Alternative To Welding Sheet Metal

Sheet metal can be joined using spot welding where the metal is held between copper electrodes.

Alternative to welding sheet metal.

Today there is a fastener alternative to welding. Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal. Understandable who would want to wear a welding mask all day. So companies manufacturing heavy duty equipment or fabricating large metal structures only welded joints.

Butt weld vs lap weld. Brazing is also much easier then welding it s a lot like using a glue gun. Tig welding sheet metal. Lap welds are used when quick results are needed.

This is why production body shops swear by them. For many decades welding was considered the only way to ensure joint integrity in demanding load bearing or high vibration structures. A lap weld is much easier than a butt weld but doesn t seal correctly and will promote moisture from the back side. The answer to reducing your welding hours lies in a special product called methyl methacrylate adhesive mma mma adhesives have two liquid components that require mixing before application and offer an extraordinary bond to surfaces that require almost no preparation.

Ditch a 1 8 inch tungsten electrode for something much smaller like 1 16 inch tungsten. Quick and easy brazing aluminum copper and nonferrous metals. Brazed metal can also be stronger then w. The best two electrodes for welding auto body sheet metal is either ceriated tungsten or thoriated tungsten.

Brazing is a quick and inexpensive alternative to welding. The fifth and probably most common alternative to welding besides riveting is using bolts and nuts or just bolts if the base metal is threaded. To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity. Like with welding bolts are used everywhere from cars to planes to bicycles.

Forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one. Because it will have you a lot more control over the whole process and it is more forgiving in case you do anything wrong. A large electric current melts the metal to weld the two pieces together. These two piece fasteners are part bolt and part blind rivet.

An overlapping joint. Like riveting using bolts is an irreplaceable technique of joining two pieces of metal without welding.