- 1). Spray the tin Coke can with acetone and wipe it clean with a rag. Rinse the can off with clean water. Brush the area you anticipate welding with the stainless steel brush. Put the Coke can or cans in the oven and preheat it to between 275 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 2). Remove the can from the oven with clamps and put it in a vice in the heat sink. If you are welding two cans together, fit them together as closely as possible in the vice without crushing or disfiguring them. For short periods of time, you can handle the preheated cans with you welding gloves.
- 3). Put on your jacket, apron, gloves and helmet. Put a 1/16-inch aluminum welding rod in the welding clamp. Turn the setting on the welder to 50 amps. Set the argon flow to between 15 to 20 CFH. Turn on the welder. Hold the rod 1 inch above the area you want to weld. Pull down your mask and touch the rod to the aluminum.
- 4). Look directly behind the welding spark. Make small horse shoe patters as you advance the welding rod over the aluminum can. Weld a bead several inches long, stop, lift your mask and check your work. Brush the bead. If the bead flakes off, you need a larger rod to allow you to turn up the amperage, 3/32-inch for between 60 and 130 amps and 1/8-inch for between 100 and 180 amps. If the rod melted a hole in the can, reduce the amps to 30 amps and try again. Test your welder until you find the right setting with the right rod.
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