Guest Anonymous Posted May 21, 2002 Share Posted May 21, 2002 is it that hard to weld sheet metal? i've never welding anything in my life. I have floor pans i want to weld in and a roll cage. mostly because of the $$ issue. am i nuts? my buddies keep telling me im nuts and that sheet metal is the hardest to weld. well maybe i am. but first im gunna ask you guys. what should i do? i cant afford to pay some dude to weld it up. it cant be THAT hard... any input? what kinda welder should i get? wirefeed obviously but... any other details? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 It's not hard at all. just practice with some scap metal of the same thickness to get the amperage setting and speed right. It is harder than welding really thick material, but only because if your hand speed is too slow or amperage setting too high, you will blow holes through the steel. You want to find the sweet spot where you are getting good penetration of the weld, but not too much that you are blowing through. Do a search on welders, this topic on recommending good units has been beat to death several times. You'll at least want one that has a shielding gas.(MIG) Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bang847 Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 hard or not are you going to be saving money by buying a welder? they are not cheap.. but if you plan on using it more afterwards more power to ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 i got quoted 800$ and 650$ to do my pans and another 300+ to put in the cage. the car is not mobile so these guys are charging me more money to do house calls. These guys are nuts. And if i do it myself i'll take my time and plan everything out, these mobile welders dont care if they do a good job they just want the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JAMIE T Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 You can score a nice Hobart Handler 135 for about $475. I have a sweet Millermatic 135 which is in the $500+ range. These low amp type machines weld sheet metal excellent. I've even heard of using a superlong extension cord to help get your heat(amps) down enough. Like Tim240Z said, get a peice of scrap and play with it. I've seen some books about welding, I even have one somewhere from when I was just getting into it. Now I do it for a living, welding Aluminum mostly with a Millermatic 250 and a spool gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 I never thought of using a long extension cord to reduce welding amps and heat. If you are going to weld sheet metal get a machine that has both rheostat adjustable dials for wire feed speed and heat range. I have a low and high switch for heat range and cannot get the amps low enough for adequete sheet metal welding any thing under 1/8 inch. Also look for something that has a long duty cycle that can run for over 20 minutes without turning offr. Hobart, Miller and Lincoln are good stay away from Craftsman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 after searching the archieves im going to find myself a Hobart 110 or 135 with a tank (what size) 75% argon 25% co2? and lots of metal to fool around with, whats this about a regulator and soleniod? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dp351zcar Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 I have a hobart handler 135 and am using c02 to weld up a subframe and a rollbar. I am learning to weld. If someone would look at the bottom of the car they could see my learning curve as I am welding flat strips to the subframes and the floor pans. That welder is sweet and comes with a c02 regulater (sp?). Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 You can actually do it all with a series of tack welds, and for a beginner this might be the easiest thing to do. Once you get tack welds in every inch or so, just keep alternating around (to reduce warpage) tack welding between each tack weld and eventually you'll fill it all in. Why do that? Welding sheetmetal requires the right amperage setting if its too high or you move to slowly while your welding you'll have a big pool fly through and leave a big hole which you then have to slowly tack weld around until its filled. You can use a piece of brass behind the hole and fill it in (the steel weld wont stick to the brass) if you blow through a hole. Reducing the gas pressure a bit helps as well, if its to high it tends to either blow thru or throw sparks all over. I mig welded as a profession for a long time and have ummtenn hundred sweat shirts with the left arm (I'm right handed) covered in holes from the welding sparks a mig using gas throws out. Good luck with it, its doable and not hard, the average circus chimp can weld with one given a bit of practice, I'm living proof of that. Now if you'll excuse my I have a craving for a bananna... Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 hey lone you wanna come over have some lunch a beer or so and weld in those pans yourself j/k its a tough decision to spend 500+$ on a welder when money is tight. but it needs to get done. its getting pretty hot in AZ huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 Little worried about "long extension cord" comment. This is on the power cord plugged into the wall? Generally not a good (or safe) thing to do. Keep a fire extinguisher handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 Originally posted by Havok:hey lone you wanna come over have some lunch a beer or so and weld in those pans yourself j/k its a tough decision to spend 500+$ on a welder when money is tight. but it needs to get done. its getting pretty hot in AZ huh? Havok, I'm just about out of here for now, but I'll be back hopefully in a month or so. If you havn't braved it by then, I'd be happy to help with it, and I do have my mig welder here, no gas yet, I do have the bottle now, just not the gas kit yet for it, I have a 10lb spool of shielded wire I just put in, it works ok, but when I get back I hope to put the gas kit on it and get some regular wire, that way my cage will get welded in much cleaner. Yeah, definitely Hot in Az already, I saw a Seguaro the other day that was looking for shade. Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagz Posted May 22, 2002 Share Posted May 22, 2002 Coming from someone who posted a very similar question a while back; If you can afford a decent welder, buy it and start practicing! Until a month or two ago I had never so much as touched a welder. Early this spring I picked up a nice Millermatic 135, ordered a basic welding video from the Eastwood Company (very helpful)stopped at a scrap yard for some different guages of material and started welding. As I was told by several guys here (Lone, Tim, etc.) it is more art than science. Practice is what it takes. Since then I've begun work on SF connectors, welded-up an exhuast system on a friends car, repaired the frame of a hide-a-bed for my in-laws, etc. It is a lot easier than it may seem. Having a welder and being able to use it has been great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted May 23, 2002 Share Posted May 23, 2002 my welding sucks, but paying to have stuff welded for you sucks more, havent got a welder for the garage yet, my buddies and i are goign to pitch in for one about 175.00 between three of us, we all gotta do floorpans. once i get the hang of it imma be a welding everything i can, maybe even go dukes of hazard and weld the doors shut! naw none of that. but i can see myself reinforcing a frame to be stupid tough, stupid tough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 23, 2002 Share Posted May 23, 2002 One of the best investments I ever made. Now I want an oxy-acetylene rig too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted May 24, 2002 Share Posted May 24, 2002 Only real problem with owning a welder is when all of your buddies find out. The MIG's are really good at welding new input flanges on rusted out catalytic converters. You end up spending half your weekends fixes other people's rusted out hunks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagz Posted May 24, 2002 Share Posted May 24, 2002 Jim - Too funny. That is EXACTLY the situation when I was welding up my buddy's exhaust system last week. Flange on a new cat on a rusted out POS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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