How To Spot Weld Sheet Metal

You can than take a drill or a metal punch to make holes in the top layer of the metal.

How to spot weld sheet metal.

Keep the stick out short stickout of your mig wire is important when welding any type of metal but especially sheet metal. Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal. This means the extra wire causes the voltage to drop by the time it actually gets to the surface and strikes an arc. Resistance spot welding is the joining of overlapping pieces of metal by applying pressure and electrical current.

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. Hold the handle of the vice grip pliers and move the metal between the 2 tongs. We need to establish what is considered thin metal. Forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one.

This is because the strength of the joints depends on the number and size of the weld. Try going for a wire of 023 inches when welding sheet metal. A wire feed or tig welder is ideal for sheet metal but we will assume that you don t have one. The real trick to weld sheet metal is to use a wire feed.

These joints created by resistance spot welding form a button or fused nugget resistance spot welds are found typically on flanges staggered in a single row of consecutive welds. The ration of thickness should not exceed 3 1mm. Start by marking out even spacing of where you want your spot or plug welds on the metal. Short bursts or tacks will help.

Insert the metal between the 2 electrode tongs. Use 1 hand to hold the metal so you can use the other to press down the handle. Just kidding this tip is to explain how to weld sheet metal with a stick welder. Spot welding is usually used to join a panel of overlapping sheet metal parts that are usually 3mm thick.

Holding the tip too far from the surface will cause the wire to have to come out too far to touch the metal. Don t forget to mark the panel before disassembling the seam so it all fits back together correctly. Buy the kit here. While wire feed welding sheet metal go for short bursts of welding instead of a going on a long bead.

I like to try and center the weld in the flange or weld seam. This drops the voltage and heat of the weld arc and causes the welds to sit proud no penetration on top of the metal. Tig welding sheet metal. Its primary usage is in welding auto body and sheet metal.