sheet metal welding

WacoBrian

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ok i have been schooling myself welding with a lincoln mig 175. im wanting to weld some sheet metal for seat pan and some side trim and want to ask the welding guys what gauge sheet metal should i use? see the trim around the shock on this guys bike
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All sheetmetal working equipment is made for 18-19 gauge. Planishing hammers, english wheel, bead rollers, stretchers, shrinkers, slip rolls etc. Easy to shape with a bag or stump and hammer. Welding its not that hard with tig or gas-I can do it :). Some people do it with mig, and I know that's what he was asking about, but I've never tried it-don't have a mig.

Here's a couple of pics from a metal gathering we had last weekend. Grant is gas welding 19 ga with a Meco Midget torch-no rod. He then hammered the welded joint to shape it-a somewhat different approach than usual, where the pieces are shaped first, then welded.

John
 

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Hooktool, since he was talking about a seat pan though, I would think he'd want something thicker than 18 or 19ga. It seems like he would only need things to be bent and not really formed. :shrug:

I wish I had skills and tools to weld the thin stuff. I have a MIG that I have a hard time with anything thinner than 16ga, and big oxy/aceytlene torch. Maybe I should get some smaller tips and give it a go.
 
If its a solo seat, thicker is fine-you can also bead the thinner stuff and its plenty strong. A long pan like the first pic would be pretty heavy. There's no doubt a bit thicker is more forgiving to weld, though.

This is 18 ga. The shape gives it strength.

John
 

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If you're just making a regular saddle pan with mild bends, I'd go with 14 gauge. A lot of my sculpture is made from scrap steel and I'm not really choosy about gauge as long as it's consistent on the particular piece I'm working on. I do a lot of MIG work on 22-26 gauge, but I've had a ton of experience working thin sheet. Just keep trying and experimenting with the settings on your welder and gas and you should be able to do 22 gauge on pretty much any smaller welder without too much trouble.

Hooktool, that's some cool shit right there. I haven't gas welded since my sophomore year of college, and probably won't ever do it again, but it's always awesome to see someone working old school at that level.
 
22-26 ga is pretty thin. I haven't mig welded enough to really know, but that's not easy. Gas and tig are very similar. I use the tig mostly.

Where can I see some of your work? You talk about it, but I never see it. My best friends are sculptors, and I would like to combine the metal more with the wood pieces I do.

John
 
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