How To Weld Sheet Metal Without Distortion

It s important to avoid overwelding.

How to weld sheet metal without distortion.

The bigger the weld the greater the shrinkage that will occur. Correctly sizing a weld not only minimizes distortion but also saves weld metal and time. If distortion is a problem select either a joint in which the weld stresses balance each other or a joint requiring the least amount of weld metal. Welding stiffeners to plate is a great place to do this.

There are a few ways we ve found that help with this process and we decided to list them below. Here are some tips to minimize welding distortion. Forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one. Minimize the amount of heat put into the weld.

When butt welding chamfer both sides of the join but keep the included angle less than 60 and make the gap between the sheets as small as possible. It might be tough to completely eliminate distortion on something that size. If necessary invest in weld gages. The bigger the weld the greater the shrinkage.

Start out with lots of tacks and then backstep weld about 1 1 2 at a time. Tig welding sheet metal. Because shrinkage accumulates from each weld pass a fewer number of big passes results in less distortion than a greater number of small passes with small electrodes. For sheet metal i use ine welding wire and it is just as good as their flux cored wire if you want you can grab one here.

Another way to minimize weld metal is to use intermittent rather than continuous welds where possible as in fig. Use intermittent welds instead of continuous welds where possible to minimize the amount of weld metal. Short bursts or tacks will help you gain more control and adjust easily. Use intermittent welding using intermittent welds rather than continuous welds where design allows it can save as much as 75 weld metal and significantly reduce shrinkage and distortion.

Welding heat sink applying a heat sink behind the weld or on the surrounding metal of a weld will help keep the the heat from spreading and allows you to weld without damaging the metal surrounding the weld as much. While wire feed welding sheet metal go for short bursts of welding instead of a going on a long bead. Ensuring that the weld has been correctly sized will minimize distortion and save weld metal and time. Intermittent rather than continuous welds help as does minimizing the amount of filler metal used.

Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal.