Welding Sheet Metal With Stick Welder

While sheet metal is primarily a tig welding job there are times when it s handy to have an available mig welder to fuse sheet metal.

Welding sheet metal with stick welder.

Main things to know before you start tacking sheet metal. So if you think you re alone don t worry you re not. It is an arc welding process that where you feed a solid wire electrode through a. It s one of the highest quality machines available and comes incredibly low priced.

We need to establish what is considered thin metal. Mig is one of the best ways to weld 20 gauge sheet metal. Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal. To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity.

Mig welding for thin metal. Sheet metal has usage in sectors like making automobiles airplane wings and fuselages roofing and medicinal tables. When welding sheet metal the main thing to look out is to prevent warping and burn through. Tig welding sheet metal.

Porosity is almost inevitable and is affected mainly by the thickness of the zinc coating. It requires a lot of experience patience and skill to get the desired results. A wire feed or tig welder is ideal for sheet metal but we will assume that you don t have one. Even professional welders can create excessive heat affected zones and burn through while welding sheet metal.

Even professionals do it at times. Many people think that shielded metal arc welding smaw or stick welding gets its name because the electrode s shape is like a stick. Just kidding this tip is to explain how to weld sheet metal with a stick welder. The majority of the sheet metal welding i ve done was with a 90 amp 110 volt welder.

Manufacturers of filler metal have come up with special wires that promise to eliminate porosity. Mig welding is the preferred method for most automotive bodywork and since sheet metal is the thinnest of metals a large expensive mig unit is usually not required. Although the weld burns off the zinc very little if any corrosion resistance is lost especially in thin section sheet metal. But it is called stick welding as many beginners stick the welding rod to the base metal as a learner.

The hobart handler 140 mig is the best affordable mig welder for sheet metal.