Thin welding

Thought I would put these up in here... not really sure whether this is the best place for them but still!

Kai has found that he prefers arc welding to mig. He seems to get a better result but wanted to find out just how well he would do on a thin sheet of metal.

These photos show him welding a patch onto a sheet of metal which was once the side of a computer case. While I know it is not exactly a practical test it does show that he can actually get a semi decent result.

He did try one trick that I thought was pretty smart. He folded the edge of two of the sides over and hammered it flat... effectively doubling the thickness of the target patch. The improvement in result was quite effective.















Don't get me wrong... it is not exactly a work of art... but I reckon it has promise!

I've decided I prefer TIG to MIG also prefer Oxy too

Dr_evil said:

I've decided I prefer TIG to MIG also prefer Oxy too

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when i used to weld a lot. i dunt at all now well not yet, i liked oxy on thin stuff cus i could just melt the join together without using filler rods.

Neither of us has tried tig... do not really know what it involves or what the advantages or disadvantages may be. Tried oxy as a teenager. Was under the impression that you had to be licensed nowadays to get hold of the necessary cylinders.

I would like him to try as many different types as possible, though becoming reasonably proficient in one type may be better than doing none of them very well.

Still.. he is very young and has time to learn. I am hoping that by the time he goes to university then he may be able to use some of the skills he is learning now to earn a few quid and make his journey through education a little easier.

Freelaner said:

when i used to weld a lot. i dunt at all now well not yet, i liked oxy on thin stuff cus i could just melt the join together without using filler rods.

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Oxy feels more archaic very controlled too

Ryder said:

Neither of us has tried tig... do not really know what it involves or what the advantages or disadvantages may be. Tried oxy as a teenager. Was under the impression that you had to be licensed nowadays to get hold of the necessary cylinders.

I would like him to try as many different types as possible, though becoming reasonably proficient in one type may be better than doing none of them very well.

Still.. he is very young and has time to learn. I am hoping that by the time he goes to university then he may be able to use some of the skills he is learning now to earn a few quid and make his journey through education a little easier.

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Tig is kind of like mig but you feed in the rod yourself, the weld created is very precise and neat too.

Plenty on ebay as well and yeah for Oxy you need a license to get the gas

ive used arc for years on thicker stuff...bought an old disco and then a gasless mig, i find it easier and neater on the thin sheet stuff. id say your wasting your time trying to do thin sheet with arc it will always be bird**** or holes, with a bit of practice mig will be quicker and neater.
bending edges over to get double thicknesses will result in moisture traps and more rust to fix in a year or two.

So is tig restricted to the thickness of metal? I know that MIG isn't so good on thick steel

ricc said:

ive used arc for years on thicker stuff...bought an old disco and then a gasless mig, i find it easier and neater on the thin sheet stuff. id say your wasting your time trying to do thin sheet with arc it will always be bird**** or holes, with a bit of practice mig will be quicker and neater.
bending edges over to get double thicknesses will result in moisture traps and more rust to fix in a year or two.

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Ah now ya see he didn't think of that... mind you neither did I!

Ryder said:

So is tig restricted to the thickness of metal? I know that MIG isn't so good on thick steel

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I find MIG fine on thick steel but it depends how powerful your MIG is


The TIG works very well as we've been testing them

OK... so where is tig preferable to mig? Is it purely a matter of preference or are they two different tools for essentially different jobs?

Ryder said:

OK... so where is tig preferable to mig? Is it purely a matter of preference or are they two different tools for essentially different jobs?

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A mixture of both but I find TIG is better than MIG if you require a precise and thin weld with no clean up as they create deep penetration, variable width welds depending on the stick thickness and material

MIG is better if you're upside down though

tig is mainly for non ferrus like aluminium

mig is for everything else

Freelaner said:

tig is mainly for non ferrus like aluminium

mig is for everything else

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Mainly but it is nice to use on steel too

Dr_evil said:

Mainly but it is nice to use on steel too

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ah never thought about using it on steel


int the wire more expensive

So is tig running cooler then? I thought welding Ali was a no no because of the lower melting point? (Sorry if these sound like dumb questions!)

Tig is extremely controllable, you can literally weld a biscuit tin with one..

Ryder said:

So is tig running cooler then? I thought welding Ali was a no no because of the lower melting point? (Sorry if these sound like dumb questions!)

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it's welded all the time, zip up scaffolding is an example, it welds quick cos you move faster to weld on it so the temp never gets up too high

Ah! Sounds like tig should be on the agenda then... I feel a trip to ebay coming on!

Freelaner said:

ah never thought about using it on steel


int the wire more expensive

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A bit but if uni's paying I'm happy to use TIG for steel

Ryder said:

So is tig running cooler then? I thought welding Ali was a no no because of the lower melting point? (Sorry if these sound like dumb questions!)

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No hotter I think as the spark seems to be brighter, but no Ali is welded this way as you can control the arc heat very precisely

mad git said:

Tig is extremely controllable, you can literally weld a biscuit tin with one..

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Its a lovely method, essentially Oxy welding but with electricity instead

Ryder said:

Ah! Sounds like tig should be on the agenda then... I feel a trip to ebay coming on!

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Theres a lovely Kemppi on ebay