All things welding

AirborneTexasRanger said:
For a lap weld that wire in that size will be fine.

Personally whenever I weld exhaust behind the cats with either aluminized or stainless or whatever, I never change wire or gas. I just don't care enough & I don't want to keep different spools or gas just for welding those materials because I don't weld them enough. Also it's not structural, it just has to hold itself together. I always take a flap disc to the weld mainly to see if I have complete fusion along the entire length of the joint & because the welds usually look like shit because I'm not good at welding very thin metal yet.
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Most of my experience is with fairly thin stuff, like when I did the railing around my stairs. I tried body metal once but it wanted to burn through, that definitely needs something like .023. especially since I was filling in a crack, so effectively a butt weld. If exhaust tubing wasn't quite a bit thicker than that I wouldn't even think about trying it.
 
AirborneTexasRanger said:
For a lap weld that wire in that size will be fine.

Personally whenever I weld exhaust behind the cats with either aluminized or stainless or whatever, I never change wire or gas. I just don't care enough & I don't want to keep different spools or gas just for welding those materials because I don't weld them enough. Also it's not structural, it just has to hold itself together. I always take a flap disc to the weld mainly to see if I have complete fusion along the entire length of the joint & because the welds usually look like shit because I'm not good at welding very thin metal yet.
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I’d add that you also don’t need to worry about sugaring on the inside of the stainless behind the cats. And I would think that’s not an issue at all with a lap weld.

You would definitely have to worry about sugaring on the intake side on a butt weld. But dealing with that is a whole ‘nother can of worms.
 
NashvilleTJ said:
I’d add that you also don’t need to worry about sugaring on the inside of the stainless behind the cats. And I would think that’s not an issue at all with a lap weld.

You would definitely have to worry about sugaring on the intake side on a butt weld. But dealing with that is a whole ‘nother can of worms.
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good to know. Having zero experience welding stainless I had to google what sugaring even was, but now that I know I agree I don't think I need to worry for this. I do know I'll have to paint the weld to prevent corrosion.

I was more thinking about whether there was gonna be any quality issues with the weld due to the different compositions as I feel like I've heard of people (using gas shielded or stick) using specific filler when doing stuff like this, but since no one has brought that up I guess I'm ok, or at least ok enough for exhaust tubing.
 
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freedom_in_4low said:
good to know. Having zero experience welding stainless I had to google what sugaring even was, but now that I know I agree I don't think I need to worry for this. I do know I'll have to paint the weld to prevent corrosion.

I was more thinking about whether there was gonna be any quality issues with the weld due to the different compositions as I feel like I've heard of people (using gas shielded or stick) using specific filler when doing stuff like this, but since no one has brought that up I guess I'm ok, or at least ok enough for exhaust tubing.
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The wire you mentioned in your original post will be fine. Lincoln NR211MP

For practice, if you want, you can minimize sugaring by welding the stainless in small bits ~1/2" at a time then let it cool. Sugaring, technically oxidation, is the result of excessive heat applied to stainless steel.
 
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I need to fill this hole in my rocker guards. Material is 3/16".

I'm trying to decide if I cut a plug from the 1/4" stock I have on-hand (I stupidly threw away the material I cut off the front of the guard last week...) and weld that in and then grind/sand it smooth or just go in and fill the entire hole with weld (a bit at a time to allow cooling to avoid warping).

Thoughts?

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FarFire70 said:
I need to fill this hole in my rocker guards. Material is 3/16".

I'm trying to decide if I cut a plug from the 1/4" stock I have on-hand (I stupidly threw away the material I cut off the front of the guard last week...) and weld that in and then grind/sand it smooth or just go in and fill the entire hole with weld (a bit at a time to allow cooling to avoid warping).

Thoughts?

View attachment 540317

View attachment 540319
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For plug welds, you want to fill it all in one go. If you can clamp that end down or bolt it down then that would reduce warping. It probably won't warp much.

Edit: should probably specify that don't clamp/bolt it to the Jeep
 
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AirborneTexasRanger said:
For plug welds, you want to fill it all in one go. If you can clamp that end down or bolt it down then that would reduce warping. It probably won't warp much.

Edit: should probably specify that don't clamp/bolt it to the Jeep
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To clarify, this would be off the Jeep on a weld table.

Tracking the weld on the plug would be a single pass, or maybe two passes back-to-back to reposition to the other side of the guard.
 
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Mike_H said:
I’d pull it off, put an aluminum or copper backer behind it, and weld it up. The time you’ll have into making a patch really isn’t worth it.
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It's already off, should have mentioned.

I'm thinking this is the way. I figured it was time wasted to grind down a plug to fit the hole.

But, I'm just a guy with a welder very much learning so best to all advice than jump in the wrong.
 
FarFire70 said:
To clarify, this would be off the Jeep on a weld table.

Tracking the weld on the plug would be a single pass, or maybe two passes back-to-back to reposition to the other side of the guard.
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With a backer, you’ll start at an edge and just start letting the puddle fill the hole. No flipping over, no reposition. Just fill the hole.
 
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A backer is always the preferred method, but it can be done without one.

With no backer you might not be able to fill the hole in one shot. It might get too hot and fall out. In that case you could weld around the edge to make the hole smaller, wait for it to stop glowing orange then fill it in. Since you can access both sides this would be an acceptable alternative.
 
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Mike_H said:
With a backer, you’ll start at an edge and just start letting the puddle fill the hole. No flipping over, no reposition. Just fill the hole.
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AirborneTexasRanger said:
A backer is always the preferred method, but it can be done without one.

With no backer you might not be able to fill the hole in one shot. It might get too hot and fall out. In that case you could weld around the edge to make the hole smaller, wait for it to stop glowing orange then fill it in. Since you can access both sides this would be an acceptable alternative.
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Woodrow said:
I did that moving some holes to make a YJ winch plate work
View attachment 540328
View attachment 540329
It was easy to do and didn't warp the plate.
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Thanks all! I figured this was the easiest way to just fill the hole with weld.

I hadn't thought of aluminum backer. I was tracking brass being a typical use. Gotta see when I have around the house for a backer.
 
What do you do with tack welds? I always plan out where I am going to tack pieces together. I'll then weld close to it, about an inch away, cut the tack out, feather the stop of the weld then continue to weld through that area. If I'm welding all the way around something then I'll feather out where I started then weld into that area tying everything together. The reason for doing this is to avoid weak spots in your weld. Starts & stops are the weakest so the goal is to minimize these. You can grind it however you want, but I find that a ⅛" grinding wheel or a thin burr bit work the best.
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When you make the rest of the weld you need to weld from end to end of your grinding marks. You can see towards the bottom where I didn't quite go far enough.
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This will give you a nice full penetration weld,
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Here's the inside of a tack that I did not feather out. Note that I TIG welded this because I had that machine set up already. With MIG or Stick you have less control so it will penetrate even less. See if you can find the bad spots.
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You can see where my tack is easily on the back side if you know what to look for. A dead giveaway is the pronounced straight edge of the base metal.
IP1.jpg


IP2.jpg
 
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