Tig Welding Sheet Metal Without Warping

Though weld shrinkage cannot be prevented it can be controlled by following these steps.

Tig welding sheet metal without warping.

Tig welding tips questions equipment applications instructions techniques tig welding machines troubleshooting tig welding process 12 posts page 1 of 1 settings for thin sheet metal. The best two electrodes for welding auto body sheet metal is either ceriated tungsten or thoriated tungsten. Only reduce or control it. Short circuit transfer mig short arc tig and pulsed tig welding processes provide the most control over the heat to address these challenges.

Move around on your project. Weld along the neutral axis. Use intermittent welds instead of continuous welds where possible to minimize the amount of weld metal. Use clamps to control expansion.

We ve heard all of the tricks in the book but none of them completely stop the warping. The bigger the weld the greater the shrinkage. So here are 11 ways to prevent sheet metal from warping in tig welding. The secret is that the heat and cooling from welding will shrink the metal around the weld seam to some degree.

Another alternative is to surround the area you re welding with an anti heat compound that will block the heat from spreading to the rest of the panel and potentially reduce warping in the panel. Minimize the amount of heat put into the weld. Ditch a 1 8 inch tungsten electrode for something much smaller like 1 16 inch tungsten. This is especially helpful if you re welding in an area that is very critical and could lead to oil canning.

Because it will have you a lot more control over the whole process and it is more forgiving in case you do anything wrong. The fact is that no matter how good or careful you are metal will warp when you re welding on sheet metal. 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. Here s a list of tips that help reduce warpage in sheet metal fabricaitons.

Limit the number of passes. Fix problems before they permanently set. Design and welding should be addressed to minimize this sort of warping.