I have a question that fits right in with this thread. On my T roadster body, the whole bottom edge of the body was replaced with new metal and gas welded. The previous owner had it done. An excellent job was done for the most part. Except for the passenger side door. The new metal is done nicely as is the weld, but there is a relatively deep groove inwards along the length of the patch where the weld is (bottom 4" of the door) I can see having to separate the door from its inner panel to get access to it, but once I do that how do I work the weld seam back to where its flat again ? The outer skin is flat I mean of course ! All the other work was done very well. Larry.
Just wondering at what pressure do you set your gauges for A/O welding 18g panels ? I,m using a Harris set I've had for 40yrs.
You guys that are using the Henrob torches, What size tip are you using? I've tried the "0" and the "1" and get mixed results. I see they advertise a ".5".
tig and mig, i use alot of tig with silcon bronze,flows like butter,and i jump around.wet rag to help keep it kool....put roof in my 29 this way, it is off dodge caravan.
Good Question, perhaps someone who uses a .5 will respond. I use a Dillon I've had for nearly 30 years. The biggest problem is maintaining constant gas pressures at the low pressures required. Time, temperature,and even atmospherics tend to modify flame consistancy. I should probably spend good money and replace my 60y/o regulators. Instead I find a setting that works and don't touch them till I change a bottle.(months or even a year, the're pretty economical) If the steel is clean and real close the 0 is nice. If the gaps a bit wider and your using filler wire or blowing holes trying to get penetration I use the 1 and then grind down the biggest "dags" and go back over the bead both sides to flow/even it out. Not textbook perhaps, but effective.
I have been practicing tig welding and I thought I was getting pretty decent at it. All of the panels I have welded up has been new metal. I'm not the greatest at it but I have had some decent results. Yesterday I welded in a patch panel and I did a terrible job. When I was welding it up there were Sparks at the tip of the tungsten and it wasn't the clean fine point that I was use to. I cleaned it up on the front side and back side. I also wiped down the metal with lacquer thinner before welding. I have never did that before and am not sure if that is what caused it. It's going to hold but it was just a sloppy job. I welded up a new fender well just before the patch panel and it came out incredibly good. So I'm not sure what went wrong. This is hard to put into words but I just don't get where I went wrong and I want to solve it. Any suggestions?
It was on and that is what I thought and added a little more pressure. On the backside there was a little rust in the pours would that cause it? Because some areas welded up good and some welded up like crap. Pissed me off truthfully. Here it is
Just a tip but those little panel clamps sold by HF and others that clamp the panels together with a 1/16" gap are hard to use. I take several of the magnetic "arrow head" shaped magnets that you use to hold parts in place for welding, and place them across the seam to hold the panels in alignment. After a few tacks I move them to the next place and tack some more. The real trick with MIG is patience and keep the area cool.
Clean Weld Join! Pre-Heat! Relaxed Panel! Back-Gas (Purge). Gap to material thickness. Cleco or rivet to help hold joints tight.
I ve read this thread about 4 times . Really interesting and useful . I have a MIG . Why ? Because I had nothing to weld with , and a Mig was a good compromise between arc welder and cars body . My Mig is a Miller 211 MVP ( quite a good thing , it just takes a big hammer to plug a 110 volt plug in a 220 ) . I also have gas , and as a newby , most of the things I weld is scrap Not really scrap , but could be better . Everyone seams to agree that a perfect fitting is important . So .... What do you cut sheet metal with ? I have a cheap air tool from CIF . It worked about for 10 feets . Canadian Tire , and quite no replacements parts . Grinder makes heat and the metal is warped . Hand tools are not accurate and worse than the grinder .
I use mig for meatball stuff and for tacking (+1 on the Esab easy-grind wire, makes good tig filler too), anything involving an outer skin I prefer to tig. As many others have said; align, tack, knock the tacks down, weld short sections, hammer on dolly to minimize shrinkage, bump/ file/ pick/ floater disc to shape panel after the welding is completed. I like butt joints as tight as I can get them, have never used panel clamps. I sometimes use a small scrap of sheet metal with a hole in it on a Cleco or skin pin, if necessary add another sheet metal scrap on the back side to keep the panels in line till they're tacked, plug the Cleco hole after welding. Hopefully the attached pics show this more clearly than my description.
Hand tools are only has accurate as the hand driving them. Layer the patch and the body work, scribe the cut line, cut close with snips/whatever, file to fit with various hand files. Patience.
With enough practice you'll be able to split the scribe line with your snips and not worry about the file
A question a little off topic. I have a 300 amp Lincoln welder. I know where I can get a wire feed set up. They consist of spool drives and guns. They are from a manufacturing outfit and are of several different makes. Is this a way to go or would a stand alone mig welder be the way to go. Thanks _Norm
One of my machines is an all-in-one power supply (Lincoln IdealArc) with an add-on wire feeder (Lincoln LN-7). It welds very well, and has been doing so for about 15 or 20 years now. If they aren't just totally ragged out, a surplus power supply and add-on wire feed should serve you well. There is nothing wrong with going the add-on wire feed route.
Yes, it was the rust. Oxidation. It makes little volcanos and air bubbles out the top. About all i've been able to do with it is to cram wire into that pocket and hope to dislodge the contaminant (i do this especially with aluminum). Working on old rusted tin where you can't grind off and remove all the rust is a problem area with tig. I used to stop and regrind my weld only to have it reoccur and like i say i very quickly stick my rod into the pool and sometime the flake of trash will get dislodged and rise to the top. It'll look like a little piece of glass stuck to the top of the weld bead.
Bring back and "oldie but a goldie". My MIG work is acceptable however this brittle weld issue has got me thinking. Would heating up the MIG weld with O/A make the weld more maleable (sp)? I know more equipment/time/redundant but until I get better with my Henrob outfit would this be useful?
Before, probably not; however, annealing it after with the torch, after the weld would make it more workable.
It will help the weld material be softer, yes, but the heat required to do this is going to warp your panel all to hell in the process. You will almost have to hot planish the weld bead after you've heated it to stretch the shrink you just made and get the panel back into alignment again. On the up side, the softer weld won't want to crack as bad while you're doing it.