Not logged inAmerican Welding Society Forum
Forum AWS Website Help Search Login
Up Topic Welding Industry / Technical Discussions / Need a good short arc machine
- - By vwjoegolf Date 05-19-2007 03:59
i am going to be seam welding the body on my 81 VW rabbit and will need a good short arc machine to do so, suggestions?
Parent - - By yorkiepap (***) Date 05-19-2007 11:46
Hey vwjoe,
I do a lot of classic car restorations and the sheetmetal will give you fits unless you prepare. You don't need a lot of power...I use a little Miller Sidekick 90A MIG for all my sheetmetal work. If you are going to also weld into heavier material on a vehicle, going with a 140-180A welder will suffice to do everything. I use .023 ER70S-6 wire, C25(75argon/25CO2) at 15-18cfh inside and 22-25cfh outside. I use 1/8" thick aluminum backing strips behind the panel seams to avoid burnthru and tack every 3". The other technique I employ is to tilt the MIG torch at a 45deg. angle to flatten the puddle as I connect the tacks. I use the "push" method when welding panels. It takes some serious practice on scrap pieces to get the "feel" of the beads on panels. You must exercise patience and do a little at a time to achieve excellent results. Once you get the hang of the doing it, the job will go nicely and you will never have a problem with thin sheetmetal. I know a lot of gents who won't do sheetmetal or auto panels because of the thinness of the metal. MIG will give you your best results IMO. I'm sure others will chime in and offer their thoughts. The gents here are the best providing information, guidance, and "food for thought". Good luck....Denny
Parent - By vwjoegolf Date 05-20-2007 03:41
i tig weld everything, but i believe the tig with have to much direct heat for the panels.  I also am a powerplant structural welder/pipefitter and am superb on crappy stuff and good tuff with stick. but you are correct welding my only 81 rabbit which is in excellent condition somehow makes me cautious, i wanna make sure it gets done right and good
Up Topic Welding Industry / Technical Discussions / Need a good short arc machine

Powered by mwForum 2.29.2 © 1999-2013 Markus Wichitill