Sheet metal welding clamps

WobblyHand

WobblyHand

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I know about the butt welding clamps for sheet metal. There you want a gap between the panels that (slowly) fills with spot/momentary welds.
What do you do for angled joints? Are they gapped as well, or just butt them together? Are there clamps for non-right angle joints?

I am trying to weld on sheet metal extensions to an already existing backsplash for my G0752Z lathe. Due to a replacement DRO install, the backsplash needs to be spaced further back. I have done that already. But now I need to add sheet metal to parts of the backsplash to shield the motor, which has now become exposed to chips. I can do the butt weld extensions (haven't tried it yet but will this week) but I am puzzling about holding the non-right angle corners in place for welding. Do such clamps exist? What are they called?

Yes, I'm missing a picture. I'll take one tomorrow. Backsplash mikes at 0.047" thick. My sheet metal (18 ga) mikes at 0.053" thick. Will be using MIG.
 
Why not just some magnets. Vise grip clamps with pads on the jaws. Flat bar clamped to existing and clamp new piece to flat bar?
 
Cadillac said:
Why not just some magnets. Vise grip clamps with pads on the jaws. Flat bar clamped to existing and clamp new piece to flat bar?
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I haven't had great luck with magnets holding things. Maybe I was expecting too much of them.

Good idea with a flat bar, or rectangular bar, that sound good. Right angle is pretty easy. Could even cleeco to some angle aluminum and later fill the holes?

I have an off angle, just guessing, as I haven't measured it, maybe about 105 degrees? That's the one I'm thinking about (more like fixating!) holding together the joint. Are there adjustable clamps like that?

Worst case, I could machine a piece with the correct angle and clamp the sheet metal to it. Seems kind of wasteful of stock though.
 
I've been able to hold the sheet metal in place at the angle i want and tack it. I hold it tight to the other part and it seems to work ok. If i can't hold it in place then i clamp part A to block/fixture 1 and then part B to block/fixture 2 at the appropriate angle with C clamps, vice grip welding clamps or even quick grip clamps. And sometimes i can make the magnet angle blocks work but i agree that they only sometimes work.

Something like what fireball tool makes would be nice but it's too pricey for my budget!
 
ivel03 said:
I've been able to hold the sheet metal in place at the angle i want and tack it. I hold it tight to the other part and it seems to work ok. If i can't hold it in place then i clamp part A to block/fixture 1 and then part B to block/fixture 2 at the appropriate angle with C clamps, vice grip welding clamps or even quick grip clamps. And sometimes i can make the magnet angle blocks work but i agree that they only sometimes work.

Something like what fireball tool makes would be nice but it's too pricey for my budget!
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What is the tool that fireball makes called? I don't know the name of the tool to search for it. That's compounded by search engines pushing useless results, even if you do get the search term correct.
 
WobblyHand said:
...There you want a gap between the panels that (slowly) fills with spot/momentary welds.
Backsplash mikes at 0.047" thick. My sheet metal (18 ga) mikes at 0.053" thick. Will be using MIG.
Click to expand...

You don't want a gap for metal this thin. Just butt them up. QUICKLY tack weld them at the ends and in the middle. Your biggest problem will be distortion of the sheet metal due to the heat differentials.

As for angles, just guess at the angle for the initial tacks, then bend to the final angle and complete the weld. Again, distortion will be your greatest enemy. I doubt that you can preheat the sheets to minimize distortion, so weld some, let cool, weld some more, let cool... repeat as needed.
 
OTmachine said:
My vote would be Cleeco’s and solid rivets.
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Thought about that, although if I'm going to do that might as well spot weld the whole thing. Would be a lot easier.

Thought it would look a lot better if it were welded up, like the car guys can do. The videos make it look easy, but they are experienced and I'm not. I have experienced warpage in some of my welds, so that's why I'm being overly cautious. Cursed by overthinking it, really.

It's cool today, so a good time to try out a coupon or two. That should get me in the mood to tackle this - or drive me to option B!
 
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