MIG is only good for mig WELDING.
MMA (stick) is only good for stick WELDING.
OXY- ACETYLENE is good for WELDING, BRAZING,CUTTING,ANEALING,HEATING UP SIEZED NUTS & BOLTS, and loads of other uses around the workshop.
To aneal aluminium, use a large size tip and a soft flame (IE neutral flame, equal amounts of both gases), take a small piece of soft pine, a match will do, heat up the item but keep the flame moving IE. do not concentrate on any one area for too long, keep checking the temperature with the match (not the red end
) at first the match will leave no mark but as the heat builds up it will leave a light brown streak, as the job gets hotter the match will leave a dark brown streak and act as though you were writing on it with a felt tip pen,it has now reached anealing temp.
Take away the heat and allow to cool or quench in water (yes ,quench in water) and your item (usually head gaskets) is anealed.
For copper gaskets , just heat to a dull red and allow to cool, personaly I quench them in water as it cleans off the oxide/scale.
Aluminium can be welded with oxy-acet, but it is quite messy compared to TIG, as any flux left behind needs to be washed well off as it is quite acidic.
I get quite a few people asking me why they can't weld aluminium with their TIG set that they have just invested in, usually it's a case of wrong type, it must be an AC/DC TIG set.
Most TIG sets are DC only.
Set machine to AC
Switch on high frequency to CONTINUOUS mode
Most important is to clean off all oxide (even on almost new ally) as the oxide has approx. 3 times the melting temp of the oxide, so by the time you melt the oxide, the aluminium inside has already boiled,dropped out the bottom, and produced a mess on your workshop floor.
Hope this helps.
