Welding different thickness materials

CrustyJeep · Apr 6, 2006

Is there some sort of rule of thumb for heat setting when welding two different thickness material?

For example, say you're fillet welding some 1/8" edge on to a chunk of 1/4"... Do you just set the welder is if it was all 1/4" and modify your weld pattern to concentrate more heat on the thicker material, or is there some rule of thumb to arrive at a lower heat setting?

P.S. CRASH we need a special metal working forum

crash2 · Apr 6, 2006

Its not the setting its how you work the heat from the thick to the thin material... Boils down to your hand movements..

Paul · Apr 6, 2006

Yeah, I would keep most of the heat on the 1/4 and guide or prod the pool up/against the 1/8. But I'm a pretty incompetent welder. :looser: Just take some spare stock and practice.

JOOP · Apr 6, 2006

I mastered this when I molded my fender wells into my Tube Fenders. Took some trial and error but after I figured it out, it was a breeze. Just have to be carefull not to poke holes through the thin stuff. Just keep most of the heat on the thick stuck and quickly grab the thin metal.

CrustyJeep · Apr 6, 2006

For the record, I'm not having any trouble, just wondering if I was missing some piece of the technique :flipoff:

crash2 · Apr 6, 2006

cough cough bullshit cough cough :flipoff:

Jeepasaurusrex · Apr 7, 2006

Set your welder for the thinner material, as the weld is already gonna be 10x stronger than the thinner metal. JOOP is correct about keeping the heat on the thicker material then letting the puddle whip over onto the thinner material. :redneck:

NotMatt · Apr 7, 2006

I like choosing a heat setting somewhere in between what I would use for each material, then keeping the heat focused on the thicker material. Seems to work good for me.

One thing I try to do, just because I'm not as experienced as a lot of other welders on here might be, is test a few different settings and techniques with the materials I'm going to weld and see what seems to work best.

Dude · Apr 7, 2006

oh god, not more internet fabricators. :flipoff: :haha: :shake:

JOOP · Apr 7, 2006

Jeepasaurusrex said:
Set your welder for the thinner material, as the weld is already gonna be 10x stronger than the thinner metal. JOOP is correct about keeping the heat on the thicker material then letting the puddle whip over onto the thinner material. :redneck:

Ofcourse I'm correct. I said I mastered it. :flipoff:

but thatnks for the support. :cheer:

boxboy · Apr 7, 2006

Crusty bring it up to my house and I will weld it for you.

NotMatt · Apr 7, 2006

Dude said:
oh god, not more internet fabricators. :flipoff: :haha: :shake:

Haven't you learned... that's all we do around here. It's called Web Welding. Once you own a welder, you're automatically certified to look at pictures of someones welds on the Internet and say "Looks to cold" or "Not enough penetration". :redneck:

Cascade_Crawler · Apr 7, 2006

NotMatt said:
"Looks to cold" or "Not enough penetration". :redneck:

Those phrases could be used with a number of different kinds of photos :flipoff:

JOOP · Apr 7, 2006

Just dont go joining the polar bear club and trying to score.

Dude · Apr 8, 2006

use a TIG welder, no filler. I can do it.

for the seamless look.

CrustyJeep · Apr 8, 2006

boxboy said:
Crusty bring it up to my house and I will weld it for you.

No, seriously, I'm not having any trouble :flipoff: This was just for the discussion...

When I first got back into this whole welding thing, I would set the welder for the thinner material. Then I realized that can't be right, because it won't ANY penetration on the thicker stuff (and I've seen such welds just pop off the thicker stuff like it was glued on), so i started setting it for the thicker material. So far that's worked fine as long as I don't do something stupid and blow a hole in the thin stuff.

I still don't think that's quite technically correct though...