spot welds

I need to remove the inner wheel well from the outer fender on my '51 Pontiac. I have one of those drill bits from Eastwood to remove the spot welds but I can't seem to find it and I really don't want to order a new one. Do you guys ever just drill through both layers of metal and fill in the holes on the one side layer?

Any other ideas? I know a lot of people have just made their own bit by grinding down a regular bit. I might give that a shot if nothing else.

Thanks,
Ed

 

Thats my thought now too. I think doing it this way will almost be faster in the long run. Thanks.

Ed

 

i just drille throug no fancy specialised drillbit wich you will probably loose some where just after the second time you used it at least that is what i did

 

Drill & fill

 

Drill thru with about an 1/8" drill, then drill with about 1/4" -3/8" drill. only the top layer. It will split easy with a chisel.

 

The spot weld cutters work good...for the first 5 or 6 times.

 

Of course you can just drill straight thru. It's more work, sometimes harder & that's why they have cutters that just take the top layer.

 

This is what I do as well.

I did make a bit once for taking out spot welds but mine still made a little hole, it was like a combination of a end mill and a starter bit. Kind of like a teeny tiny hole saw I suppose. It wasn't worth the trouble.

Anyway my .02 is the same as plumbid. Just drill 'em and fill 'em.

 

you also can just grind the top panel of the spotweld away. it works well as long as your not trying to save that panel. prevents welding up a bunch of holes.

 

I use these:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?rls=com.microsoft:en-us&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1%3B&q=rotabroach&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=9595097015656607004&sa=X&ei=Np6aT5fCBKq16AG55Yz1Dg&ved=0CLABEPMCMAQ#

A good set will last for hundreds, if not thousands of spot welds. Those little cutters are never big enough. No matter what you use, cutting spot welds is one of the "suck" jobs...

 

that's how I do it too, works good.

 

i like that set up i may buy one of those

 

I do like Oldolds said except I modify my drill a little.

Here is how I do them. Take a drill bit that is as big as the spot weld. 3/8 or larger, whatever you have. Grind the point to a flatter angle than usual and sharpen it. About half the usual angle.

Drill a 1/8 pilot hole in the center of the spot weld. Use the big drill and drill just through the top layer of metal. Do not drill all the way through.

With the spot welds drilled out separate the 2 layers of metal with a cold chisel and hammer. It should come apart fairly easily, if any spots are still welded together you may have to drill another spot next to the first one.

If you drill from the side you don't want to keep, you will take off the part you do want to keep and it will have only a row of 1/8 holes in it and some dimples from the big drill. Flatten the flange with a hammer and dolly and the part will be good as new.

 

I do it alot like Rusty, except I only use a larger drill, somewhere between 5/16 and 3/8 depending on weld size.

Or air chisel using it with common sense

Or use a small cutoff wheel to finish grinding the rest away.

The other thing is, sometimes you can drill through both, (although sometimes its alot easier to keep from mangling the flange if only drilling partway through) and then your new panel wont have holes in it already, so you use the holes that you made in the second layer as your plug weld holes to put it back together. This doesn't always work though, because sometimes you cant get to the back side of the second panel to use those holes.

Also, you can always use a piece of copper to back up the few "oops" holes that you went all the way through, if you are only trying to do one side.

Brian

 

Sometimes, I use a larger diameter drill bit with a less tapered point. That gets me through the top piece of sheet metal and part way into the bottom one. It gets the separation that I need though. I've never used a fancy drill bit.

 

I have a set of these and they work great! I rarely use anything else for drilling holes in sheet metal, as they leave a very clean, hole with no distortion.

 

I just drilled straight through. I got one fender done this afternoon. I'll do the other one in the morning. Hopefully filling them back won't be too time consuming. Thanks for the input guys.

Ed

 

Blair spot weld cutters are the best way.

 

Don't listen to these jerks, just use a spotweld (3/8 Blair)cutter. There's a reason they make them.

 

ive done it every which way said here, other thn the homade bit. Then i bought blue point spot weld and hole cutter they were expensive but what a difference that made! Preety much self centering, all the sizes you could need for spot welds and nice and sharp. They double as a good hole saw too. I recently deskined a deck lid shin to dgain axcess to ding out some dents, reshape and metal finish and was able to fold it back over and the structure and spot weld in the original locations. I dont really like drilling and filling cuz then you have to fill in a bunch of damn holes and sometimes you see the other side of the panel so then your welding twice as much and grinding twice as much. i also dont feel like you get as good of a weld. Just my two cents.

 

Love the Blair...

 

If you are using the spotweld cutters, make sure you do not exceed the maximum rpm, as if you do, the sharp cutting teeth will dull very quickly and rub instead of cut, and render them useless. This happens in lots of shops with similar cutters such as hole saws and such because some people are unaware, or think that if you use a little oil, you can spin them as fast you want cause it will keep it cool. This is not true. Machinists are probably the ones that understand cutting speeds the best.

Spin them faster then they are supposed to go once, say goodbye to your cutting edge!

 

The spot weld cutters work great, until you break them. I just drill them out now.

 

I just use my grinder and remove the top surface of metal. Leaves the bottom piece all nice and shinny, and ready to weld the new part onto. Gene

 

Got plasma? Try this. Works great and lots easier than drilling!

 

You don't have to drill through. You can feel when the bit cuts through the first layer. Start with a smaller bit, 1/8 or 3/16 then use a 3/8 bit. If you look closely, you can see where I went through with the smaller drill on a few.

 

See Spot.
See Spot weld.
Weld spot, weld!

Somebody had to say it...

Bob

 

You can grind your own. I think if you reground a small spade drill, that would also work.
Plus, you can center drill the spot weld and then use your "special" bit.

 

I think I paid $16 for my spotweld cutter. The cutter is two sided and replaceable. After use on three projects I replaced the cutter twice. Keep it straight and cut slow, they work great.

 

Nice.

Would it be drama if said, "Don't listen to this jerk, just do what I said.", or would that mean I have as few social skills as you? Hmmm...