2006 at the Hammond Barn

[Bob Carriere]

HI Mike

I am familiar with the copper plate behind to fill in hole.... and got quite good at it.
what I am trying to do is weld an 18 gauge sheet metal plate by tacking on to a 1/8 thick angle iron behind.

WE tried to drill 3/16 hole in the plate.... which exposes the angle iron behind..... trying to fill the hole with a puddle of melted steel to look like spot welding. Our problem is we fill in the hole with a very convincing puddle..... but the succker doesn't penetrate deep enough in the angle to make it solid...... as in hit it with a hammer and it pops out.

So we rejid\gged the mig wleder with 035 wire/gas and tried again...... with the 023 wire we tried heat range 2 and 3 with the 035 we used..... finally succesfully .... at heat range 3 and even better at 4...... this is on a large Miller 160.

I have found that you must hold the mig tip right centered on the hole.... make sure the angle behind it is sanded to bare metal.... and the sheet metal has to be clamped very tight with no air space .......... zap ...... and you have a nice puddle fused to the angle..... at least when I was practicing.

If you have an air gap between the plate and the angle you get a larger burned hole partly fused to the angle...... if you hit the hole slightly off centered and strike the arc with the sheet metal you get a nice half moon puddle.........

Danr it I may just go out and buyt a spot welder.... the only thing that keep me form doing so is the reality thatin replacing panels in an existing nose piece you would need some tailor made S shape electrode for almost every angle......

Any and all suggestions/comments welcomed......

Bob