Stick Welding Thin Sheet Metal

David2011 said:
They have their place. For my tastes, not in this application.
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I hear that. They will absolutely make for solid, sound construction, but there's something about them... I'd rather things be perfect, but sometimes (not alwasys, sometimes) I'd rather look at an ugly popcorn weld that works, with the shame of having done it myself, than to see the pop rivet. There's nothing wrong wit them, but still..... There's something about 'em....
 
There are Pop-rivets that are flush on both sides.
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Timely thread. I've got a back-splash project I've been meaning to get after, and likewise, I have a stick welder, but not the skill for sheet metal. I've been piecing together a lift TIG setup for the welder, but I've yet to strike an arc with it. At this point, I'm leaning towards solid rivets. Flush mount pop rivets sound worth exploring too. Tacking together with rivets, and taking to a skilled welder is yet another option.

Regarding the splash pan, after looking at metal cost and so forth, I wound up buying a premade back splash off Grizley. I figure it will be easier to mod an existing pan than build one from scratch.
 
Quite a few years ago I built a back splash for my lathe. I constructed a frame work from 1/8 x 1 x 1 steel angle, all stick welded together. I then made aluminum panels and screwed all of them to the frame work. Doesn't necessarily look as professional as it would have if it had been all TIG welded aluminum, but at the time I didn't have a TIG welder, so just constructed it with what I had. It has worked well. Couple of photos attached.
Ted
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David2011 said:
Real rivets or pop rivets? I have thought of real riveting. I've done a fair amount of riveting on aircraft repairs and I like it. It's neat, clean and workmanlike. Pop rivets have their place but for this, to me, it just looks like the builder gave up and didn't know how to do anything better. Same with screws and nuts. Too ugly. The sheet metal brake is a half hour drive from the house so I would have to make perfect patterns. There is some tolerance at the tailstock end so it could be off up to 1/8" without being a disaster.
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Carrying your aircraft experience a little further. Light sand a the mating surfaces and follow with a wipe down with Acetone or alcohol. Spread and adhesive like an epoxy or even a polyurethane then rivet together. This will be a very acceptable construction method. No welding distortion and it will be liquid tight.
 
srfallsallot said:
Carrying your aircraft experience a little further. Light sand a the mating surfaces and follow with a wipe down with Acetone or alcohol. Spread and adhesive like an epoxy or even a polyurethane then rivet together. This will be a very acceptable construction method. No welding distortion and it will be liquid tight.
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I built a sandblast cabinet this way 40 years ago. It still works great, with no leaks. AN rivets and used silicone seal in the joint. I used 1/8" angle iron for a frame that wraps around the chamber. I believe I used 16 gage uncoated steel for the chamber.
 
I riveted and spot welded an extension to my back splash, which worked out well. No distortion. If you put the extra piece in the back, and spot weld it, then any material which splashes will not drip on the back side, but be directed to the chip pan. I had considered welding, and could have done it, but determined while practicing that it would be difficult at my current skill set. Too many blow outs due to the thin sheet metal. So decided to spot weld, tack weld and pop-rivet. That was a good decision, it was easy to finish the job and it came out ok. When I added a DRO, I found that I needed to extend the back splash further away to clear the scale. Used 1 x 1/8" steel for the supports at the head stock end which were simply spot welded to the sheet metal. This required adding on additional sheet metal to keep chips out of the motor, and extending the bottom so the chips would be directed to the chip pan, not the floor behind the chip pan. It's not perfect, but paint hides a lot of sins, and lets me get on with machining again.
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I can't see a real need for a watertight backsplash; just want to keep chips from hitting the wall and window behind the lathe. I'm not interested in having to maintain the flood coolant sump.

If I can't get the welding instructor that owes me a favor to weld it I guess I'll use AN rivets. I know he has access to TIG equipment.
 
Eddyde said:
There are Pop-rivets that are flush on both sides.
www.mcmaster.com

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.
www.mcmaster.com www.mcmaster.com
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They leave a hole when the mandrel breaks, though.
 
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