Gas gives a nice flat weld whereas TIG tends to have more bulk but heat flows through aluminium at such a rate that, in my experience at least, there’s nothing to choose between the state of the metal whether you use gas or TIG. I started on gas and now use TIG exclusively.
You still have a large area of material very close to meting point as you go and it normalizes in the same way when you take the heat off. If there’s any doubt you can rub some soap on it and heat until the soap turns black to anneal the metal. By far the most important factor with wheeling welded seams is getting the metal back to the original thickness before you begin. If someone can tell me how to post pics on here I’ll pop a few on.

Tig is fine,stuff that has to be formed with hammering or an English wheel will have to really be gas welded…

Not the case at all. We regularly make compound panels with TIG welded seams then wheel them afterwards. Because of the way heat flows through aluminium the heat affected zone is no different whether you use TIG or gas so either process is good for working the panels afterwards.
One thing you do have to be sure of, however, is to dress the welds down to the same thickness as the surrounding metal (that’s easier with a gas weld) or the wheel will stretch the weld more than the surrounding material and you’ll get some very interesting shapes.
If you wheel the parts of your panels then spot-weld them together you can then knock the tops off the spot welds with a die-grinder and wheel the whole panel before fully welding. That way it tends not to lose much shape in the welding process (depending on how thin the material is) thus minimizing the amount of working to be done later.

Welder Wanted

Hi there,

Have a look at http://www.BluebirdProject.com and if you see anything there that you like give us a shout.

Bill

Barra’

We’ve already started in a small way by converting a pallet of crumbs into a perfectly useable elevator. It was a test exercise to see what the materials were like and as the BB build progresses there’s less and less bent metal do deal with so it’s useful to keep our hands in with the skills. We’re doing the tail first and then the aft fuselage. After that it’ll likely be a wing or the centre section.
How do I include images here and I’ll have a go at posting a few?

Barra’

Yes, I can be found loitering in one of those shots. That’s the first time I’ve seen the Barra’ laid out like that too. Last time it was partly on display, partly crammed at the back of that hangar and the rest was piled in crates in the yard. As well as the laid out airframe there was a great pile of mangled bits at the other end of the hangar where lots of the more interesting and juicy nuggets were to be found. It’s not that big a job compared to the tin boat so I’m really looking forward to it.

Flypast Orph’s

Hi Guys,

Yes – seen them and had comm’s with the owners but unfortunately they’re Orph 800 engines and not suitable for our application. We have a couple of good 101s but if anyone can find us a 701 we’ll be your new best friend.

Barra

Yes indeed – the plan is to build an original Barra from the substantial crashed remains at the FAAM. Rebuilding crashed material is what we do best so we’ve taken a representative chunk, an elevator, and done some straightening on it. Compared to bits of bent Bluebird that have to fend off water at high speeds, mending bits of Barra is a walk in the park. Someone tell me how to upload pics and I’ll show a couple of bits.

Bill Smith.

(Bluebird Project Leader)

If you need the intro’s made just ask. If it fails we have loads of MDF and die-grinders and polishing mops and such that you’re very welcome to use and I’m sure that, even in the worst case, the plastics guys will let us raid the scrap bin for materials.