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TIG welding beer cans?

FlatBeltBob

Stainless
Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Location
central WI
Time and again I have heard the boast " he's such a great TIG welder that he can tig 2 beer cans end to end "
Well I am a fair welder myself , and have tried this a few times with no luck .
As a matter of fact I have never actually seen anyone do this .
Is this just another urban legend , or only possible with a robotic electron beam welder ?
If I adjust my welder to minimum heat , I get no arc at all , and just a notch higher is way too much heat .
So what say ye TIG GODS , what's the rest of the story ?
FBBob
 
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Miller Syncrowave 180. The trick is to sand all the anodizing off without making the can any thinner than it already is. Also, use as small a tungsten as you can (probably .040") and the smallest filler you can (I believe I used .035 filler for that).
 

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Dang ! I'm impressed .
I have a Miller Shopmaster with an add on tig unit . I can vary the freq , but what kind of heat setting are you using ?
Thanks
 
Dunno. I did that years ago. You need to set your amperage to 'just enough'. :) Make sure you have a good ground...that is absolutely critical. Make damn sure your tungsten isn't split. Clean your filler with a scotch brite pad or similar, then wipe with acetone. Clean those cans like you're going to eat off of them, then clean some more.

I made some bellows from 28ga 304 sheet a few years ago. I ran 1 amp on the outside corners with .020" tungsten. Just keep practicing, you'll get it.
 
Guy I know, bought an old Lincoln TIG 25 years ago.
The old guy he got it from came to my buddys garage to help him set it up.
He (old guy) welded Alu FOIL together with it....I just saw the foil not the process so I don't know what all he did. I think he was a welder at the local Westinghouse plant.

I was impressed.
 
Cans, no problem, if you check around there are guys that run a bead on flat aluminum foil!!! NOT me but there are guys.
 
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Miller Syncrowave 180. The trick is to sand all the anodizing off without making the can any thinner than it already is. Also, use as small a tungsten as you can (probably .040") and the smallest filler you can (I believe I used .035 filler for that).

You are my GOD!!!!
 
Welding aluminum cans end to end isn't that complicated since you are welding the thickest part of the can. I have welded the thinner side walls together with an old econotig. Now anyone who has used an econotig knows that they only goes down to 20 amps in AC I believe. The trick is to not weld the cans, but to weld the filler wire to itself.....
 
I have actually seen a guy peel the foil from a Doublemint gum wrapper, rip it, and then weld it back together.

(Aerospace industry factory)
 
Welding aluminum cans end to end isn't that complicated since you are welding the thickest part of the can. I have welded the thinner side walls together with an old econotig. Now anyone who has used an econotig knows that they only goes down to 20 amps in AC I believe. The trick is to not weld the cans, but to weld the filler wire to itself.....

+1 on both sentiments.
I've done it, in the middle. Ends are easypeasy.
Strike your arc *ON* the filler, not the parent.
I found getting the cans properly clean was a bitch.
Maybe one day I'll be able to do the foil trick.
 
Pssst....real secret is to weld together energy drink cans, because once you get done you'll be wired and ready for a challenge.

Oh and make sure its "Venom" energy drink their cans are like 3/32" thick :P
 
I'm pretty good with TIG welding but have never tried the beer can trick. Would filling the cans with water help or would that be too cold. I use copper bars to back up thin aluminum parts and that helps but what about water in the beer cans? What do you guy's think?
 
I'm pretty good with TIG welding but have never tried the beer can trick. Would filling the cans with water help or would that be too cold. I use copper bars to back up thin aluminum parts and that helps but what about water in the beer cans? What do you guy's think?

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, many, many, MANY moons ago I was young and ambitious and thought about this very same thing. I was also stupid enough not to think it completely through and tried it. It made for a very... ... ... active experience.... Try it. Please have your friend or wife video it for us.

<running to get popcorn>

:willy_nilly:
 
Haha, I did this a long time ago too. Went through a couple unsuccessful attempts until I sanded the crap off the aluminum a little better. I think it's sort of like a clear coat or something on there. My Dynasty goes down to 1 amp, but I'm thinking I was definitely over 10 amps. I usually set the max high and just use the pedal to get where I need to be as a fine tuning.
 








 
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