Welding Sheet Metal

To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity.

Welding sheet metal.

Hold the grinder so the face is perfectly flat on the surface of the metal to make it as smooth as possible. The real trick to weld sheet metal is to use a wire feed. Spot welding is usually used to join a panel of overlapping sheet metal parts that are usually 3mm thick. Lap welds because they cannot flex like the sheet metal around them will eventually show visible creases.

Just kidding this tip is to explain how to weld sheet metal with a stick welder. Mig welding uses electricity through a ground clamp and the welding wire to complete a circuit and generate heat. Make sure to use an electrode wire that is thinner as it uses lesser heat and prevents blowing holes on to the sheet metal. A coat of paint.

I keep it short and to the point in this welding instructional video and show how ve. Try welding with a scrap sheet metal piece and practice many times until you start working on more important projects. Try going for a wire of 023 inches when welding sheet metal. Learn how to mig weld automotive sheet metal in about 5 minutes or less.

This drops the voltage and heat of the weld arc and causes the welds to sit proud no penetration on top of the metal. That s it if you ve made it this far then you ll have successfully learned how to weld sheet metal on a car and you ve repaired your rusty body panel. Forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one. Tig welding sheet metal.

The best way to weld sheet metal panels together is by butt welding which is joining them side by side see picture below. Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal. The ration of thickness should not exceed 3 1mm. Butt welded panels withstand stress better than any other type of weld joint.

Use a grinder to remove any slag and excess filler metal. Keep the stick out short stickout of your mig wire is important when welding any type of metal but especially sheet metal. Its primary usage is in welding auto body and sheet metal. The wire melts into the base metal providing the heat and some filler material as the wire melts.

A wire feed or tig welder is ideal for sheet metal but we will assume that you don t have one. This means the extra wire causes the voltage to drop by the time it actually gets to the surface and strikes an arc. Holding the tip too far from the surface will cause the wire to have to come out too far to touch the metal. Thus spot welding diameters go from 3mm to 12 5mm.