Learning to TIG weld
Patting your head while rubbing your stomach!
Many of us enjoy seeing something that’s been crafted from aluminium, but it’s rarely something we can do ourselves. So we went to see Ian Davies, owner of ETTO Motorcycles, who has started giving courses on welding aluminium and metal-shaping. How hard can it be?
When you see a beautiful aluminium tank on a trials bike, an oil tank that’s been made for a special that fits perfectly, or a repair to an unobtainable crankcase, many fill with envy of the skilled person behind them. I’ve been MIG welding cars, bikes and farm equipment together since I was a lad. But with no one telling me how to do it, it was never pretty and occasionally it wasn’t strong enough, either. So when I heard about the ETTO TIG welding course I jumped at the chance to have a go. Could I make something someone would look at with envy?
A course is only as good as its tutor, so I was in luck with Ian Davies. Ian runs speedshop, ETTO (Each To Their Own) Motorcycles, in Nottinghamshire, building special one-off bikes for customers, modifying others, and he is a suspension specialist too. His workshop had several beautiful racebikes visiting, as well as other projects waiting for his expert hand. But he also hand-makes fuel tanks, body parts and even fairings from aluminium. And after realising that others are interested in learning his craft, he’s started two courses – TIG welding and metal forming.
The TIG welding course is over two days and there will never be more than two pupils. “It’s essential I watch my pupils when they’re welding, how their hands are holding the torch and filler rod, and how they deal with the weld pool,” explains Ian.
TIG welding has several advantages over other techniques like MIG or gas welding. Mainly, it’s one of the best ways to fuse aluminium and the other is it has more control.
It’s a slower process, but especially on a bike, where welds are visible, it can be made to look a lot better than other methods.
TIG welding (Tungsten Inert Gas) is the most common way of joining two pieces of aluminium together nowadays and involves a torch with a tungsten electrode that, when earthed to the material you’re welding, creates an arc, fusing the two metals together.
You can also use a filler rod to add material to the join. The weld needs to be free from any impurities, so the arc is shielded by gas, normally argon, which is inert. For aluminium welding, AC TIG welding is used, as the alternating current helps the weld to clean and then penetrate. DC is used for steels.
After some safety essentials, we look at what’s needed. As we’ll be using two hands and a foot, a good autodimming welding mask is essential. TIG gloves are thinner than welding gauntlets, so Ian prefers them, as you have to be very precise with your hand movements. We also have a look at the machine, which we’ll go into more at a later date, but we were using an AC DC machine, with what looks like more dials and controls than a space shuttle…
Although this course is for welding aluminium, Ian starts us off with steel to get us used to the process. What you’re aiming to do is to hold the torch in the correct position, around 60°, and the right distance from the metal, around 3mm away – any closer and your electrode will weld itself to the metal and you will have to stop, remove it, file it to a point and start again. Oh, and all this needs doing while you’re moving steadily along the join. At the same time, your other hand is feeding the filler rod into the weld pool your torch is creating, at the right speed, the right time and the right angle, which changes depending on the type of join you’re creating.
While the welder settings and filler rod for steel are different, the muscle memory your hands and arms need to learn are similar, as is using a foot pedal to control the amount of current; too little and you won’t melt the material or penetrate the surface, too much and you’ll burn a damn great hole just where you don’t want to.
This takes time and I spend ages welding straight(ish) lines, trying to keep my left hand steady (I’m a southpaw), while getting a rhythm of dabbing the filler rod into the weld pool. Just reading this makes it sound impossible – I’m sorry – but with practice it did start to become less alien. Ian also pointed out that, as I’m left-handed, I should use my right foot for the pedal, so pressing down on my foot wouldn’t move my arm. That was crucial and it worked well.
Ian was constantly checking and suggesting ways to make it better and giving me alternatives. For example, some welders feed the filler rod in by nudging it through their hand with their fingers, while others move their whole hand. I found it helpful using a block of wood under my torch hand, because we were working on a bench and, as I was moving the torch along, I had a habit of touching the material with the electrode, which would then weld itself, or create a blob at the end. This would then have to come out and be sharpened on a bench grinder to the correct angle. Ian did several for me so I could continue while he sharpened the next one! But it got easier, like learning to ride, and remember that professional welders have to work freehand, upside down or on a ladder on machinery, cars or bikes. But this was my first day!
“Right,” says Ian, “let’s move to aluminium.” The thinner the gauge of metal, the harder it is to weld, as there’s less material to dissipate the heat so it’s easier to burn through. Using 1.2mm and even 0.8mm helps you learn as you can see your mistakes more easily. It’s also the material most motorcycle enthusiasts will want to use for tanks, subframes or bodywork.
“Preparation with aluminium is everything,” explains Ian. The metal to be welded is cleaned with alcohol or brake cleaner and so is the filler rod, if one is needed. As there are different filler rods for different needs, these are kept separately in marked containers, so you can’t accidentally use the wrong one. Any grinders, cutting discs or wire brushes should be used for either aluminium or steel, not both. “This way, your welds are not contaminated,” explains Ian.
The TIG welder needs to be switched to AC for aluminium and there are many more adjustments to be made, like balance, amperage, pre and postflow and upslope and downslope, which help control the amount of current that is delivered once you’ve pressed the button on the torch, and once you’ve released it, to give you a more neat beginning and end. Only experience and practice will help you tweak the settings, but a course like this can certainly get you in the right area.
“As you get the rhythm it becomes a very calming, almost therapeutic experience.”
The metal to be welded is cleaned with acetone or brake cleaner and so is the filler rod, if needed. The electrode needs the correct angle of point ground and once fitted to the torch, is held at an angle closer to 45° than the 60° we had with steel.
The main thing I noticed when starting on aluminium is how different it sounds to welding steel, thanks to the AC current. It’s much louder. The other element I had trouble with was trying to rush the weld, thinking aluminium would burn through, thanks to its lower melting point. That may come from the fact I spend a lot of my weekends welding up thin metal on my old car with a MIG welder. But I found I have a similar time to that with steel.
We then tried welding without filler, which is tricky but useful for tacking together before you lay down a filled weld. Then we had a go at different joins: butt welding, fillet welding and lap welding, some easier than others, but steadily getting more proficient. As you get the rhythm it becomes a very calming, almost therapeutic experience.
There is a lot to learning how to weld aluminium, but after doing the ETTO course I feel ready to tackle it myself. It costs £250 per day, and Ian encourages pupils to bring work with them, so you can learn and make parts at the same time.
I cannot recommend this course enough and I have signed up for the fabrication course already, which should go hand in hand.
TIG welders are expensive – forget cheap ones on eBay, the best value for money examples we found with excellent customer feedback are from R-Tech, based in Gloucester.
If it’s just for bike-sized projects, budget for around £1500, but then there’s gas, filler rods, spare electrodes, a good mask: so perhaps a few people would be interested in coming together? But before you do, get yourself on this course. Even if you don’t buy a welder, you will appreciate the skill that goes into making or repairing parts, as well as having fun. And since taking the course I have found that it has dramatically improved my MIG welding, too!
See www.ettomotorcycles.co.uk