I have the sheet metal welding process down pretty good. My goal is no filler at the weld joint between the old and and new metal. I have a small angle grinder but am afraid of digging in too deep. Experimenting tonight I ground the weld down as much as possible without going too deep then used a hand file to take it flush and that worked but its a pretty labor intensive process. Is there a better power tool/method for this? Thanks
If you have to grind that much practice welding with higher heat and less wire feed. Use a 6-8 inch grinder to smooth it out with 36 grit wheel in not a more agressive wheel. Keep in mind as your grind it gets hot and also your losing material. The strongest weld are ones that are not ground down. More heat and less wire when welding will make it more smooth and less grinding but you will have to smaller areas and let them cool down. Have a wet towel next tou you if you need to cool something fast. Good luck with the no filler dream. Even guys that have been doing it for years most likely will need filler.
If you are using a mig welder, I highly recommend using the ESAB easy grind wire (.023-.025 diameter). It welds beautifully and grinding it isn't as much of a chore. Plus, it is made in the USA. The bad part is that it costs more than the lincoln or any other brand wire. I made the switch last summer and will never go back to the other wires again. I haven't run into a "bad" section of wire yet.
Jason if you have a small air grinder get a Ro-loc 3" arbor and some 36-50-80 grit discs. They also have scotch-brite style discs to finish. You can also get the next size smaller arbor and discs which I believe is 1.5". I can get you part numbers if necessary. Their is nothing wrong with using "small" amounts of filler around your weld repair areas. It is better than an area that is to thin that cracks later after it is painted.
Rick, Sounds very attractive. Just what I needed....an "EASY" button. I was thinking last night if the friggen weld wasn't so hard it would be easier. I'm going to check into local availability and cost. Sounds like it would be great espcially for a beginner. John E, I do have a small air grinder and will go pick up the arbor and discs as you suggested. Brian G, I agree. I did notice I got flatter welds with higher heat but being a novice, I was "skeered" and kept the juice dialed back a bit in some areas because I was afraid of burning through. I'm probably starting my first weld job on one of the toughest areas to do (lower windshield seal area) because there are many variations between repairing the outer corners and the long sections across the middle. Thanks everyone for the great advice. Yea......I know my goal of no filler might be unrealistic in some cases but figured if I work towards that from the start, maybe I'll get away with a high build primer in some areas and little filler in others. I have a tendency to be too much of a perfectionist sometimes.
Get some scrap sheet metal and use it to practice your welding skills, you will learn how much heat and wire you can give something before it burns through. :beer
Make sure you use a "all metal" or "metal to metal"body filler over your welds. it is none pourus not like a traditional plastic body filler. It has metal in it and it gets so hard you could tap it. summit even sells it, i buy it at my local bodyshop supply shop. make sure when you sand it you cut it when your finger nail just leaves a mark in the body filler. dont let it harden fully or it will take forever to sand. Paul 66larkgs turbo 401 nailhead 1953 international chopped/channeled 406 sbc .630- .630 mech roller rpm ported heads
That All Metal is good stuff. I've used it for years. Another option if you want to stay away from typical filler would be to use lead. Just a thought.
Agreed. This technology and its benefits have now been around so long I can't believe people are still applying filler over bare metal. Devon
Using filler over bare metal is still the preferred method for many of the best body men. When epoxy first came out it was all the rage to apply all filler over epoxy and this was strongly pushed by the paint companies (obviously) but since that time with ever improving fillers it's really easier, cheaper, and arguably better to still apply filler to bare metal. With that said both ways will last a long long time
I think this question is for me. Yes I've done a fair amount in the past several days. Probably a total of about 120" of weld. The lower windshield seal area is done and I'm moving on to other areas. Going better/easier than expected.
