Stick Welding Thin Sheet Metal

[GeneT45]

What's the watertight aircraft rivet? I think it has 'red' in the name...

Spot welding stands out as a good idea to me. The Horror Fraught spot welders are pretty inexpensive and work well. I ended up buying both the 110V and 220V versions, and found the 110V preferable (not as likely to burn through on the thin material I'd actually spot weld). I know it sounds stupid to buy a welder, but you could easily spend as much on good rivets...

GsT

 

[David2011]

With this style, the hole is filled with the mandrel:

Closed End Blind Rivets | Closed End Tubular Rivets | Jay-Cee Sales & Rivet, Inc.

www.rivetsonline.com

You can also buy caps that drive into the hole like these:

ALUMINIUM CAP FOR POP RIVET 3/16 DIAMETER., Canada

Pop rivet cover. Does not work in all types of blind rivets. Informed you.

www.tec-n-tec.com

Ted

Thanks, Ted. It's good to know that those are available. I will not be using any variety of pop rivets. This project will either be welded or riveted with real rivets.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

The lathe that I bought recently doesn't have a backsplash so I need to make one from mild steel. I by far would prefer to stick weld this project. Gas welding is my only other option at home and I don't want to gas weld this project. The AC welder is an old Lincoln, so old that it has copper windings. It only goes down to 40 amps. I have very limited experience stick welding anything thinner than 1/8" thick. I would like to use 20 or 22 gauge to keep the weight down; 18 gauge is an option if 20 or 22 is too thin. I don't see a backsplash needing a lot of structural strength. I can bend the backsplash in a sheet metal brake but the ends will be welded on. I'll also bend a self for tool holders and other small items from the same material. I'm thinking 4 " wide on the shelf.

What is the lightest gauge steel that is reasonable to weld at 40 amps with 1/16" 6013 with a reasonably good chance of not blowing through? Is there a better rod than 6013 for this application?

I use to do custom body work with my Lincoln (a Hobby), sounds like you have the same machine. You can successfully weld 16 and 18 ga with it, the trick I used was A) use 1/16" (or 3/32" if you find 1/16" to be elusive) 6011 rods, B) clamp a thick piece of metal, Aluminum works best within an 1 or so to either side of the weld and C) stitch it a half inch at a time until you have it joined. This controlled blow through and warp-age very well. It also helps if you can overlap the 2 pieces as opposed to a butt weld.

 

[David2011]

What's the watertight aircraft rivet? I think it has 'red' in the name...

Spot welding stands out as a good idea to me. The Horror Fraught spot welders are pretty inexpensive and work well. I ended up buying both the 110V and 220V versions, and found the 110V preferable (not as likely to burn through on the thin material I'd actually spot weld). I know it sounds stupid to buy a welder, but you could easily spend as much on good rivets...

GsT

Watertight is not a priority for me. Spot welding would be nice but I'm not buying a spot welder to use once. If I put a rivet in every 2" starting one inch from the ends I'll need 24 rivets. I can get 1/8 pound of rivets for under $7.00. One eighth pound is 435 3/32" or 216 1/8" by 3/16" long rivets.

 

[David2011]

I use to do custom body work with my Lincoln (a Hobby), sounds like you have the same machine. You can successfully weld 16 and 18 ga with it, the trick I used was A) use 1/16" (or 3/32" if you find 1/16" to be elusive) 6011 rods, B) clamp a thick piece of metal, Aluminum works best within an 1 or so to either side of the weld and C) stitch it a half inch at a time until you have it joined. This controlled blow through and warp-age very well. It also helps if you can overlap the 2 pieces as opposed to a butt weld.

Thanks for the on-topic answer! I bought some Hobart 1/16" 6013 rods yesterday at Tractor Supply. The backsplash on my Grizzly is not welded solid so I see no need to weld this one solid either. The calculated weight difference is 28 pounds for 18 ga and 35 pounds for 16 ga so I think 16 ga is a viable option. The outside dimensions will be about 24" tall and 58" long so I don't want to make it too awkward to handle. By overlap, are you thinking to bend an "L" on the end caps? I have a nice big block of aluminum to use as a heat sink. I'm going to get small pieces of 18 and 16 gauge steel to see what I can successfully weld.

Edit: BTW, the welding instructor said that "if I was good enough" I should be able to weld 16 gauge so that's just more reinforcement that I might be on the right track.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

By overlap, are you thinking to bend an "L" on the end caps?

Exactly, the edge to edge or butt weld for me is difficult as I want to put too much too quick and make a mess of it while the "L" or an overlap is much better as you have a double thickness. I use to put a narrow strip behind butt joints for this very reason.

The block of aluminum for a heat sink helps control warpage...