Seam welding wire size...

Okay, so since I've pretty much always use .030 wire for everything that's what I've been using so far. Never have seen this asked before so thought I'd inquire, what do people find to be the best wire size to use when seam welding? I have two cars to do in next month or two so optimizing all parts of it is beneficial.

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Grant Hughes

I like .024 for sheet metal.

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Robert.

"You are way too normal to be on Rally Anarchy." Eddie Fiorelli.

Rallymech Wrote:
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> I like .024 for sheet metal.

You're a diesel mechanic, shut the fuck up.
024 forces you to dwell far too long to deposit any material and the tip overheats, the sheetmetal overheats, its fucked.
030 lets you turn the heat down, will roast of some impurities and works mo better.

He's talking a whole shell.
024 for some lite duty add ons OK but a whole car we need to MOVE.
It ain't ART its a rally car bodyshell so it needs to be done.


BTW you working today Robert?

>
> Robert.
> "You are way too normal to be on Rally Anarchy."
> Eddie Fiorelli.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Listen to John, 0.30 works just fine. If you are having trouble blowing through the thin sheetmetal then don't hold the trigger dow for the whole stitch. Go zip, zip, zip, zip so as not to get the puddle too hot. And make sure you get as much of the seam sealer out of there that you can. A propane torch, a pick tool and a wire brush works wonders for that.

Seams are quite clear thanks to liquid nitrogen. We hit most of them with wire wheel and sanding discs on die grinder to clear off paint and remaining glue last weekend. There is a ridiculous amount of seams on a BMW.

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Grant Hughes

I use .024 for sheet metal too, but thats because I learned it from the body shop I worked in restoring classic cars. Where we welded large sections all the time. Without the tips over heating. Or the sheet metal.

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Welcome to the cult of JVL drink the koolaid or be banned.

Dazed_Driver Wrote:
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> I use .024 for sheet metal too, but thats because
> I learned it from the body shop I worked in
> restoring classic cars. Where we welded large
> sections all the time. Without the tips over
> heating. Or the sheet metal.


Here let's say it plainly : fuck bodyshops and fuck body shop welding.
There. case closed.
>
>
> Feisty Peacock?
>
>

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

They both work fine. If you've only got 030, use that, if you're out, and don't mind picking up some 024 and the tips, go ahead and try it out. I prefer 024. I seam welded my entire rally car with it, and the problems I had weren't because of the wire, it was because I hadn't got all the gunk out of the seams yet, so I recleaned. I've also used the 030 on seams, It seemed "off" to me.

I'd chock it up to personal preference.

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Welcome to the cult of JVL drink the koolaid or be banned.

.030.....that is the final answer. 3 out of 3 old farts use it. 024 is for punk kids making hoops in their eyebrows.

heymagic Wrote:
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> .030.....that is the final answer. 3 out of 3 old
> farts use it. 024 is for punk kids making hoops in
> their eyebrows.

And I'll bet ya 3 outta 3 have vomited at the post nasal drips and squirty turds near and around seams that body shops of all sorts call welding---in our collective experience.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Whatever John. Do you like any business that's not in motorsports?

---

Welcome to the cult of JVL drink the koolaid or be banned.

Dazed_Driver Wrote:
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> Whatever John. Do you like any business that's not
> in motorsports?

Who said I like businesses in motorsports?
I like work that is well done at fair prices.
Bodyshops are addicted to insurance settlements.
Restoration shops have "special" clientele working on "special" cars.

There are obvious problems in both cases.

As always, in my extremely limited experience.


>
> Feisty Peacock?
>
>

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Fair enough

---

Welcome to the cult of JVL drink the koolaid or be banned.

john vanlandingham Wrote:
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> Dazed_Driver Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Whatever John. Do you like any business
> that's not
> > in motorsports?
>
> Who said I like businesses in motorsports?
> I like work that is well done at fair prices.
> Bodyshops are addicted to insurance settlements.
> Restoration shops have "special" clientele working
> on "special" cars.
>
> There are obvious problems in both cases.
>
> As always, in my extremely limited experience.
>
>
> >
> > Feisty Peacock?
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
> John Vanlandingham
> Sleezattle, WA, USA
>
> Vive le Prole-le-ralliat
>
> www.rallyrace.net/jvab
> CALL +1 206 431-9696
> Remember! Pacific Standard Time
> is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Once more JV your right .. I've even started to 'try' to paint my own toys ...Nuts what a paint shop want to paint a car they days..

Have a good day

David

Hazardous Toys inc

All you ignorant old farts don't know how your welding machines work.....so I will have to ed-u-macate you!

The electrical current flows from the tip into the wire. When the wire gets very close to or touches the base metal the electrical circuit is completed and a portion of the wire melts. The circuit is then open again, no current flow. The advancing wire closes the circuit again. It's called short circuit welding. All this happens fairly quickly and you can hear it in the steady crackle. When you stop welding you can see that the wire has melted back and formed a little dingle berry. It takes a certain amount of current (heat) to melt that wire and the base metal. Thinner wire requires less current. When I look at the set up chart on my machine I see that I can weld lighter gauge material with .024 than I can with .030. I also know that when I welded the front clip onto a friends Volvo 240 on Monday, I switched from .030 to .024 and it was much better.

These are some of the things you learn when you actually go to school, get a degree and work as a professional welder, fabricator and mechanic. On the other hand you could just read the chart on the side of your welding machine!

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

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Robert.

"You are way too normal to be on Rally Anarchy." Eddie Fiorelli.