Can I TIG weld copper to 6061 aluminum?

[Kustomizer]

I was hanging a gate out front of the shop one day and a Ford pickup came screaming in the driveway, guy jumped out and set something on the table near me saying the guys in town said you can fix this and left. I finished my concrete and went in the shop for lunch and after I waas out putting the gate Kinda back so the goats wouldn't escape when he came screaming back, hopped out and said "I thought this would be fixed by now" I picked it up off the table and tossed it in the river and told him I didn't know who hw thought he was but to get the "F" off my place and don't come back. I prefer not to have walk in traffic

 

[Spruewell]

I’ll bet the guy would have complained about the bill too. “Whaduya mean $300? I could have bought two new ones for that!”

 

[Kustomizer]

We never got that

 

[AJ H]

I have never ever had a walk in turn into anything worth a fuck

 

[alphonso]

Started my business when local NAPA store convinced me to buy his automotive machine shop. I quit my machine shop job and was able to sub work from them along with the engine work.

Some nine months after opening, had a walk in from a newly opened rubber molding facility. That has turned into a 45 year on-going relationship making molds and stuff that get rubber molded to it. Even repaired a few presses over the years.

About two years in, a food manufacturing plant opened locally. Walk in with a little repair job. Still making/repairing stuff for them. Daily. As long as people buy tacos, I will have lots of work.

About 35 years ago, a former employee sent his boss to me to see if I could help them out. Manufacture copies of Twin Disc industrial clutches. Still doing stuff for them. Number two cash flow customer.

So, yeah, some walk ins have been alright.

 

[Garwood]

90% or more of my income comes from product sales online, but I do repair work for locals. Every bit of it is word of mouth. I have some long time regular logging and farm customers. Lots of drums, keyed shafts, hydraulic cylinder barrels, rods and eyes.

So I don't know if it's still considered a walk in if the person shows up based on a word of mouth recommendation instead of a big sign out front (have none), but I have no complaints about walk ins.

I think I'd be bored to death if I didn't have interesting people show up all the time looking to BS about fixing stuff. I don't know how I'd socialize otherwise lol. I'd have to go to a bar or something.

 

[Spruewell]

You never know when a new customer will become a good business relationship. Or a total nightmare.

 

[Barbter]

I have never ever had a walk in turn into anything worth a fuck

The business park I was on....when I first started, there was another machine shop doing F1 work, a motor rewind company, 2x sign makers, 1x agricultural/hydro company, 2x car mechanics, 2x motorbike shops, a printers, 1x fabricators, and 1x 100 people fabricators which turned into my biggest and longest customer when the owner wanted to get into the machining market making gantry lighting. This was probably 75% of the companies.
At that time is was epic because the whole estate worked on scratch of the back - gentlemens agreements and you do this for me and I'll do this for you.
Over time, it very much changed as companies moved on.
Best walk in was thanks to a salesman who I bought a couple of compressors off - he asked "do you do work for xxx around the road", to which I said I couldn't get past reception.
He said "leave that to me" and the very same afternoon the prod manager walked in and by the end of the week we had our first job - a £35k production job (this was 2005). They turned into one of our best customers until Ametek purchased them and streamlined their products and moved the factory to London, although we still did work for them.
This game is very much not what you know (that helps), but who!

 

[Oldwrench]

No, not by conventional methods. Copper can be TIG welded to steel, stainless, exc but as fas I know off the top of my head the only dissimilar metal aluminum can be welded to is magnesium.

Uhhh....not in the sense of fusion welding, the "welded" pieces will easily break apart. Aluminum is soluble in mag up to 10%, and mag is soluble in aluminum up to 10%—whence the common alloys of the two metals. No more fusion than that.