Guest TegRacer324 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 I've finally made a mock up to mount my fuel cell and I want to go pick up some metal for it tomorrow. My question is how thick are the frame rails? I plan on making the frame for the cell out of standard 1"x1" square tubing. When I weld it into the car on the frame rails what should I be setting the welder for the thickness of the tubing or the thickness of the frame rails? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 The rails aren't too thick. I'd get thin 1x1 tubing, no point in having .120 wall tubing to hold up a cell that probably won't exceed 120 lbs full. I'd use a 1x1x.065 tube in front and back, then use straps underneath. That's my plan when I get to it. I don't know what kind of welder you're using but I've been using Amp setting of 5 and wire speed of 4 on my MM135 when I've welded to or around the rails. Haven't had any trouble burning through, but it's clear that the penetration was good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TegRacer324 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Alright thanks for the help. Is there any good thickness to get the setting on before going at it? I'm a bit timid of burning a hole in the rail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Not sure what you mean. If you get the .065 tube and set it up to weld the tube nicely you should do OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TegRacer324 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Yeah sorry that was a bit confusing. I meant like something to get the setting for the frame rail down before I went ahead and actually welded to the frame rail so I didn't put a hole in it, but if it should be good with the .065 I'll just try that and see where it gets me. Haha Hopefully there's not a post in a couple days asking how to fix a hole with a frame rail in it. Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz8 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 I think the frame rails are around .050, or slightly thinner. You can't help burning through sometimes because the metal may be rusted thin on the inside where you can't see it. It will weld nice at one spot and go through a couple of inches away. I use a small 120 volt Miller mig with .023 wire and gas with it set around 3 volts and speed around 40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 I didn't really think of it, but when I was welding on the rails I was welding thicker metal to them so I would have had my settings a bit higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TegRacer324 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Well I just went down to a local steel shop and he didn't have anything thinner than .120. He said maybe they'd have .065 at home depot or something. I dunno it seemed a bit thick. I might try to call a couple other places before I go buy .120. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 There was a thread about places to buy metal just a couple weeks ago, so look for that. This one is close to my house but apparently are pretty well known. http://www.onlinemetals.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TegRacer324 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Sweet thanks for the site. It's too bad the .065 there is almost twice as much as the .120 the guy was gonna sell me. Looks like this may cost me more than I thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 That place is a bit expensive, plus you have to pay for shipping. The place I go to locally that has it charges $.67 per foot, but they don't do mail order: http://www.pacificindustrial.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TegRacer324 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Wait nevermind I was looking at stainless. Hahaha I'm an idiot. It's actually cheaper on that website so thank you very much. Plus the custom cut will be handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeatrpi Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 How far is Logan Steel from you? http://www.logansteelinc.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TegRacer324 Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Eh that's not too bad. Thanks for the heads up. I didn't see them in the phone book and I have no idea why. Maybe I just saw Meriden and thought it was too far. I looked through their tubing though and the smallest they had was 2X2" and 3/16" thick. Thanks for the heads up though looks like they have a lot of stuff if I ever need anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5foot2 Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 One thing that's nice about welding thick to thin is the ability to linger on the thick material dipping down (or up, sideways, etc) quickly onto the thinner material with a looping motion (or whatever pattern you prefer). I find it easier to control heat this way sometimes. You could also just spot stitch the parts together but I'd do this as the last resort. It's not the best weld. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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