How To Tig Welding Sheet Metal

Ditch a 1 8 inch tungsten electrode for something much smaller like 1 16 inch tungsten.

How to tig welding sheet metal.

Getting the knack of tig welding is mostly in getting the weld pool to form at the same time on both pieces of metal. Sheet metal tig welding tips 1 for 1 rule. The next is the lap weld which is two metals resting flat against each other. If you are working on auto body sheet metal you may want to buy a 120 volt mig welder.

The mig welder also gives you a free hand to hold the heat sink with. The one shown in this instructable. For welding sheet metal in aerospace applications 15 cup or larger is required. Tig welding sheet metal forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one.

Vise grip type sheet metal clamps are used to hold everything together and pulse tig is used to weld. I have a hobart 135 with 023 wire that works perfectly on 22 gauge body panels. Personally i hate to weld with low frequency pulsing like this. The easiest type of weld is the fillet two metals jointed at right angles.

Tig welding takes allot of practice to master so don t get discouraged. The best two electrodes for welding auto body sheet metal is either ceriated tungsten or thoriated tungsten. Lens crafter always use a tig torch with a gas lens. Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal.

When it comes to welding sheet metal delta techops treats most applications except aluminum as it would titanium. Because it will have you a lot more control over the whole process and it is more forgiving in case you do anything wrong. A large cup gives better gas coverage of the weld puddle and heat affected zone which reduces total heat input and improving bead quality. Titanium always requires shielding the backside of the weld to prevent oxidation.

To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity. This is especially useful for carbon steel. It should also improve bead appearance. You can count the pulses and its exactly 3pps or 3 pulses per second.