Talked to an old timer about aluminum welding and now I'm rethinking everything

Met a guy named Jim at a shop over in Tacoma last Tuesday while I was picking up parts. He's been doing body work since the 70s and told me I was overthinking my aluminum repairs. Said I should just ditch the spool gun and get a proper AC TIG torch. I've been fighting with birdnesting and bad feed for like 6 months on that spool gun and figured it was just the way it had to be. He showed me a patch he did on a Ford van panel and I swear it looked like factory work with zero distortion. Now I'm looking at used TIG machines online and wondering how much time I've wasted. Anyone else make the switch from spool gun to TIG for aluminum and wish they did it sooner?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby65913d ago

$500 for a decent AC TIG setup and another $300 for a pedal and torch alone. My buddy Charlie bought a used Miller and spent more time chasing gas leaks and swapping tungstens than he ever did welding. He went back to his spool gun inside a month. I've been running a spool gun on my Millermatic for 3 years now, just swapped to a curved neck and a different liner and it feeds like a dream. You gotta dial in your tension and tip size right for the wire diameter, that's the real trick. Not saying TIG is bad for show cars but for daily repairs and patches a spool gun is way faster once you get it sorted.

scott.olivia13d ago

Disagree a bit @ruby659. TIG's got a learning curve sure, but once you get past the first few weeks it's way more precise for thin metal and tight gaps. Saves a ton of cleanup time on body panels too. Spool guns are fast, no argument there. But I've burned through more wire fighting bird nests and tip burnback than I ever did chasing TIG gas issues. Charlie's Miller might've just been a lemon, not every machine's that finicky. For daily patches? Yeah, spool gun wins for speed. But calling it faster "once sorted" ignores how often things go unsorted with feed issues. TIG's steady once you find your rhythm.

charles72013d ago

Buddy of mine ran a similar Miller TIG setup, swore by it for years. I always thought he was just being stubborn about the learning curve. But your point about bird nests and tip burnback hits close to home. I tried a spool gun on a job last month for some thin gauge aluminum. Thought I had it dialed in but spent half the afternoon fighting feed issues. Ended up switching back to my TIG just to get it done. You're right that when spools work they work good, but that "once sorted" part is a big IF sometimes. The cleanup thing is what I didn't realize. TIG leaves almost no post-weld grinding on tight gaps. Spool guns leave a mess I gotta sand down anyway. For production work speed matters but for one-off patches I'd rather go slow and steady than chase problems. I used to think TIG was just for show car guys. You changed my mind on that.