Hiw To Weld Sheet Metal With A Mig Welder

Andy gives helpful insights and tips to mig weld thin sheet metal.

Hiw to weld sheet metal with a mig welder.

Mig welding is the preferred method for most automotive bodywork and since sheet metal is the thinnest of metals a large expensive mig unit is usually not required. Welding car panels if you are welding a large panel then the expansion of the metal during welding is likely to cause the panel to distort. Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal. Forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one.

Sheet metal has usage in sectors like making automobiles airplane wings and fuselages roofing and medicinal tables. The majority of the sheet metal welding i ve done was with a 90 amp 110 volt welder. When mig welding sheet metal it is important to set the proper parameters to prevent warping and burn through or else it will create excess heat and easily blowholes on the metal. For thinner gauge sheet metal like 18 or 20 gauge we suggest 023 6mm wire in your mig welder.

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. Mig welding was developed in the 1940 s and 60 years later the general principle is still very much the same. The most obvious advice for a mig welder is to use the smallest wire diameter as possible. Tig welding sheet metal.

It is an arc welding process that where you feed a solid wire electrode through a. Mig welding is one of the simplest to use for welding. To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity. Keep in mind during the welding process it is important to direct the arc right at the center of the weld puddle and don t do movements like whipping or weaving as it may cause warping and burn through quickly.

Mig welding uses an arc of electricity to create a short circuit between a continuously fed anode the wire fed welding gun and a cathode the metal being welded. A smaller ire requires less heat to melt and at the same time does not heat the metal as much as you would with a thicker wire. Keep the stick out short stickout of your mig wire is important when welding any type of metal but especially sheet metal. I keep blowing through my thin sheet.