaely priced for a machine of that quality. Best starting arc of any machine. However if you currently have a Miller or Hobart machine and it is not giving problems keep it.

Aluminum TIG welding is an art, but with proper instruction it is not difficult to acheive good quality welds. Aluminum TIG welding is not difficult, but it can be very frustrating due to spool guns being tempermental. The Lincoln Power MIG 300 and the new 350 with the push pull gun elimanates a lot of spool gun problems but it is also a very sizable investment (4500-5200 range).

Before starting a boat I would very much reccommend getting a book that thoroughly explains the applications for the filler metals. You will never want to use incompatible alloys since underbead cracking can easily result from using the wrong alloys.

A used commercial welder is a much better bargain that a discount elcheapo one.
We purchased a LINDE for our welding shop made in 1983 for around 700. on ebay. I cleaned the rat nests out, changed the rotten gas lines and discovered it worked fine. It is a CONTINUOUS DUTY 300A mig has nice large GE amp and volt meters with the large capacity wire feeder and a spool gun. I watched a U.S. Navy destroyer being built with these things!
The LINDE is so bullit proof that I do not know how you could break it.
Parts are very available, local welding supply house had line liners and tips in stock! It eats .035 wire at any currret and feed speed. I have not tried aluminum because I know my limitations.
You will have a problem with power because this commercial welder is 3 phase 240 VAC, no problem in an industrial area.

If you saw all the stuff I have welded with my 12 year old Hobart 110v Handler you would be shocked. Yes lots and lots of 1/8" and quite a lot of 3/16" stuff too. I built a 5200 pound street rod, 1941 Buick Formal Sedan and put all late Vette suspension under it and did all the new cross members and frame welds. NOT ONE SINGLE SIGN OF FAILURE. Yes a 220v would be nice, but DON'T say a 110v is a waste of money. The new 110v units are much improved over mine as well. Just today I welded approx. 6' of weld on 1/8" mild steel and the welds look great. No aluminum though.

Dale
Indy

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I AM ALWAYS DOING THAT WHICH I CANNOT DO, IN ORDER TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT. ~ Pablo Picasso 1881 - 1973

hey guys I have bought a dhc 2000 as no one welder met the size of the material and it all got just to expensive - I bought the glasses and can see the weld pool - these things are amazing once you get the hang of it on ally - has anyone tried them?

jennydinc,
I'm not sure of the meaning
The same power supply that welds steel MIG will often weld aluminum MIG. The same wire feeder will not always feed aluminum wire just because it feeds steel wire, but I'm not sure what you're asking or stating?

We've heard from lots of different types of users here, and unless they/we group those posts into types of work; alloys of metals; boats or non-marine work and so forth, we'd have a real difficult time summarizing welding power supplies or their wire feeders for MIG.

Unfortunately, as a resource for decision making this thread is a little bit random. We could look at the discussion to date as one that roams the entire Glen-L design catalog of boats. Some are tiny punts for ponds others may be cold molded offshore sailing live-aboards, and still others may be welded aluminum outboard powered skiffs.

Could we, any of us, say This is the "BEST Design" in the Glen-L catalog? Almost everyone is going to ask "best for what"? So trying to discuss welding power supplies without prefacing the discussion with use or application makes whatever follows into a random walk in the pasture instead of a guide.

Are you summarizing the discussion in the line I'm not clear there either: but I do agree; there are a list of items to check when selecting a welding power supply investment!

If I were recommending a decision tree or path to making a solid buying selection I'd start with the main use. How long per day will this power supply weld? If longer than 4 hours of solid running per day- then my experience is that there is no reason to buy the home hobby rated machines as they usually have lower 'duty cycle' or power factor ratings. If you're welding 4 hours daily - likely there's business involved and not welding holds up more than one person so pay for the 'pro equipment'. [Lincoln, Miller, Name Brands]

Next I'd want to decide the aluminum welding needs. If there are long seams - hulls, tanks, boxes, walk-ways then MIG is the most commonly used. If the work is all brackets, corners, pipes, padeyes and small tanks then TIG is the main method used.

If you're doing boat work longer than 18' and will climb in and out of the hull during construction then a push pull gun will buy itself about the second day of climbing around looking for tiny 1lb rolls of wire for a pistol type wire feeder. On the other hand if you're working on trailers, bench built tanks and boxes, or small skiffs once in awhile then a pistol or "one pound" gun is more than adequate.

The maximum sustained welding power of the power supply would be next: if you're welding aluminum 3/16" or thicker all day- get a 300A (350A) 60-80% duty cycle power supply with water cooled push-pull wire feed gun. Bite the economic bullet and get the equipment designed to do the work you have planned. If you're not at these minimum thresholds ? There are many systems that may do all you need without the high costs of those in the group above.

In almost all instances there are two generations of power supplies- old and new- 60cycle transformer and high frequency inverter- large and small versions of each welding power supply. Its been mentioned above you can buy a 4-8 thousand dollar power supply that will last your lifetime for pennies on the dollar on eBay. But if you need new then expect to pay for the full value of the new -bells and whistles laden mini suitcase wonder machine.

I have owned dozens of welding power supplies and still have half a dozen spread between the two generations - one huge copper transformer based TIG machine sits next to a suitcase inverter that has more controls than I can use. They both cost about 5k US$ new. One is 30 years older than the other- they both work and I could buy the older one now for 1/10th the amount it cost new and it would weld just fine.

My point here is that costs are related to the generation of the power supply not exclusively that power supply's welding capability. So there are real 'deals' out there if you know what to look for and can get decent testing BEFORE you buy.

cheers,
Kevin Morin

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Kevin Morin

Kevin we value your imput and your detailed responses. I can personally tell you that I have learned a lot pertaining to metal boat work. In the area of scattered postings, some of us has discussed the issues of splattering posts, single ones from time to time that never really get into details and really unable to get a handle on the real intent. Some of the reasons that I will add is that many do not reside in "developed nations" too. So please weigh this when you want to dig further into the single digit posters with no information in their profiles.

Sorry, Oyster, I didn't think about those other conditions, didn't intend any disrespect in my remarks.

cheers,
Kevin Morin

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Kevin Morin

No problem at all. I was responding to your comments dealing with the variety of posters and multiple content without direction as you stated. Sometimes or must I say fairly recently , there has been some posts that really do not fit the topic or add a lot to the discussion as the examples your referenced. Some of this could be in the limited translation too. You put a lot of effort into your posts, thorough and informative and we appreciate the extra effort for sure.

FWIW, this thread dates back to 2003 and was bumped twice and laid dormat from 2005.