How To Tig Weld Sheet Metal

Arc welding mig and tig entails fusing a filler metal with the materials being joined.

How to tig weld sheet metal.

Mig welding is the easiest process to learn that has revolutionized autobody repair. The term invisible weld is kind of misleading. Forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one. S curves or welds on round things.

Tig welding sheet metal. Learn how to weld sheet metal on a car. For welding sheet metal in aerospace applications use a 15 cup 15 16 inch diameter. But using this method also requires some practice and practice advice in order to understand it.

What is an invisible weld. To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity. Tig welding for sheet metal. When you re welding body panels you can either mig weld or tig weld.

Using this process enables more than effective work on thin materials as it provides high precision and high quality work. How to weld auto body sheet metal with a tig welder the best two electrodes for welding auto body sheet metal is either ceriated tungsten or thoriated tungsten. Then as the bead cools and solidifies it contracts but by this time the metal pieces are fused together. That heat spreads out making the metal expand.

Tig welding is one type of welding amongst a few choices you have mig stick oxyacetylene etc. Welding sheet metal is a special type of welding which requires a special technique. When it comes to welding thin sheet metal like car body panels if you are not experienced and skilled enough then you can easily create a mess as blow holes in the sheet and make the metal useless. Using a tig welders means that one can work on materials of 26 gauge.

Ditch a 1 8 inch tungsten electrode for something much smaller like 1 16 inch tungsten. Other sheet metal applications e g stainless steel in food service typically call for a size 7 tig cup. In this welding sheet metal video what is meant by invisible weld is a tig weld that is ground flat planished with a dolly and auto body tool and then fine sanded so that it looks like shiny bright metal and it is not obvious where the weld is. Tig generates heat via an arc of electricity jumping from a tungsten metal electrode to the metal surfaces you intend to weld usually aluminum.

Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal. Watch the welding sheet metal video and learn.