Tig Welding 18 Gauge Sheet Metal

How to weld auto body sheet metal with a tig welder.

Tig welding 18 gauge sheet metal.

I have a hobart 135 with 023 wire that works perfectly on 22 gauge body panels. Say if you are welding an 18 gauge stainless steel sheet that is 2 2 feet in size to repair the side of your tank start by creating a weld that is 1inch long then skip 6 inches and then create a 1 inch long weld. The best two electrodes for welding auto body sheet metal is either ceriated tungsten or thoriated tungsten. Tig welding takes allot of practice to master so don t get discouraged.

Keep the stick out short stickout of your mig wire is important when welding any type of metal but especially sheet metal. As a rule when mig welding sheet metal never use a body filler metal that is thicker than the base metal. Practice on some scrap steel till you get the feel for the melting point of the steel. It is recommended that a welder should use 023 or 024 inch wire for light gauge sheet metal work.

However if you are dealing with materials that are 18 gauge or thicker one should be able to use 030 inch welding wire. If using the finger switch on the tig welder i like to set the machine to a fixed 50 60 amps for sheet metal work. Ditch a 1 8 inch tungsten electrode for something much smaller like 1 16 inch tungsten. If you are working on auto body sheet metal you may want to buy a 120 volt 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. Continue the same way along the sides of the piece of sheet metal. Enjoy the videos and music you love upload original content and share it all with friends family and the world on youtube. Because it will have you a lot more control over the whole process and it is more forgiving in.