Spot Welding Thin Sheet Metal

Gas metal arc welding gmaw is an effective method for joining light gauge metals such as carbon steel and austenitic stainless steel.

Spot welding thin sheet metal.

Its primary usage is in welding auto body and sheet metal. Forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one. Just grab a piece of sheet metal to get the heat set correctly and go to town. When it comes to welding thin sheet metal like car body panels if you are not experienced and skilled enough then you can easily create a mess as blow holes in the sheet and make the metal useless.

Everyone is different but those settings will get you in the right ballpark to weld sheet metal. Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal. Carbon steel and 18 ga. Keep in mind that a bigger rod is going to weld a larger area than a smaller rod.

This is because the strength of the joints depends on the number and size of the weld. Select your welding rod based on the size of the metal. Avoid warping the sheet metal. To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity.

Stainless steel are used in applications such as hvac automotive mobile machinery guards and cabs and small parts as well as stainless steel food service and processing. Learn how to mig weld automotive sheet metal in about 5 minutes or less. Tig welding sheet metal. I keep it short and to the point in this welding instructional video and show how ve.

Some bodymen prefer to pause after each short weld bead then hammer the weld if you can get a dolly behind the patch to help relax the panel back to its natural shape. Do not try to run a bead from one end to the other. In this article we are taking a look at how people should go about welding sheet meta l what kind of wire and shielding gas need to be used. Spot welding is usually used to join a panel of overlapping sheet metal parts that are usually 3mm thick.

While replacing body panels overheating and warping thin sheet metal is common. The ration of thickness should not exceed 3 1mm. For 3 32 7018 s it s about the same. There are no unique or galvanized steel specific tools or materials that you need.

Use a 6013 7018 6011 or 6010 welding rod.