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Welding thin sheet metal

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kev

02-28-2001 19:13:57




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What is the right amps to use on autobody panals.




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Bill

03-10-2001 16:24:42




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 Re: welding thin sheet metal in reply to kev, 02-28-2001 19:13:57  
Tractors are my first love. Trouble is as I get older my back & the heavy iron are not compatable. Tried restoring a 55 Ford F100 Panel truck. Mig welding is new to me. Did find one thing that made a ton of difference. They are making BRONZE mig wire. Kinda like old fashioned brazing without the heat warp.( sorry, no flux core ) Less heat, uses regular gas. The other nice thing is my hi-speed 4 inch grinder when equipt with a wire wheel knocks the bronze down nicely & polishes the tin around it with no appreciable loss to the tin. I LOVE THE STUFF.

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more info

03-01-2001 07:27:59




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 Re: welding thin sheet metal in reply to kev, 02-28-2001 19:13:57  
The welds are butt joints and some spot welds, I will be using a MIG with .030 mild steel wire. Its repair panals.



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T_Bone

03-02-2001 19:04:04




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 Re: Re: welding thin sheet metal in reply to more info, 03-01-2001 07:27:59  
Hi Kev, Since your going to be tacking alot, a good hint is to turn the amps up maybe 30amps or so for tacking. The tacks will be smaller and more flat and no cold lap. If you weld more than a 1/8" or so you'll burn a hole so just squirt the tacks in. Practice on a piece of scrap the same gauge before you start.

On butt joints, if you leave a gap between the two pieces 1/2 the tickness of the wire, when you weld the joint it will be flat and finish flat but will also penetrate close to 100%. If you butt the two base pieces tight together then weld, the base metal pieces will be v'd to the weld side and won't finish flat. If you do not want weld metal on the inside use a copper chill bar on the backside.

As Steve pointed out .030 is a tad large and you would be happier with .023 or weld very fast with .030. You can also get 10lb spools of .023 for about $20.

T_Bone

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Steve U.S. Alloys

03-01-2001 14:38:10




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 Re: Re: welding thin sheet metal in reply to more info, 03-01-2001 07:27:59  
Most body shops use .023 wire. The amperage setting will need to be determined empirically as no two machines run quite the same. To prevent warpage or to weld next to heat sensitive parts such as rubber windshield gaskets a heat fence works very well.



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T_Bone

02-28-2001 21:23:29




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 Re: welding thin sheet metal in reply to kev, 02-28-2001 19:13:57  
Hi Kev, That depends on electrode size and process. New pannels or repair? Butt joint or standing edge? Give us a little more details on what you have to work with.

T_Bone



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Know it almost all

02-28-2001 21:03:33




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 Re: welding thin sheet metal in reply to kev, 02-28-2001 19:13:57  
What kind of welder are you using? The prefered method for autobody work is MIG. Trying to do it with a stick welder can really raise the old blood pressure. If you use a stick machine, get the smallest diameter rods possible, and run the lowest amps possible. Just zap a little spot, then move away a few inches and repeat. If your really good, I hear it can be done. I've always burned through though. Even when using a mig its a good idea to skip around and not keep running a bead in one place. Minimizes heat distortion and the chance of burn through.

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