I am wanting to try gas welding but I have a few questions that I need answered. From what I understand this is the best way to weld the body panels or sheet metal, please correct me if I am wrong. First I would like it if someone could recommend a good book or instructional DVD? Next if someone could recommend a good torch setup that is reasonably priced? Last but not least from yalls experience what is the best rod to use? Thanks for any help to get me started I really appreciate it.
Hey man There is a DVD at www.metalshapingzone.com David Gardiner is a member Here...Lots of gas welding sheet metal work...honestly Its the best Instructional Dvd Ive ever seen. I'll follow this thread as I'm looking to buy a setup aswell
Hi there..For my money I think IF you can ,have a look for some night classes you can go to..I haven't checked out many welding dvds admittedly but i can say night classes worked for me.. I attended a course for a while and learned the basics of MIG.stick and gas welding and I found it invaluable havin someone to demonstrate to me and check my work as I went.The roadster on my signature is mostly gas welded for the panels...(theres 6 peices in the cowl alone) or Mig welded for the structural areas. Its took a while to be able to do well but well worth the effort. doing quality welding is very rewarding so I reckon you should go for it!!! Patience,practise,patience,practise ,practise,practise,patience grasshopper...
if youre going to be metal finishing what you weld yeah....oxy/acetylene or tig is the way to go....if not itll cause more distortion than mig will
You really can't go wrong with a Smith's torch set up. I am sure the off brands will work just fine but I am picky. I have not done a lot of gas welding, some. There was a good thread on here a while ago about different methods for welding sheet metal. It was very helpful for me to read. Maybe someone has it saved? I think I usually use 3/32 mild steel welding rod, or if you leave no gap in the panels you can weld with almost no filler. Just use some wire feed wire (I usually have .030 on hand) to fill where needed. I thought this method was pretty cool...very minimal grinding and smoothing needed if you can keep the metal from warping. Do some research, grab a torch setup and some scrap sheet metal and have at it. Good luck with your endeavors.
Im a young guy and have a cheapie victor with a few tips, and can weld like a pro, no formal training either. Just dive in, 000 or 00 tip, hammers, dollies, and Go. Really if you can find an old timer that doesnt mind stupid questions then that helps a lot too. Just get the basics and give it a try, the main things are short welds, small or no gap, hammering to keep it from shrinking wrong and a neutral flame. It's not hard, and eisier if you are an OK bodyman. dont start with splicing quarterpanels or filling coupe tops, but do smaller stuff that wont warp too bad, like any welding that big stuff is a bitch to metal finish If you are dead set on literature "metal bumping" by martin tools will have some tips too, but i'd try to borrow a copy because it really isnt worth the cash to me atleast
Another tip was joining panels by overlap ~ 1/2" and put a 3/16th hole every 3"-4" inches in the new panel. Then weld the holes flush & finish. [Ed: For rust repair on an old beater.]
Any lap weld is impossible to do any sort of metal finishing with. What you get is what you get. With a butt weld and decent backside access you can bump things around to make an impressive repair.
Ditto on the Victor. You will not find a pipeline welder with anything less than a Victor. I have a Victor Junior and use the 00 tip for all of my welding of thin materials and a roll of electric fence wire works great too. As the posts above mentioned, the less the gap on thin panels will result with in good welds as long as you assure the metal is melted and joined completely through the joint. Practice, practice, practice. You will get there.
I am with Tinman, only butt weld body panels if you over lap then you will need to buy Bondo by the 50 gallon barrel. Rex
I guess i should elaborate on hardware, smaller torches and more flexable lines are a good bonus, but not needed, I use 1/16 rod typically but i sometimes fill gaps with a little 1/8" but it really is almost unneeded For glasses a REALLY dark set of sun glasses would be great, but i still havent found one that will work, so i use a medium tint glass lense in an old welding helmet, Dont try a auto darkening hat, it will not work with the flame and probably flick on and off on you. I did use small googles for a while, but i found it was eisier to pull off a welding hood instead when i wanted to start hammering If you are serious enough to learn this stuff, it might be time to upgrade to a good set of hammers and dollies if you havent already. A good set of balenced hammers will do wonders for your body work, i stepped up to a dagger set from a harbor freight one and it improved my hammering a lot, and will help when you need to hammer welds Now you are gunna need to switch from torch to hammer pretty often and somewhat fast, so it is handy to have someplace to hold your torch without having to turn it off too. I have on a vise on a pedastal that i clamp a 1 1/8" wrench into, that way when i need to switch tools i can slide the torch into the box end of the wrench and start hammering. There are better ways, but i can get away with that Also dont sell short O/A welding stuff other than sheet, i just welded up some big pinholes down the lenght of some '40 ford front wishbones, i figured it will polish out for chrome eisier if i dont have hard mig weld filling the holes. They are atleast 3/16" thick and took a ton of heat, but welded pretty easy Thats, my 2c, i'm just a 25 year old hillbilly, certainly no expert, and pretty much self taught, but i can sure lay a mean O/A weld, if i am alowed to brag Btw i dont think to this day ive seen someone o/a weld in person, and infront of me...... Kinda offically makes it a dying art. I really only personally know a couple people that are good at it
I really dont like overlap, it will allow moisture into the filler from the backside, and a lot of time it will show a line after it is glossy due to heat shrinking and swelling the panel. It's fine for a lot of cars, but it isnt perfect
Practice helps a lot, that's one neat thing about going to night school is that you pay for the privilege of being told to keep practicing...makes you want to actually do it. Also as mentioned it's kind of a dying art relative to other weld processes, so it's good to keep the classes full so the skill will be continued Fitting the joint is important...if you get it right, as you weld, the gap closes up and you need very little filler. You can buy mild steel filler rod, it's not expensive. MIG wire is kind of hard, as are coathangers, baling wire is a bit thin. I've been gas welding stuff more lately. It's fun
for the money i would look for a used victor set up. i have 2 complete set ups with bottles, rosebuds and tips. one has tips from 000 to 7. just get the basics at first and you can add tips as you go
As with any tool, buy the best you can afford even if it's used. Victor and Harris are the best but check with your local welding supply to see if they stock spare parts. The small Harris torch is easier to work with if you need to go up inside of a fender or panel. I have used old coat hangers for filler rods for years and they work just fine. Run the flame over them to burn off the coating then wipe off with steel wool or Scotchbrite pad. It is soft steel and welds easy. Practice, practice, practice....
I have been an A&P for over 40 years . We were taught what we called gas welding by old timers, some were good,others very good at this craft. Most used Smith products. I have used many of the products available today and they all worked well. About 10 years ago a friend gave me a Henrob because he thought it was heavy, what a great product it is all I use now.
I love gas welding, after a look at how to set it up i was welding in no time. Just watch some videos on youtube and try it out. then ask some questions and try more stuff. I use old rebuilt victors.
I learned with an old used Victor setup. I bought a Henrob right after they came out and now I wouldn't use anything else. I certainly don't understand the "weight" issue with the Henrob as it's lighter than any brand I've ever used. Frank
i have always heard to use silicon-bronze rods when doing patch panels and such because it melts at a lower temp and is softer and easy to work with after its welded. How correct is that?
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