Need your feed back on "Magnetic" Copper Welding Backers

I was looking through Eastwood catalog and found the Magnetic Copper Welding Backers. Have any of you folks used these copper backers. I'm a novice MIG welder and will be trying to install some panels in a 32 Ford pickup. Any feed back would help.
Have fun,
Buckshot

 

if your a novice, these are a godsend. you won't need to worry about blowing through a joint.

 

all my sheetmetal gaps are the width of a pubic hair so I never need one. if you got a sheetmetal hole big enough to need one of those you should put a plug in it.

 

A chuck of Copper comes in handy sometimes.

I've heard of people using Aluminum.

 

Aluminum works better for TIG. with MIG it tends to burn through.

 

Magnets and TIG arc, not a good mix.

 

cool trick I saw (probably on the HAMB) was a piece of maybe 1" copper plumbing pipe hammered flat on one end, the other end left round as a handle. The magnetic ones I've seen are overpriced.
49ratfink, when you're grinding those tight gaps watch that you don't get your bag caught

 

did you ever try and arc weld on a magnet ?

 

+1 on that. the magnets don't stay in place with a chit either.

make you joints tight, and if you blow a hole (you will!) go to the copper.

 

+1 on the copper tubing flatened out. I hold mine with a vise grip, and even 1/2 inch tube is fine. And it's free if its from the scrap pile.

Frank

 

I went down to Home Depot and bought a 1" copper 'T' and pounded it flat...

Cost me less than a buck and it has a little 'handle'...

Sumbitch gets HOT though, but usually sort of sticks to the first tack so I don't have to hold it.

I work on OLD fords... There are plenty of times the gaps aren't IDEAL...

 

I have a shitload of smashed pieces of copper pipe, I even have a big flat piece of copper that was a buss bar in an old electrical motor control box of some sort. I found this thing in a yard sale for $2.00, my wife said you would have thought I found the holly grail by the grin on my face. If your worried about it getting hot wear a glove or wrap some tape around it. Eastwood has a lot of good stuff but honestly a lot of it you can improvise with stuff you find around your shop.

 

I sure thank you guys for the feed back. I think I have some scrap copper out there some ware. If not off to Home Depot and to the plumbing section. Some place I had heard that anything magnetic would hamper the welding process. It always pays to run it by you experts out there. I never was interested in re-inventing the wheel.
Thanks again
Buckshot

 

Copper plates from an old electrical box.........priceless!!

 

Nice! Never seen someone do an edge repair on a frame like that. I just filled the holes in my Chevy rear backing plates to redrill for mounting on my Ford 9". Used a big copper bus bar from an electrical cabinet similar to yours, worked like a champ. My bus bar has 1/4" NPT fittings throughout it as it was water cooled, that might be a bit overkill but would be kind of interesting to try. I noticed it is important to clamp the bar firmly to what you are working on when you are putting down quite a bit of weld, the weld wants to push the bar away from the steel.

 

I love to use copper on the backside of a trim hole while I am plug welding them. It doesn't leave a big weld bugger on the back side of the metal.

 

How about brass?

 

Brass is copper plus aluminum. Shouldn't be an issue.

 

As some have said, make sure you have good contact between what you're welding and whatever non ferrous stuff you are backing it up with, if it's got an air gap it defeats the purpose.

Dad bought some of those strips from Eastwood, kinda thin for what they cost (fragile too). Dad had to stick some of the magnets back in with epoxy shortly after he started using them.

 

Isn't brass, copper and tin with some other stuff thrown in ?
Chris

 

'Nuther vote for copper pipe split lenghtwise and pounded flat. I clamp it to the work with vice grips or some "binder clips" from the office, or even duct tape.

 

The heat from actually using these will ruin most adhesives.
Then the magnets fall off.

I bought 2 feet of Copper at a scrap dealer,for less than
the price Eastwood wanted for one small piece.

 

Brass is copper plus ZINC which I understand can cause contamination and zinc oxide fuming during welding. I'll stick with Copper, maybe aluminum.

 

Use weld anti splatter gel or spray on copper will not burn through.

 

Brass is copper and zinc. Bronze is copper and tin.

When ever I have tried to weld anywhere near brass, the zinc has burned off causing a general fuckup.