How To Tig Welding Sheet Metal

I have a hobart 135 with 023 wire that works perfectly on 22 gauge body panels.

How to tig welding sheet metal.

For welding sheet metal in aerospace applications 15 cup or larger is required. To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity. Ditch a 1 8 inch tungsten electrode for something much smaller like 1 16 inch tungsten. Personally i hate to weld with low frequency pulsing like this.

You can count the pulses and its exactly 3pps or 3 pulses per second. 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 mig welder also gives you a free hand to hold the heat sink with.

The one shown in this instructable. Vise grip type sheet metal clamps are used to hold everything together and pulse tig is used to weld. The next is the lap weld which is two metals resting flat against each other. The easiest type of weld is the fillet two metals jointed at right angles.

Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal. This means that 1 amp should be used per 1 thousandth 0 001 inch of thickness. The best two electrodes for welding auto body sheet metal is either ceriated tungsten or thoriated tungsten. If you are working on auto body sheet metal you may want to buy a 120 volt mig welder.

The best way to estimate the heat input needed for welding is by applying the 1 for 1 rule. Tig welding sheet metal forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one. Tig welding takes allot of practice to master so don t get discouraged. This is especially useful for carbon steel.

When it comes to welding sheet metal delta techops treats most applications except aluminum as it would titanium. Titanium always requires shielding the backside of the weld to prevent oxidation. Lens crafter always use a tig torch with a gas lens. A large cup gives better gas coverage of the weld puddle and heat affected zone which reduces total heat input and improving bead quality.