Thread: Welding 1.6 mm steel - can the average mug do it?

I want to do a few steel projects around my place that would be quite satisfactory with 1.6 mm RHS but I don't see any 1.6 mm welding rods on sale in any of my local tool or hardware stores.

I have welded 1.6 mm steel in the past with 2 mm and 2.5 mm welding rods but it is a pain and I sure know how to blow holes in the job. I am an expert in that! Thank goodness for angle grinders to smooth out the repairs.

Anyway, in view of the pain of welding 1.6 mm steel with larger welding rods on a simple arc welder, I am inclined to order 2.5 mm RHS which I am comfortable in knowing that I can weld. (even if my welds are ugly )

However the difference in the price between 1.6 mm and 2.5 mm steel will mount to lots of $ for the quantity that I will be buying.

So the question is, please, are there any secrets to welding thin metal that would obviate a mug amateur like me having to buy steel that will be excessive expensive and indeed heavier than an old rooster like me really wants to carry?

I don't want a MIG or TIG welder. I just want to do this with my consumer quality stick welder which serves me very well otherwise.


All advice gratefully received. Many thanks in anticipation ...



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use 2mm tube, far easier to weld

Originally Posted by Charleville

I want to do a few steel projects around my place that would be quite satisfactory with 1.6 mm RHS but I don't see any 1.6 mm welding rods on sale in any of my local tool or hardware stores.

Like Bob above says, thicker stock is easier. Another Bob has Gemini 4112 rods in 1.6mm that I like. I find them a little better than 2mm for 1.6mm stock but they are more expensive. I can flat weld 16g plate with these rods but they're not full strength welds as all I can do is run a bead along the join. Recently I bought an inverter welder and this helps as the low current arc is more robust. Anyway, if I can do it then it can't be that hard so it might be worth trying a pack of these baby rods to see if they help.

You can buy 1.6mm welding rods, its just that they are hard to find as many people don't stock them. This guy on eBay has them, haven't used them myself as I use the Mig for the light stuff but I am pretty sure that others from here have used them with no dramas.

hi Charleville
Its not a real big deal.
Run them hot and in a semi vertical down position. The steep angle is to use the arc force to push back up at the slag cover and keep it from over rolling the arc and causing slag traps.

It takes a bit of practice but is achievable. It can end up being a fairly neat bead.
If you would like to post a few more details on the dimensions we should be able to come up with a weld procedure to obtain the best results.

Grahame

What about a mig. The savings from sticking with 1.6mm might cover the purchase or at least go a ways.

Thanks guys. All appreciated.

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

hi Charleville
Its not a real big deal.
Run them hot and in a semi vertical down position. The steep angle is to use the arc force to push back up at the slag cover and keep it from over rolling the arc and causing slag traps.

It takes a bit of practice but is achievable. It can end up being a fairly neat bead.
If you would like to post a few more details on the dimensions we should be able to come up with a weld procedure to obtain the best results.

Thanks Grahame. The first job is to make some gate frames on which I will be screwing timber pickets. After 25 years, the old hardwood gate frames have perished and I thought that I would use steel this time. I need to use non standard dimensions, hence the desire to make them myself.

Manufacturers of gate frames that I have seen on the internet tend to use 50 x 25 x 1.6 mm RHS in a simple rectangle. I envisage putting in diagonal braces ...



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That is just the first though. I have a few such gates of various dimensions to make. I also want to make a few handy trolleys for my garage to put the compressor on and similar gadgets. (That business of bending down to floor level to empty the water out of the compressor regularly is playing tricks with my knees so I thought that I might raise the thing up a bit on a trolley that would be make it easier to get to the drain cock.)

So just consider that to be a simple frame of RHS to suit the compressor dimensions and on castors.

So there are a few little gizmos like that which I want to make. In the same vein, after having bought one of those cheap little GMC welders based on what you had written on this site about their being suitable for raw beginners like me, I was delighted to make a couple of things out of scrap lying in the yard, including this mobile stool shown below which has carried my 170 kg in the garage for several weeks now and saves the old knees quite a bit. It is made of 1.6 mm 50 x 50 and whilst I did suffer a few blow-throughs that I had to patch up and grind, it worked out well enough for me, notwithstanding my awful welding. So I reckon that I would like to make a couple of other things as mentioned but my experience with this 1.6 mm material tells me that I either need to learn more or go for a thicker material.



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I freely confess that my welding skills are ordinary but I am an ambitious hobbyist. After buying the $100 GMC welder a few months ago, I built a light duty box trailer. The box itself is plywood but on a steel chassis that I welded mostly from 40 X 40 X 2.5mm RHS (and suitably braced) However, as you can see from the picture below, my welding is rough. Still, it has not let me down yet and it won't.


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It is not neccessary to have the diagonal brace. You would be better off using 20 x 20 SHS horizontally 450mm up (centre).

This will give you something to support pickets, is a touch lighter, and looks profesh. If it were constructed from timber, the diagonal brace would be an essential component.

As far as your welding is concerned, Keep at it! I think it is great that you are giving it a go. If you read up on techniques, and then practice practice practice on scrap until you feel confident at a particular task. You will improve dramatically in no time.

Originally Posted by Fossil

It is not neccessary to have the diagonal brace. You would be better off using 20 x 20 SHS horizontally 450mm up (centre).

This will give you something to support pickets, is a touch lighter, and looks profesh. If it were constructed from timber, the diagonal brace would be an essential component.

Thanks Mate. That advice is very much appreciated. It make the job easier too - especially the cuts.

What you have said is how all of the gate makers show theirs on their websites so whilst I assumed that they must know what they are talking about, I thought that maybe the weight of the pickets might need a diagonal brace. I am just too used to using building wooden things, I guess, and old habits die hard.

Really appreciate your advice. Many thanks. Thanks for the encouragement also.

I made a gate similar to yours years ago and the biggest problem was getting suitable screws for the pickets, I wanted stainless ones and had to pre drill and then run a self tapper in first as the stainless would snap off rather than cut a thread , so I would suggest you have a try with the screws you intend to use and drill etc while the gate is flat and not verticle.
Btw I used a cross brace each way but then as a marine engineer I always over build so I reckon fossil is proberly right about the one verticle

Originally Posted by Ashore

I made a gate similar to yours years ago and the biggest problem was getting suitable screws for the pickets, I wanted stainless ones and had to pre drill and then run a self tapper in first as the stainless would snap off rather than cut a thread , so I would suggest you have a try with the screws you intend to use and drill etc while the gate is flat and not verticle.
Btw I used a cross brace each way but then as a marine engineer I always over build so I reckon fossil is proberly right about the one verticle

Thanks Ashore. Great advice. Much appreciated. I shall have a good look at what screws best suit the job.

The other site that I frequent regularly is Ausfish.com and my fishing skills have improved out-of-sight since reading all the advice offered on that site. This site is just as brilliant! Ain't the internet an awesome thing?!


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Hi Charleville
It is good to hear some nice comments about the GMC. Right from when I used one for the first time, I truly was impressed with the value for money aspect of the machine.Theres a few that knock things with out actually trying them out.The little GMC welders fall into that category.

They don't claim to be anything but what they are .A light duty welding machine.
It is is cost effective ,in fact ideal for the light applications you intend for it.

Your welding projects shall come out ok if you go about them the right way.

Welding by its nature causes distortion.The trick is to arrange the to be welded frame in such a way,so that distortion is either minimised or held in check.

No 1 rule is tacking and only tacking for opposites, in the sequence of tack ,then check and adjust for square or alignment and tack the diagonal opposite.Obviously for box sections, the corners are the tacking points

No 2 rule that follows is that the frame is completely assembled by tacking only,ie no welded bead to be attempted until every frame member is tacked into position.

No 3 rule is that welding occurs in sequence,again by welding opposites and diagonals so that heat input in any one area is minimised. The corner tacks are great to start and end the weld bead on.They help avoid a crater in the end of the weld.

The 1.6mm rods featured in bob the welders site are ideally suited for vertical down.I forgot to mention in the post with the graphic to keep the arc short. welders burn holes in light wall stuff ,moreso with a long arc than by having excessive amps.Think of a longer arc length as a source of heat that will burn through you wall thickness.

Practice your V down techique for a while before trying a frame,it will come with the right practice.

Grahame

Thanks for the hints, Grahame. I have learnt to respect the things that you say on this site so I shall follow your advice to the letter.


Yes, I am delighted with the little GMC welder. A mug beginner will tend to have a bit of trouble striking an arc every now and then and commit other sins such as when the welding rod sticks to the job so it is understandable that the little welder will want to stop and have a rest every now and then.

However, it is not as often as I thought that it might be and as someone else wrote on this site, that is a good time to go and have a cup of coffee anyway.

It will do everything that I want it to do, I reckon.

Once again, many thanks for your help. I have to say that I find welding to be a very pleasurable activity. Cracking open the slag on a weld to see what lies underneath is almost as good as opening a Christmas present when you are a kid. Even better as increasing experience helps the welds start to look like they should.

Just a follow-up note on progress.

I welded up my first pair of gate frames today and it all went exquisitely well. Many thanks to all who advised me.

In the end, I chose to use 2 mm thick RHS with the main frame cut with mitred ends and used 2 mm welding rods. I took advantage of the cheap online deals recently on the Triton steel cutter at $130. They may not be the tool for professionals but for a beginner mug like me, and at that price, they are a ripper of a tool to deliver idiot-proof, quality, accurate, 90º and 45º cuts.

I welded the gate frames on saw horses which sat on a flat exterior concrete apron exterior to my house and I used my little Wixey digital angle gauge to ensure that all the members were exactly on the same plane.

With lots of clamps and lots of checking of diagonals etc, I tacked opposites with plenty of cooling time as per Grahame Collins' advice before welding the job properly.

They are not perfect welds, especially the inside angles, but not too bad and I am pretty damn happy with the overall result because getting something like gate frames which need to come flat together in the same plane in the middle is a pretty good achievement for a boofhead like me. I took a long time to do the job but what the heck, I am retired and my time is cheap.

Many thanks for all of your helpful advice, gentlemen.

Great feedback Charleville , so mant take the advice and then dissapear into the ether , keep posting , and aint being retired great