Get on to the welding, bring to pass with all its terms and methods, is a tough job. Most of the time, a newbie has to do a lot more struggle with how and why objects are done. Among them, balling tungsten is well-known. Before start welding, why should ball tungsten? Does average tungsten not come in useful?
For welding purposes, aluminum is known as a trickier metal. Instead of using the aluminum, welders feel rather easy as well as comfortable to work with steel alloys or steel, whereas aluminum takes over temperature for heating up correctly. However, we are going to pick up the aluminum, as the write-up is about how to ball tungsten for aluminum welding.
In general, TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) is picked out to weld aluminum. Moreover, MIG can also be used Once Or Twice by a welder for aluminum welding.
Challenges of Welding Aluminum
A welder often finds tougher for welding aluminum (we've mentioned it earlier) as opposed to alloy steel or regular steel. It needs some unique settings and arrangements as well. The core difference between steel and aluminum lies in "thermal conductivity."
Thermal Conductivity
Compare with most of the metals, aluminum would be the front runner in terms of heat-conducting ability. Even though it makes aluminum useful rather than rests, however, it is less convenient when you are going for welding.
It happens when the cooler parts of the rest keep pulling-out the dead heat far away from the weld pool and then it seems to be weaker as well as less penetrating. To make a fight against the issue, a huge amount of temperature is needed for welding aluminum.

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What is Tungsten and why it is used for Welding?
Tungsten means heavy stone and it is one of the rarest metal. No matter it is rare on not, as the technology is under control, so you can get everything on your hands with ease, like the tungsten. We use it naturally for welding purposes, whereas it consists of the melting burning point among the rest of the pure metals.
It melts at a very high heating range of 6192 F (3,422 °C). And no mistake, it needs to be non-consumable.
There is no chance of burning off while using tungsten, as it stands against the higher temperature with ease. When it comes to weld aluminum, a bit of erosion can be expected, however, tungsten seems to be far better than the rests.
In age-old times, the pieces of pure (raw) tungsten were used. But, nowadays, there are numerous tungsten alloys out there, which has got an approval by the AWS (American Welding Society). These all come with great values than the regular ones.
Want to Know About Tungsten Balling?
Well, if you're going to give your hands on the pure tungsten electrodes, then balling is a big 'NEED.' It refers to create the pointy edges of the tungsten electrodes rounder as well as softer.
What Type Of Tungsten Can Be Considered As Ideal For Using?
There are a couple of types of tungsten for using that are as follows:
•Thoriated
•0.8% Zirconiated
•2% Lanthanated
•Ceriated
•Rare Earth Mix
How to Ball Tungsten for Aluminum Welding
Before giving your hands on the work, our recommendation is to pick-up the safety costumes first and then wear it.
Note: No need to focus on too much for making the best ball, however, assure that it (tungsten) is rounded.
Now, we are providing the step by step guide of how to balls tungsten for aluminum welding:
Step-1: By using a bench grinder, make sure to sharpen the one side of the tungsten electrode to a pin-pointed tip.
Step-2: You have to make sure that you have put the sharpen electrode away for at least 9-10 minutes. Wait until it seems to be cool.
Step-3: Like the previous one, you need to sharpen another edge of the electrode in a good way (Take A Look At step-1).
Step-4: Handpicked the tungsten electrode to place it into a TIG torch.
Step-5: it is necessary to somehow attach the ground of the TIG welder to a conductive work surface. Make sure to place a piece of aluminum on top of it.
Step-6: Give your hands on a measuring tape (or whatever for measuring), put in the sharp tip of the electrode 1/8-inch (approximately) far away from the piece of aluminum. Now, let's activate the welder. Keep going it for 2-4 minutes on average until you observe a ball of 1/3 the diameter on the tip of the electrode.
Step-7: Once again, give the electrode a rest. After a while, you can feel that it has cooled down. From now, you can use it for welding aluminum.
Wrapping Up
Here you have a complete guide of how to ball tungsten for aluminum welding. From now, it will be a piece of cake to complete these types of welding project if you give your hands on this write-up.
Most of the welders do not even recommend pure tungsten. For such reason, you can set the worries aside and pick out a better alternative. However, we've drawn up this article to make the way rather simple and effective for you, so is it even necessary to pick out other alternatives? Not yet we guess!