Topic: Thin plate welding

[johnny-from-bel]

Anybody ever used this

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=8338&frostProductName=Body%20Welding%20Attachment&frostCat=&frostSubCat=&frostubCatID=

Is it any good ?

[tbone]

The problem I see with this is that it's still SMAW (stick) welding.
Weld spatter is hard enough to remove from thicker metal.

A good DC welder, a tig torch, and a bottle of 100% argon w/ a flow meter
should yield much better results with far easier clean up on steel and stainless. IMHO

Aluminum requires AC current and a high frequency arc stabilizer.

[Gregorymoto]

Ya stick welding is never the way to go.

[Glenn Stauffer]

Eastwood sells these in the US.

More information here: http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=796&itemType=CATEGORY&iMainCat=688&iSubCat=796

I did a quick check of their forums and found the comments mixed, though generally of the opinion that this is only good if you have a stick welder and need to do a small amount of sheet metal work occasionally - not enough to invest in a mig welder or gas welder.

You are welcome to use my mig welder any time you are in the area. :-)

[mrblasty]

I've welded a stank load of thin sheet metal (Modern car bodies) and I'll say don't bother with stick welders for this, they are great for ship building, girder work, farm implements, nothing less than than .25" thick.  I light duty mig welder will do.  Back your joints with a piece of copper if possible. TIG is the best for thin sheet and aluminum, mucho control over the weld with that process.

[Zig]

.035 dual shield wire/c10 mix/tack and grind to relieve stress, will help minimize distortion. practice on scrap first.