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Author: Subject: More sheet metal welding practice
nick205

posted on 27/3/14 at 10:40 AM Reply With Quote
More sheet metal welding practice

Another night in the garage last night, practicing welding thin sheet for my 205 resto project. Spent time fiddling with the machine settings and actually found it better going up slightly in power and wire speed to get better stop/start consistency and penetration. I really need to get some 0.6mm and try that as well.








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Davey D

posted on 27/3/14 at 10:54 AM Reply With Quote
Are you also trying to get into Modern Art?
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nick205

posted on 27/3/14 at 01:04 PM Reply With Quote
might give the Tate Modern a call

Was trying different combinations of butt, lap and fillet joints on the bench, in mid air etc to get a feel for welding in different positions.






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T66

posted on 27/3/14 at 06:45 PM Reply With Quote
Ive been welding for years Nick, and at the minute I cannot for the life of me work out why Im creating pigeon sh1te welds at the minute.


Welding thin isnt easy, so well done. Keep practicing. Have a go at thick to thin, you will learn how to keep the arc moving to avoid blowing through, which is useful to know welding thin. You also learn how to stitch it back up once you've blown through it.


Not an expert by any means but really know how to reduce perfectly good pieces of metal to scrap.....



Welding is a never ending conveyor belt of permutations.







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DIY Si

posted on 28/3/14 at 10:02 AM Reply With Quote
One tip I think many overlook when welding thin sheet is to never weld for more than 1" at a time, and let the sheet cool between welds. There's nothing worse that warping the new piece you've spent ages bending and shaping to fit perfectly, only to warp it 10 seconds after you start welding! You needn't worry about cold start with a MIG this way either, as you can start the next weld on the end of the old one.





“Let your plans be dark and as impenetratable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War

My new blog: http://spritecave.blogspot.co.uk/

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Peteff

posted on 28/3/14 at 10:46 AM Reply With Quote
It looks like a bit of zinc coating on the sheet you are using, they put it on to prolong the shelf life and it leaves the white powdery residue. Some people say it will kill you if you keep welding it without a respirator but if you are in a well ventilated area it's no problem. I've not used .6 wire for years I get along fine with the .8 it gives you more time to think about what you are doing and fills gaps better.





yours, Pete

I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.

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nick205

posted on 28/3/14 at 07:04 PM Reply With Quote
More practice this afternoon. Tried grinding off the Zintec costing this time to see if it made a difference. Have to say it was much easier on clean bare metal (as you would expect).

More happy with the results this time although still hit and miss on not enough/too much penetration.

Heading back for another go now.

I've been beeping the area well ventilated and wearing a 3M dust mask under my welding helmet. No ill effects as yet.

Tacked togeher


Rear view after tacking


Stop/Start welded between tacks with cooling time in between




Rear view after welding


[Edited on 28/3/14 by nick205]






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mark chandler

posted on 28/3/14 at 07:42 PM Reply With Quote
Stuck together but does not look that even, if you are welding with your right hand support your wrist with the left hand, this allows a lot more control allowing you to weave left to right and progress more evenly.

You could also try using a figure of 8 weave, again supporting your wrist as this makes a huge difference.

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Peteff

posted on 28/3/14 at 09:53 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
Stuck together but does not look that even, if you are welding with your right hand support your wrist with the left hand, this allows a lot more control allowing you to weave left to right and progress more evenly.

You could also try using a figure of 8 weave, again supporting your wrist as this makes a huge difference.


You don't need to weave on thin metal it's just building up unnecessary weld. If the joint is close enough you should not need to weave it's just wasting wire and adding heat.





yours, Pete

I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.

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nick205

posted on 28/3/14 at 10:38 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
Stuck together but does not look that even, if you are welding with your right hand support your wrist with the left hand, this allows a lot more control allowing you to weave left to right and progress more evenly.

You could also try using a figure of 8 weave, again supporting your wrist as this makes a huge difference.



I have been trying that, following the C sweep pattern, but it either blows through or leaves a massive weld on top and too much underneath. I'm aiming for a line of continuous tack welds having studied various You Tube videos and welding guides.






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sebastiaan

posted on 29/3/14 at 08:59 AM Reply With Quote
It looks like you are almost there. If I were you I'd start on a few of the "easy" bits of the shell at this point. Don't make the simple mistake of being weld-happy, time spent prepping, cleaning and properly fitting replacement parts and patches pays off in the end.

And remember: it's just steel and you can always cut something out and start over. Have fun!

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rusty nuts

posted on 29/3/14 at 09:21 AM Reply With Quote
If you haven't already seen it have a look at the tutorial on the Mig welding forum. It may help to practice on some thicker steel until you get the hang of it. A piece of copper sheet under the seam may help although I've never tried it
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mark chandler

posted on 29/3/14 at 10:29 AM Reply With Quote
Decent mask and supporting your wrist will make a big difference, also if you have a low end welder replacing the earth wire and clip with a good quality item also helps.

At the end of the day it's practice, practice practice and some days you will feel as if you have learnt nothing......

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