On vacation. Never done this before but might be required to do it soon so off to the scrap pile for something to do a test joint with. The specification calls for a 60 degree bevel, a sleeve and one material thickness gap. Haven't done any aluminum for over a year so this will be interesting. Wish I had a smaller torch. I only have a 250 amp water cooled one at home and it's cumbersome. Pictures to follow, unless I really suck today
No pictures yet. First attempt sucked. On the outside, the weld looks OK but I'm not penetrating into the sleeve. First problem was my gap was to tight. It's a tight 1/8th when it should have been closer to 3/16ths. My bevel is about 45 degrees. I forgot to mention that the spec also calls for pulse mig. I thought tig would be a stronger and cleaner weld. I did try a sharper point on the tungsten and higher frequency to try and focus more on the sleeve. It takes quite a bit of time to prep a sleeved joint so I'll try again tomorrow or Friday.