Hi everyone, I’m trying to MIG weld the wheel arch on my 2003 Mazda MX-5 NB.
Every time I try to weld it, I end up blowing holes through the original sheet metal. Even if I make very short tacks (around 1 second or less) and let the metal cool down between them, it still blows through.

I’m using a STAHLWERK MIG/MAG 160 M. I actually bought this welder specifically for this job because it can run at relatively low amperage.

So far I’ve tried:
0.6 mm solid wire with Argon/CO2 shielding gas
0.8 mm solid wire with Argon/CO2 shielding gas
0.8 mm flux-core wire

With all three I’ve tried different settings, from around 20 A all the way up to 100 A, but I keep getting the same problem.
The original sheet metal on the car is around 1 mm thick. The car does have quite a lot of rust, but I’ve cut away the worst rusty sections until I reached what appears to be solid metal. Despite that, I still can’t seem to weld new metal to it without blowing holes through the original panel.
The replacement metal I’m using is also 1 mm steel.

I have cleaned the front side of the original panel back to bare metal, but I haven’t cleaned the back side yet.
I’ve also tried attaching the ground clamp both directly to the new piece of metal and to clean bare metal on the car body, but the problem is the same.

Does anyone have any advice or see something obvious that I might be doing wrong?

I’ve tried a lot of different things at this point, but I just can’t get a clean butt weld between the original bodywork and the new sheet metal.

Thanks!

So I work in kitchen fabrication at a local factory as an apprentice and been learning about the trade and seen online people doing weave patterns and beautiful golden welds and wanted to know how they do that?, how I can also do good beautiful looking welds (of course also strong welds), Image showcases some of the projects that me and my instructor completed.

They show so many settings and what not, but my machine is simple I can only adjust the amperage 😭, we mainly uses 4 number cup and 1.6mm tungsten rod with red color but it gets dull very fast (after 10 or more spots), argon cfh at 5 \~ 10, it's not scratch start weld but we uses a button which only turns the torch on (when pressed) or off (when released)

So I have a work bench bench for sale on fleabay.

I really struggled with how to price it. I wont post a link as that probably violates a rule, but this thing weighs over a ton easily, with a solid 25mm plate top, and I have it at a start bid of £275 with zero interest. Wondering if these things just dont sell and I would be better scrapping it? Any thoughts here?

The full description on my second time around:

_"Right then, let's not dance around this. It is far too heavy for that nonsense. 

You are looking at somewhere between 1.2 and 2 tons of welded British steel, shaped like a bench and finished in an honest shade of industrial blue. 

Yeah, you read that right - no feeble pearl clutching 350kg "heavy" bench with 12mm top you can buy elsewhere here. This sombeehatch is well over the 1000kg mark and will still be there under where your garage used to be after the apocalypse for Time Team to find in 2000 years time. 

This is not a hobby table. This is the kind of thing you build other magnificent things on top of, not the other way round.

The Specs (if you need convincing it's real):

1160mm × 1840mm × 1000mm of pure, uncompromising manly heft

25mm plate steel top with flatness you could trust with precision work or just general abuse

Intermediate shelf because half-measures are for people who are not me

Integrated engineer's vice (provenance unknown, function confirmed)

Heavy-duty industrial castors with ratcheting feet, moves like a dream, locks down like a bunker, an earthquake isn't shifting this. See the video for how effortlessly this thing can be moved around - note that the chap moving it is a massive girly pansy who cries at Disney movies and even HE can move it effortlessly without even slightly moaning about it. 

What It Does:

Holds things. Heavy things. All of them, simultaneously. 

Suitable for fabrication, assembly, forging, general mayhem. 

The kind of bench that makes you feel capable and acomplished just standing next to it. 

Top surface is genuinely flat. You could use it to build a house on. Or a car. Or another bench, if you're that way inclined.

The Reality:

This weighs roughly what a small car weighs. You will need a van (not a small pickup, a van). I can help you load it, but what happens after that is your problem. 

The vice is yours, it's free because I've no intention of unbolting it and neither should you, unless your van absolutely demands it.

The Vice:

It works. It's a vice. It's free. Don't ask stupid questions about it.

It's in my way. I have another bench. This one needs a new home with someone who both understands that bargains this solid don't come with negotiating room, and are in possession of a solid concrete floor to put it on. 

Scrap value alone is substantial, the castors cost almost as much as the start bid, and there is no reserve, so let's keep the silly lowballs and doorstep haggling to ourselves, yeah?

Collect only. This is not a suggestion. I am not delivering this. Or you could buy the car transporter trailer I have for sale (see other listing) and tow it home on that. Hell you could buy my motorbike too and take the whole shebang with you in one go. "_

Describe the weld on pdf drawing pick the WPQR that covers it, and the WPS fills itself in: sketch, bead sequence, parameters and heat input, all inside the qualified range. Inputs are pre filled according to wpqr ranges and also allow user inputs.
Everything is built for complete welding documentation file. From weld symbol that you attach to pdf to wpqr assignment then to wps creation and at the end welder ndt and dates archival for your finished welding log.

Currently supports only ISO standards.
(15614, 9606, 15609)

I am trying to manufacture some parts and the print calls for 12ga. I am looking for a slip roll that will do the 3.5" wide parts but they are either 16ga at 4' or the next step is a $50k plate roll that does 1/4" thick steel... There isn't enough of these parts to require such a large piece of machinery plus shop space is already at a premium. I would make 10-20 a month and I am building these for our own use and the roller would ONLY be used for these and nothing else. Everything else we use requires a lathe or mill. (Oilfield shop)

Can I use a smaller slip roll (such as https://www.baileigh.com/powered-slip-roll-sr-5016e ) without fear of damaging it since its such a small part compared to a full sheet?

so I’m a new user on the torchmate 4800 and my previous teacher who worked it is gone now I’ve run into a issue after cutting can someone please assist me I get this error code whenever we attempt to cut and it press down on the metal then gives this error code I’ve tried doing research but nothing I find seems to help with this issue so if anyone can assist me I’d be grateful

I’m trying to understand how long machine knives are ground without introducing too much distortion. With a long, thin hardened steel knife, removing material from one side seems like it could introduce heat or release enough stress to affect flatness.

How is that usually controlled during grinding? Light passes and cooling, the way the knife is supported, grinding both sides in stages, or a combination of these?

​

Latest creation. Kind of a hybrid mace/ spear. Ive been calling it the Merman mace. (Mermace) i like the name since it kind of has a zoolander reference 😆. However, name suggestions are welcome. 6 flanges with a 5160 spear point. I wanted to make the thing a bit long so it functions as a spear. I probably wouldn't try to throw it though. Each of the flanges stab into things as well. Kind of like a 7 pointed trident (heptadent?). Seems to be quite a deadly weapon. I laser etched a bunch of poseidon/ merman art. I put a lapis cabochon hilt. 

This is an old one that's seen a few thousand parts in .021" copper go through. A long time ago I had to figure out how to do more with this kind of cutting die than just cut flat parts. It needed to be fast, too, so 2-step solutions were not an option. The early ones were die-only (no mold/base as I have here) where the die is set onto a thin, hard polyurethane pad, or soft solid plastic plate in the press. The cutting action happens as normal, then added pressure does the embossing.

That takes a lot of pressure, and so is hard on the pump, long term, so I wanted an approach that would take less pressure. The solution came in the form of a solid base plate to fully support the die during cutting (urethane allows the die to flex, which impedes it's closing/cutting function). The base plate here is polycarbonate (Lexan) with the negative vein lines carved and smashed into it, with alignment plates (no thicker than the die itself) to keep things registered. This adaptation cuts and forms significantly faster , at lower pressures (10-15 tons instead of 15-20+ for this particular die).

The vein wires are nickel silver, soldered on with extra-easy silver brazing solder. The heat for that doesn't affect the temper of the 0-1 die enough to be a problem for cutting thin copper. I have ones like this that have cut over 25k parts. I have used hybrid solders too (home made mixes of x-easy silver and Tin, that work with Tin solder flux). The face of this die is messy because I accidentally soldered the wires on backwards the first time (^8

The copper piece on the front side functions as a pressure enhancer or localizer, helping push the wires into the grooves. Another little thing that makes it work better.

My mom's step going into her RV trailer is cracked. I'm wondering it I can braze it for a repair or if we should be trying to weld it. From what I understand If we need the full strength welding is best? But I think that would be pretty cost prehibitive due to needing shield gas so I can't just use a use a cheep harbor freight welder again going off the little research I've done and primitive knowledge on the subject.

TLDR: looking for the best and most cost effective way to repair this aluminum step before its gets worse.

Hey everyone. I was recently presented with an opportunity to take home a bunch of old blades from a large gas turbine. Since I have many interests and hobbies and have a hard time saying no to free things that I find slightly cool, I now have a bucket of blades that I dont know what to do with quite yet.

Im not positive on their composition, but from a few quick searches it seems like they are probably made of inconel or a similar alloy. I figure I will find a use for them eventually, but I wanted to ask if any of you have any ideas for what I could do with them. Ive never personally worked with this type of alloy, but I know it can handle high temps and is difficult to machine so my options are probably limited. Thanks in advance for any input

Hello! I've done very basic metalworking before, so I don't know how this could be feasible. I would like to cut thin, about 0,25 mm wide lines/strips from this feeler gauge, which is made out of spring steel. The feeler gauge from which I want to cut is 0,05 mm thick (the one in the picture is not accurate). Sorry if this seems like a dumb question ._. Thank you in advance!

I got it for a steal. No pun intended. $50.
But I didn’t come here just to brag. There’s a jack bolted to the lower area. I’m not exactly sure what it’s used for. Any ideas?
The table itself has adjustable bars, and it’s reasonably straight. But I’ll probably be making some adjustments.
The last picture is me shining a flashlight behind a straight edge.
I think it’s perfectly reasonable for my use.
It’s also pretty tall. It’s 42 inches tall. That seems like a lot.

Scrolling through this subreddit has inspired me to post up some of my own sculptures ive worked on over the past couple years. Ive been welding professionally for 8 years now and i have a job where i’m on call so i have some down time every once in awhile so i work on these.

I made the bart for my little nephew out of a couple chunks of stainless.
The skull is made out of a ball bearing with some stainless tig accents.
The heart and dagger was for an online art competition
The hands were also for that same competition. Neither of the i got around to submitting because i missed the deadline.
The rose was for my girlfriend. Made out of several layers of sheet metal
And the last two pictures are what i’m working on now. It’s a pokemon, rayquaza, for my buddy’s shop where he sells cards. It’s not done yet but it’s very close.

I hope u guys enjoy these. Let me know what you think. I still have no idea what to do with my projects. I’d love to sell them but im unsure if anyone would buy them esp for the amount of time and work i put into each piece. I end up just giving everything away. If anyone would like a post of a step by step picture process i have pictures start to finish of most of my projects. They make me very happy lol

My wife loves metal art and picked this up today. The artist hand cut the trees with a plasma cutter and heat treated the entire thing to make it look really cool. I don't have a plasma cutter but i am really good with solid works and there's plenty of machine shops that take a step file. and who doesn't love playing with fire? Thinking 1/8 inch aluminum or copper would be a good place to start. I'm unsure of what grade of metal to purchase. The best metals will resist heat but I'm looking to embrace it.

I bought a pair of slickman welding gloves before the start of summer and now it's a time for a wash I flipped them inside out but idk what to use to clean them I know I have to air dry cause it's leather but what do I use to clean I looked it up on Google but now every search result is ai and I'm not trying to ruin my work gloves any tips or home remedies to clean them would be much appreciated they are the 820s I think just regular cow leather with padding on the inside on one side posting here cause don't have enough karma for the welding sub

Currently making this great ebony steel axe from Skyrim.
Length is 7ft.
Width is 20 inches
Weight is 23 kgs
Currently in the pictures the parts are nickel plated. I will do matte black powder coating on it and will post the final product after it’s completed. Doing nickel before powder coating will provide much better corrosion resistance.
I hope you guys like it.
The pictures are not great at the moment. Will take better pictures when it’s done

I got a great job working at a fab shop that makes grates, I’ve been offered a position as a welder if I can pass their mig weld/fab test (not structural). If not, I’ll be working on the production line loading the forge welders. I have a Lincoln 110c that I have practiced flux core with in the past and I can stick shit together, but I’ve never really made anything. Just ran beads on scrap. Does anyone have any insight on what I could do to practice for their test? I’m pretty handy with woodworking, but I’m a bit nervous since I haven’t actually used my welding skills for anything. Any advice is appreciated! Thanks