Can you ? 18 gauge....40 amp lowest setting.Some say you can some say you can't.

it'd be enough of a bitch, that I'd rent/borrow a mig

JC whitney sells an attachment for arc welders to turn them into spot welders. I dont know if its worth a damn or not though, just saw it in there catalog.

It is possible with a small enough rod, but you have to be REALLLLLLLLY good. I have been welding for about 12 years and I couldn't do it. P.S. I tried on a CJ5 body.

Best I ever got was HUGE beads, but minor burnthrough.. took forever to grind. and that was with THIN rods and a stitch welder attachment

I've tried it a few times when I was taking welding classes. Couldn't do it. Then again I can't weld overhead arc all that well so take it with a grain of salt.

Bottom line: You need to use the right tool for the right job. Arc is great with thicker steels, but for the thinner materials you really need to be using a quality MIG unit.

Probably going to be more of a pain then its worth.

I've welded two pieces of tinfoil together with a tig machine before...it takes a special trick :P

CJ

Even with the small rod and you don't blow through, you WILL warp the metal.

So what is the correct way to butt weld sheet metal? is it TIG or would a torch welding setup be better?

I did a bunch of stitch welds with a stincoln weld pack this weekend on the tub and they turned out ok, but even at the lowest setting it was still possible to burn through

First Problem
You will more then likely burn through the metal. run the smallest rod you can at the lowest amp possible

Second Problem
You will most likley warp the metal. Do smal Spot welds cooling the metal in between each spot weld you make.

So can it be done.........Yes.......Is it wise.......NO. I have dont it. I have burnt through.......I have warped the panel.....and on occasion I got lucky and it looked good. I have many years Experiance welding as well. So good luck. before migs became popular allot of body shops actaully brazed panels on. You may look into this avenue before trying to stick weld it

I have been able to weld thin steel pretty well with stainless rod because it take fewer amps to weld with.

Originally posted by scottv
First Problem
You will more then likely burn through the metal. run the smallest rod you can at the lowest amp possible

Second Problem
You will most likley warp the metal. Do smal Spot welds cooling the metal in between each spot weld you make.

So can it be done.........Yes.......Is it wise.......NO. I have dont it. I have burnt through.......I have warped the panel.....and on occasion I got lucky and it looked good. I have many years Experiance welding as well. So good luck. before migs became popular allot of body shops actaully brazed panels on. You may look into this avenue before trying to stick weld it

Yeah but braizing brings up a whole nother level of heat control. I still say go rent/borrow a mig. If you were local I'd just have you do it with mine.

Prblem with that is
90% of the people I have seen mig use way to much heat.
If he hasnt migged before he will prolly even fight with sticking the wire or weld it to hot and warp it anyway

wiffout any backing material. a stick/mig/tig will just chase the sheet metal. Wat chu need is to get the oxy/cet and a nickel rod.
This the easiest way and will do the job!

ouh shiate I fell outa caracter.

Lurp, I B

whoops....... I must have stumbled into the jeep board...... backing away slowly while not maintaining eye contact...... J/K.......
try using 1/16" 6013 rods and a very low amperage setting.....

LMAO
I meant to be on this board............However I still try not to make eye contact............Flame suit is getting wore out

Save yourself all of the heart ache and cut yourself a piece of 1" wide 18 guage sheet metal and tack it in directly behind the area in question and weld away from the puddle. I mean if it is a verticle weld, weld down, if it's horizontal, piont the stick or mig toward the area your going, not where you've been, that will help prevent blow thru and because the metal is so thin, it will get plety of penitration and having somithing behind it will keep any warping to a minimum. Just my $.02:beer: