I picked up some 22 gauge "sheet metal" at Lowes with the intention of using it for some interior fender well patching. Took some samples along to class to see how they would MIG weld. Short answer was not worth a crap using stainless .025 wire. Tried the stainless wire as that is what the finish resembles. The stuff is magnetic, which I didn't think stainless was. So now I have the patch panel nicely made and am thinking I have to start over. Anybody tried to work with this material? Anyone know what it is?
I used a sheet from Lowes or Home Depot to fabricate a trans tunnel in a friends channelled '51 Dodge PU. It was 22ga and was about 2'x2' or so. If it were up to me it would have been thicker, but he said thats all they had. It welded up fine with the MIG and .030 wire. I think it's just cold roll steel.
I`ve worked at Lowe`s for years, during the time I`ve been there, we`ve never sold stainless. Different stores sell different stuff but if it were stainless it would cost a fortune at Lowe`s!
If it's cold rolled steel, it might have an invisible layer of oil on it from the rolling process, so I'd grind all the areas where you want to weld and try that. I personally use sheetmetal from other cars to do all my patching. I just got done cutting up an NOS '75 LTD passenger side front door skin to make rocker panel/lower rear quarter repair panels for my '55 Dodge. Not like anyone was ever going to use a '75 LTD door skin. Hoods from mild wrecks and door/roof skins work out good too, nice clean sheet, just grind the paint off.
I have saw some metal that was real light Galvcoated[not from LOWES] like the late model car body metal is done. It kind of makes welding rough. You should grind it before the welding.
I certainly wouldn't expect that any 22 gauge "sheet metal" purchased from Lowe's would be stainless steel, I'd suspect that most of your problem comes from trying to use the stainless steel wire to weld mild steel, easiest thing to try now is just switch over to some conventional mild steel mig-wire.
I have used Lowes metal for last minute fix many times and had no problems. It should be mild steel, it is where i am. I get the 16 gauge for most projects...but i have good welding equipment and pedro hammers to pound out that thick of steel. Grind it, clean it, check your wire to be for mild steel and giver her another shot. Mike T
Thanks for the replys. It's definitely not galvanized and you're right in that for the $ it couldn't be stainless. Being a rookie at this let me be easily convinced that it was stainless. So that pretty much leaves the oil which makes sense in that it would be able to be on the shelf for a while without any surface rust. The 22 gauge is pretty light but is the same gauge as the inner fender well which gets alot of it's strength by shape. It's probably the lightest metal anywhere on the car. Using 16 gauge is probably the better option.
Not to change the subject but Galvanized does not make poisonous gas. It has been discussed on here before and a google search will bring up tons of info on it. JUst didn't wanna see a common myth perpetuated. I thought the same time till it was discussed on here.
Bobert, 16 ga. is WAY too thick for body sheet metal. Maybe for floors, or firewalls. Use 18 or 19 ga on older cars (pre-54) and 20 ga. for 55 up. Easier to bend and form, and closer to the exact size of the OEM metal. You can mismatch sizes to a small degree, but welding them together is a bit more difficult.
Uhhhh... bullshit... welding galvanised steel releases zinc oxide particles are. These can cause zinc ague, also known as fume fever. Yeah it's dangerous. http://www.iza.com/zwo_org/Applications/Continuous_Galv/030609.htm
Good point. Probably started there and got to 22 after 56 years of rust and subsequent attack by wire wheel! Back to the drawing board since the fab'd piece needs to come off anyway for grinding and might as well use something thicker at that point. Oh well, the pattern is done.
A friend once told me that there are some stainless alloys that are magnetic but they are used to make kitchen knifes.(spelling ?)
it's coated with something (oil, paint....) i've had to get some bar from home depot as a last ditch and you have to grind it before you weld (not stainless).
I am not sure I read your firt post right. You are trying to weld steel with stainless wire? The stuff at Lowes is just plain ol cold rolled. Nothing different about it, except the price.
You need to use 18 guage steel. You need to use steel .23 wire on a low setting for good results welding it. Dont use stainless wire! You should clean the edge your going to weld to regardless... I bought several sheets of 18 guage 4x8 sheets for 35 bucks each. If you can go to a big steel supplier in your area it'll save you money and time screwing around with mystery metal... Tuck
like Zman said, bullshit! it's nasty shit that can make you very ill! there may be a few guys who claimed they drank a glass of milk and were ok afterwards, but take it from someone who is feeling his age waaay too soon, zinc from galvanizing is one of the last things you want to be inhaling. right up there with urethane paint fumes! bobert, do what tuck said, find a real steel supplier and be amazed at how much "real" metal you can get for similar money.
Exactly, galv is bad shit. I had the fume vomits once at work about a decade ago. A breeze kicked up though one of the bay doors and wafted it up under my hood. They got me some milk, and I did get the metal/chemical taste out of my mouth which made me stop puking. Was fine after that.
A good friend of mine was gas welding floor panels into his rough 55 Nomad back around 1975 using Galvanized sheet. He figured it would be better for corrosion and didn't realize the danger. Damn near killed him. He spent a couple of days in hospital. The 55 project was dropped and pushed into a truck box beside his garage as a potential parts car. He went to the US and bought a mint 56 Nomad. The engineless 55 shell is still in the truck box covered in junk and parts.
Just came across this on a 4x4 website... http://www.anvilfire.com/iForge/tutor/safety3/index.htm figured I'd add it to this thread.
your friend is right. theres so many stainless types out there it will make your head spin. some are magnetic some arent. that being said, it seems to me the higher numerically the grade the more ferrous it acts, from what ive seen anyways. a 300 series stainless hardly sticks to a magnet at all where a 400 series will, but your flakey alloys dont stick at all...i.e. hastelloy, inconel, zircalloy, waspalloy, and the old time favorite stellite.
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