How To Tig Weld Thin Sheet Metal

Auto body sheet metal welding with different welders.

How to tig weld thin sheet metal.

Forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one. There are no unique or galvanized steel specific tools or materials that you need. Select your welding rod based on the size of the metal. The backing bar is used commonly by welders to cool the welded metals and they are generally made up of a copper or aluminum metal and clamped to the base of the weld piece whether it is just a piece of thin sheet metal or a body panel you can use it either way.

Are you planning to do weld auto body sheet metal or any thin metal welding with mig welder or tig welder you should keep in mind some critical things to avoid creating any unwanted situations and we have decided to incorporate them in right here. When you re welding body panels you can either mig weld or tig weld. Carbon steel and 18 ga. For welding sheet metal in aerospace applications use a 15 cup 15.

I was hoping to manage a butt weld too but the metal was far too thin for mig and i just blew holes. Mig welding is the easiest process to learn that has revolutionized autobody repair. Use a 6013 7018 6011 or 6010 welding rod. Sheet metal is only thin.

You can use a welding rod of any size as long as it works with your welder. Using this process enables more than effective work on thin materials as it provides high precision and high quality work. It produces good quality results and is usually the preferred method for autobody repair unless you re a very experienced welder. Tig welding sheet metal.

But using this method also requires some practice and practice advice in order to understand it. Keep in mind that a bigger rod is going to weld a larger area than a smaller rod. In thin applications shielding gas on the backside of the weld reduces heat input. Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal.

To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity. Tig welding is the way forward for metal under 0 6mm and a mig welder with decent power and wire control is needed for anything less than 0 8mm. Gas metal arc welding gmaw is an effective method for joining light gauge metals such as carbon steel and austenitic stainless steel. Typically call for a size 7 tig cup.