How To Weld Sheet Metal With A Mig Welder

Holding the tip too far from the surface will cause the wire to have to come out too far to touch the metal.

How to weld sheet metal with a mig welder. Unlike welding with a stick welder mig welding is a semi automatic process. Short circuit transfer mig short arc tig and pulsed tig welding processes provide the most control over the heat to address these challenges. The heat produced by the short circuit along with a non reactive hence inert gas locally melts the metal and allows them to mix together. As a rule when mig welding sheet metal never use a body filler metal that is thicker than the base metal.

The backside of the patch should be sprayed with etching to prevent rusting. This article is more a general guideline to help the novice welder understand how the various settings will affect your results. When welding thin metal the main objective is to avoid warping burn through and excessive heat affected zones while still ensuring the weld has enough mechanical strength for the application. When starting to learn auto body sheet metal welding with a mig welder you should opt for a shielding gas that has a higher proportion of argon gas.

Keep in mind during the welding process it is important to direct the arc right at the center of the weld puddle and don t do movements like whipping or weaving as it may cause warping and burn through quickly. Tips for welding sheet metal with mig or tig. Andy gives helpful insights and tips to mig weld thin sheet metal. After cutting and fitting the new panel you are now ready to weld the patch panel in place.

To obtain the best results while mig welding sheet metal proper fitment and cleanliness of the metal are essential. Keep the stick out short stickout of your mig wire is important when welding any type of metal but especially sheet metal. Hold the panels in place. Mig welder settings can vary substantially from model to model and certainly from brand to brand.

Mig welding uses an arc of electricity to create a short circuit between a continuously fed anode the wire fed welding gun and a cathode the metal being welded. Otherwise you may find a lot more splatter than you have imagined. It is better to avoid using a flux cored wire when welding sheet metals. However if you are dealing with materials that are 18 gauge or thicker one should be able to use 030 inch welding wire.

For thinner gauge sheet metal like 18 or 20 gauge we suggest 023 6mm wire in your mig welder. It is better to use instead of a high percentage of co2. Learn why mig pulsed mig tig and pulsed tig are the ideal choices when welding sheet metal.