Thin welding

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Ryder

Ryder

Having a senior moment
Posts
6,616
Location
West Bedforshire
Thought I would put these up in here... not really sure whether this is the best place for them but still!

Kai has found that he prefers arc welding to mig. He seems to get a better result but wanted to find out just how well he would do on a thin sheet of metal.

These photos show him welding a patch onto a sheet of metal which was once the side of a computer case. While I know it is not exactly a practical test it does show that he can actually get a semi decent result.

He did try one trick that I thought was pretty smart. He folded the edge of two of the sides over and hammered it flat... effectively doubling the thickness of the target patch. The improvement in result was quite effective.

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Don't get me wrong... it is not exactly a work of art... but I reckon it has promise!
 
Neither of us has tried tig... do not really know what it involves or what the advantages or disadvantages may be. Tried oxy as a teenager. Was under the impression that you had to be licensed nowadays to get hold of the necessary cylinders.

I would like him to try as many different types as possible, though becoming reasonably proficient in one type may be better than doing none of them very well.

Still.. he is very young and has time to learn. I am hoping that by the time he goes to university then he may be able to use some of the skills he is learning now to earn a few quid and make his journey through education a little easier.
 
Freelaner said:
when i used to weld a lot. i dunt at all now well not yet, i liked oxy on thin stuff cus i could just melt the join together without using filler rods.
Click to expand...

Oxy feels more archaic :D very controlled too

Ryder said:
Neither of us has tried tig... do not really know what it involves or what the advantages or disadvantages may be. Tried oxy as a teenager. Was under the impression that you had to be licensed nowadays to get hold of the necessary cylinders.

I would like him to try as many different types as possible, though becoming reasonably proficient in one type may be better than doing none of them very well.

Still.. he is very young and has time to learn. I am hoping that by the time he goes to university then he may be able to use some of the skills he is learning now to earn a few quid and make his journey through education a little easier.
Click to expand...

Tig is kind of like mig but you feed in the rod yourself, the weld created is very precise and neat too.

Plenty on ebay as well and yeah for Oxy you need a license to get the gas
 
ive used arc for years on thicker stuff...bought an old disco and then a gasless mig, i find it easier and neater on the thin sheet stuff. id say your wasting your time trying to do thin sheet with arc it will always be bird**** or holes, with a bit of practice mig will be quicker and neater.
bending edges over to get double thicknesses will result in moisture traps and more rust to fix in a year or two.
 
ricc said:
ive used arc for years on thicker stuff...bought an old disco and then a gasless mig, i find it easier and neater on the thin sheet stuff. id say your wasting your time trying to do thin sheet with arc it will always be bird**** or holes, with a bit of practice mig will be quicker and neater.
bending edges over to get double thicknesses will result in moisture traps and more rust to fix in a year or two.
Click to expand...
Ah now ya see he didn't think of that... mind you neither did I!:(
 
OK... so where is tig preferable to mig? Is it purely a matter of preference or are they two different tools for essentially different jobs?
 
Ryder said:
OK... so where is tig preferable to mig? Is it purely a matter of preference or are they two different tools for essentially different jobs?
Click to expand...

A mixture of both but I find TIG is better than MIG if you require a precise and thin weld with no clean up as they create deep penetration, variable width welds depending on the stick thickness and material

MIG is better if you're upside down though :rolleyes:
 
So is tig running cooler then? I thought welding Ali was a no no because of the lower melting point? (Sorry if these sound like dumb questions!)
 
Ryder said:
So is tig running cooler then? I thought welding Ali was a no no because of the lower melting point? (Sorry if these sound like dumb questions!)
Click to expand...

it's welded all the time, zip up scaffolding is an example, it welds quick cos you move faster to weld on it so the temp never gets up too high
 
Freelaner said:
ah never thought about using it on steel


int the wire more expensive
Click to expand...

A bit but if uni's paying I'm happy to use TIG for steel ;)

Ryder said:
So is tig running cooler then? I thought welding Ali was a no no because of the lower melting point? (Sorry if these sound like dumb questions!)
Click to expand...

No hotter I think as the spark seems to be brighter, but no Ali is welded this way as you can control the arc heat very precisely

mad git said:
Tig is extremely controllable, you can literally weld a biscuit tin with one.. :)
Click to expand...

Its a lovely method, essentially Oxy welding but with electricity instead
 
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