And once you get the aluminum hot and welding, taper off your foot pedal just enough to keep the puddle and add rod at a controlled pace. As you approach the ends/edges, really taper off the heat and keep stuffing rod. That prevents the burn out.
When you practice lap joints, it can be more convenient to keep the lap closer so you don't have as much "base" exposed. In your picture, it looks like you have a 2" plate exposed. Knock that back to 1" or 3/4". Then you can get the torch tight and move the work piece closer to the edge of your table. This allows you more freedom of the torch handle because the table is not obstructing your hand/handle/torch head.
When you learn, take every advantage of setup, position, posture, and make things as easy as possible so you can focus on the welding aspects. Plenty of time to get creative later once you've mastered the arc. And, Cold Rolled steel is much cheaper than pickled and welds for practice much better than hot rolled.
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