Been spending some time working on my sheetmetal welding. I'm a little out of practice and need to do some brushing up before I unleash the welder on my truck panels. I'm not quite there, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.
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A little swipe of filler and it should work just fine. It has some low spots in it and some hammer damage from being a little overzealous.
Next up was to try to try adding some filler as I was welding, instead of after. My .045 filler rod is in my other storage unit, so I just used some .030 MIG wire. I find it easier to tack in the middle and then go for the ends and finish it up by filling in the gaps. Since this is a flat panel, it seems to work better for me considering the distortion that IS going to happen. I find welding sheetmetal, especially flat pieces, to be more about how to fix the warpage than controlling it or trying to avoid it.
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Starting from the left is the raw weld bead. To the right of that is an area that has had the proud bead ground flush and a bit of hammer work was used to stretch out the shrinkage from the welding. To the right of that has been planished, final ground and hit with 80 grit on the DA.
My "education" with the TIG welder was "Here, it's set up, go for it!". Since I had a fair amount of experience with a torch, it hasn't been too hard to pick up. One thing I had to learn on my own was to start the arc a bit off the seam and move over to it - it really helps to avoid blowing holes at the start.
Anyone have some helpful tips and/or advice?
Tim D.