Welding Old Sheet Metal With A Torch

If you are familiar with torch and or electric welding that may help you to learn sheetmetal welding.

Welding old sheet metal with a torch.

To prevent burn through and warping don t whip or weave the torch. The more time the arc is in an area the hotter it. Weld and cut in one kit with this torch from eastwood that s made in the u. Typical aluminum alloys for sheet fabrication are 3003 and 5052.

So if you have an 1 8th inch sheet and it s heated up you re going to have a lot more heat and with a lot more heat you get a lot more distortion. I have purchased a small mig welder and am using 023 60 mm wire with 75 25 argon co2. I have practiced stitch butt welding 22 gauge and am improving but still need more practice to keep from burning holes. Learn the tricks to gas welding aluminum sheet metal with mike from cobra torches.

Problems with welding sheet metal. Techniques for welding sheet metal. But aside from the fact that all of these forms of welding involve carrying a puddle of molten metal down a seam and fusing it to the metal on either side of the seam there is no automatic transfer of skills from heavy section welding to. Welding sheet metal is something new for me.

Move the torch faster and or reduce the amp setting of the welder and the lower the wire speed. Using a thinner wire 0 30 instead of 0 35 will also help. Filler metals for either of these would be 4043 or 4943. The es60 6 that most folks use is better for slightly corroded base metal as the electrode has more silicon and tends to produce a harder less ductile weld zone.

But the problem with mig welding sheet metal is that you are pushing a lot of wire through your nozzle and there is a lot of heat. If you are burning through the metal you re not moving the torch fast enough and or your welder is set too high. A 5356 filler metal also works for 5052 materials specifically. Early metalworkers found that if two pieces of metal were heated until they glowed red they could be hammered together creating a strong joint.

Mig welder can name their sheet metal welds more ductile by swapping to dash 2 rolls of electrode.