Check out this guys work. WOW

[Yoshi]

Paint thinner contaminates the weld. You'll regret doing that on aluminum.

The steel tubes I buy have an oil film on them, we wipe down the 20 foot sticks with thinner before we cut them.  I don't wipe down anything else like tabs, gussets, or brackets, just grind and weld. The thinner is only for grease or oil removal....

[Boostinjdm]

I like windex to wipe down tubes, clean helmet, put yourself out, etc.

[fabr]

LOL!!!!!

[fabr]

Denatured alky is great and leaves no residue.

[Yoshi]

I buy it in the 5 gallon barrels from my paint supplier, and it's made for cleaning paint guns, and actually called cleanup thinner, so I don't know if it's different than your basic paint thinner.  What I buy isn't used to thin paint....

[magnum4598]

ive tried diffrent things what i like best comes in a spray can or a quart squirt can its a wax and grease remover it does a good job has a low flame over point i am a body man so we keep it in the shop
i have sprayed it on panels to remove stickers and tried to light it with a sig lighter
and its difficult to get it to light it burns but not easily
so to me its safer if you get it on your hands youl see how much it removes oil it also stays wet on a rag longer  so it lasts longer i use acetone on alum in a pray bottle  and those welds look awsome i noticed he said they were def mig yosh didnt you say pulse mig would make a tig like weld
i used to have a lincoln with the pulse feature and i never got the hang of that thing lol
i guess some things need to be tought

[Engineer]

I buy it in the 5 gallon barrels from my paint supplier, and it's made for cleaning paint guns, and actually called cleanup thinner, so I don't know if it's different than your basic paint thinner.  What I buy isn't used to thin paint....

I use the same stuff to clean up and wipe down everything.  It evaporates with no residue and works great.  I point out where it says "fast evaporating" on the can to peps who leave the lid off. 

It's also called laquer thinner.  Definately not paint thinner which is the same as mineral spirits, and is used to thin certain paints, and leaves a very oily residue if you wipe down with it.  (it's fine if you follow up with compatible paint).

[fabr]

It's not laquer thinner magnum is  talking about.Laquer thinner is VERY combustible.

[Yoshi]

yosh didnt you say pulse mig would make a tig like weld

you can get the dime look by spot welding, but I don't recommend it as it's basically a bunch of cold welds.  I have another way I do mine that lays down really nice for a mig...

[Yoshi]

It's not laquer thinner magnum is  talking about.Laquer thinner is VERY combustible.

so are farts, but there's plenty of them here at my shop too......

[Whiplash]

I agree, I was taught by a certified aerospace welder, and if you do it right mig looks VERY similar to TIG and you DON'T want to use the "stitching" method of stop and start, it contaminates the weld when the shielding gas starts and stops. I am ok at it but you basically, hold, feed then hold again all along the weld to get the roll of quarters look, if you do it right, you get a perfect TIG apperance, just a little fatter and STRONG AS HELL!! I will try to find a pic of it, I usually cheat on my own stuff...LOL!

[fabr]

There was something in the thread that made me sit up and say WHAT to tho. He (Ztfab)said he cleaned the tubes after bending ,as we all do, and then said he scotchbrited or something the birdmouthed tubes but not the intersecting tube.  I have to admit that I never scotchbrite/sand/grind moly tube before welding. It seems like others are fanatical about it.Seriously I've never had a weld break,not that there isn't a first time waiting for me, but I just don't see the importance of it.

Try if sometime, you'll like it. Welds come out much more consistant and cleaner. Some people even like to wipe down with accetone post sand, pre weld.

The pics show no difference in the weld appearance between a both sides sanded prep and only one side sanded with mill condition on the other. Soooo how important can the sanding really be? I'm not talking about anything other than moly. Not mild or hot rolled or anything else-just moly.
 IMO some people just are too anal.

[Reidy02]

this is some of mine done with a mig.

[Whiplash]

Here is some of mine with the procedure I spoke of earlier.

[Yoshi]

Here is some of mine with the procedure I spoke of earlier.

Doesn't look like you have enough heat on the main body, the blue glow barely extends past the weld in some places, the tack weld has a better heat radius.  Is the body thicker than the gusset you welded?