How To Mig Weld Sheet Metal Without Warping

When butt welding chamfer both sides of the join but keep the included angle less than 60 and make the gap between the sheets as small as possible.

How to mig weld sheet metal without warping.

Never go for a thinner base metal for the auto body sheet welding to get the best result out of it. When welding thin metal the main objective is to avoid warping burn through and excessive heat affected zones while still ensuring the weld has enough mechanical strength for the application. The main reason to use a smaller diameter wire is that it takes less heat for melting and hence the metal around the weld is not heated to a very great extent. How to prep panels to achieve the perfect butt weld using eastwood s perfect panel prep tool.

For mig welding sheet metal it is often recommended to use an electrode wire of the smallest diameter to prevent burn through and warping. This relaxes the metal and flattens the weld which in the end allows you to control the warpage in the panel. By putting the metal between a dolly and a swinging hammer you are slowly stretching the metal out by striking on it each time think of kneading pizza dough. This is especially helpful if you re welding in an area that is very critical and could lead to oil canning.

Then tack between the two previous tacks. Though weld shrinkage cannot be prevented it can be controlled by following these steps. Place the welding tip wire at the gap and tack weld several small spots spacing them evenly apart. Minimize the amount of heat put into the weld.

Avoid warping the sheet metal. Intermittent rather than continuous welds help as does minimizing the amount of filler metal used. Learn why mig pulsed mig tig and pulsed tig are the ideal choices when welding sheet metal. It is better to use instead of a high percentage of co2.

Design and welding should be addressed to minimize this sort of warping. Short circuit transfer mig short arc tig and pulsed tig welding processes provide the most control over the heat to address these challenges. The bigger the weld the greater the shrinkage. Tack in a few places apart from each other and wait until the panel is cool to the touch.

Correctly sizing a weld not only minimizes distortion but also saves weld metal and time. Use intermittent welds instead of continuous welds where possible to minimize the amount of weld metal. When starting to learn auto body sheet metal welding with a mig welder you should opt for a shielding gas that has a higher proportion of argon gas. While replacing body panels overheating and warping thin sheet metal is common.