How To Weld Up Holes In Sheet Metal

The welding process actually adds new steel to the thin steel and can result in a repaired spot that is stronger than the original metal.

How to weld up holes in sheet metal.

Ideally keep the tip of the welding wire about 1 16 from the surface before hitting the trigger. The complexity of welding increases as the thickness of the material decreases. For this reason i always like to use copper backers and welders helpers to back up and quickly fill the hole. Try going for a wire of 023 inches when welding sheet metal.

Fit up and joint design. Sheet metal welding demands really tight fit ups. April 21 2014 by admin leave a comment. Any kind of welder can be used but the best.

In a situation when a welder needs to make a butt weld on a 20 gauge panel and the parts are not able to touch each other not even for even 1 16 inches you will create a gap that is not capable of being absorbed by the heat. When you are new to the whole process of welding auto body sheet metals it is preferable to go a bit more slowly than you can handle. So you won t have much forgiveness if you try to pile weld in the hole and you can end up with a bigger hole than you started with. Make sure to use an electrode wire that is thinner as it uses lesser heat and prevents blowing holes on to the sheet metal.

Try welding with a scrap sheet metal piece and practice many times until you start working on more important projects. Yes it may feel quite derogatory and downright frustrating for you to not able to do much faster. The most permanent repair to a hole in sheet metal is to weld the hole shut. It takes practice to get it right but once you learn how to do it it becom.

My friend pete shows us the proper way to weld up small holes using a mig welder. Tips for welding hole in sheet metal. Essential tips on how to weld auto body sheet metal take it slow when welding auto body sheet metal. This will keep you far enough away from the weld puddle but give the least resistance for the arc when welding.

If you stick to these tips when setting yourself up for mig welding sheet metal you will be much more confident and successful. Sheet metal on the body of cars and trucks is pretty thin usually 18 22 gauge.