How To Weld Sheet Metal With A Arc Welder

While wire feed welding sheet metal go for short bursts of welding instead of a going on a long bead.

How to weld sheet metal with a arc welder.

Mig or metal inert gas welding aka gas metal arc welding or gmaw also uses a gas shield and filler material however in this case the filler is a wire fed directly through the welder. Short bursts or tacks will help. That makes this a one handed process. Try going for a wire of 023 inches when welding sheet metal.

Now you know the secret of arc welding thin metal sheets. Arc welding is a versatile method that uses alternating currents to create a high heat arc that melts your flux. How to weld thin gauge steel similar to car body panel down to 8mm or 1 32 of an inch thick with arc or stick welder. The heat produced by the short circuit along with a non reactive hence inert gas locally melts the metal and allows them to mix together.

For sheet metal i use ine welding wire and it is just as good as their flux cored wire if you want you can grab one here. Forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one. Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal. Tig welding sheet metal.

This adds two operations. To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity. Every surgeon can operate a scalpel but only a few could work with any tool. So you can keep the other hand free for manipulating your materials and other tools.

There is occasionally splatter from the spread of the arc. It is recommended that a welder should use 023 or 024 inch wire for light gauge sheet metal work. Disclaimer due to factors beyond the. Just kidding this tip is to explain how to weld sheet metal with a stick welder.

Yes arc welding sheet metal is difficult tedious and probably a bit insane but it is feasible. If you are new to welding and only have room. I would compare it to performing plastic surgery with butcher knives. Mig welding uses an arc of electricity to create a short circuit between a continuously fed anode the wire fed welding gun and a cathode the metal being welded.

As a rule when mig welding sheet metal never use a body filler metal that is thicker than the base metal. If you can work outside when using an arc welder. The real trick to weld sheet metal is to use a wire feed. Any arc welding process general recommendations the best way to weld galvanized steel regardless of welding process is to remove the zinc coating from the joint.

A standard arc welder is undoubtedly the best way to weld galvanized steel.