How To Weld 18 Ga Sheet Metal

It s recommended to use a 023 or 024 inch wire for most light gauge sheet metal work.

How to weld 18 ga sheet metal.

Limit your heat input. For thinner gauge sheet metal like 18 or 20 gauge we suggest 023 6mm wire in your mig welder. Avoid warping the sheet metal. Keep the stick out short stickout of your mig wire is important when welding any type of metal but especially sheet.

It is recommended that a welder should use 023 or 024 inch wire for light gauge sheet metal work. Use thin wire one big mistake we see with beginners is using welding wire that is too thick for the metal they re welding. Can the harbor freight hf 125 flux core welder do sheet metal. I am wanting to start to weld on body panels for auto body butt weld would be it.

Place the welding tip wire at the gap and tack weld several small spots spacing them evenly apart. If i get a hold of some thinner stuff i ll test. Say if you are welding an 18 gauge stainless steel sheet that is 2 2 feet in size to repair the side of your tank start by creating a weld that is 1inch long then skip 6 inches and then create a 1 inch long weld. To weld mild steel choose an american welding society classification wire such as er70s 6 which has a weld puddle that wets out nicely.

18 gauge sheetmetal panel thank you for the quick response. A good heat setting for 1 8 6011 rods on thin material is about 80 90 amps. First tack your entire welded area. Weld a short stitch then beat on the weld backed with dolly while it cools to keep from shrinking.

Tack in a few places apart from each other and wait until the panel is cool to the touch. Everyone is different but those settings will get you in the right ballpark to weld sheet metal. This sheet was 18 gauge. As a rule when mig welding sheet metal never use a body filler metal that is thicker than the base metal.

When the material is 18 gauge and thicker you may be able to use a 030 inch wire. Short stitches around the periphery. Then tack between the two previous tacks. If you are using oa hammer welding is best.

Then use short stitch welds to grow the tacks. However if you are dealing with materials that are 18 gauge or thicker one should be able to use 030 inch welding wire. If your welding wire is too thick it will take more heat to melt the wire than the substrate and can make it even more prone to blowing holes in the panel. Just grab a piece of sheet metal to get the heat set correctly and go to town.

That is tack in all spots to hold things in place. I was able to do it. For 3 32 7018 s it s about the same.