Thanks for the reply. I have a Henrob I haven't used and have it up for sale. I know it is pretty good for aluminum, but too heavy for my taste too. I am getting a Meco Midget Torch. I just joined a metal shapers group and went to a 'convention' held at Jim Hery's home. He's a master craftsman who can build an entire Bugatti from flat sheets. A friend of mine has been doing loads of aluminum for over 40 years and uses Bert Weld lenses, made in WWII and no longer available. TM Technologies 'copied' the Bert weld lenses and they are about 90% as good. They cost around $275. I tried the Bert's next to the TM's and the Bert's were 100% perfect and the TM's were about90%. They are a little darker. You can't really hammer the TIG weld on aluminum as well as you can the oxy. My friend uses hydrogen, 1 to1 1/2 lbs, same with oxy. It's going to be a while before I get to the hammering as I'm finishing up the restoration of my '37 LaSalle, and then have to do one violin sculpture. But hope to learn a lot in the meantime.I forgot to check the gauge. I used a thick towel between the shot bag and the steel piece because I did not want to cut the leather on the shot bag. I also used an English wheel on the rear hump on the tank as you can see from the shine.
I TIG weld mostly. I have a Henrob, which is a low-pressure welding setup. It works well for acetylene welding aluminum, but the torch is a little heavy for my taste. TIG is a bit more comfortable.
I mounted foam on the UFM and held the tank on with a strap. I anticipated making an aluminum tank but scrapped the idea of a full-size tank because the system was too heavy for racing, mostly because the tank held too much fuel.
David