How to Weld Thin Metal to Thick Metal: Stick, TIG or MIG

[@TimWelds]

You can learn to weld. I'll show you exactly what to do in my affordable online welding courses at courses.timwelds.com.

[@engjds]

Help!, got a invertor stick welder, then after failing to weld 0.5mm sheet steel, I decided converting it to TIg would be the best option, so bought regulator, stick, electrodes etc and now Ive read its 'Impossible' to weld thin steel with a converted stick to Tig, is that the case?

[@zachs5719]

You're the best welding instructor I've seen so far on KZbin. The rest are all novices who have nothing useful to say and fabricators who know welding, but not like you do, and are poor teachers. Their videos are all twice as long as they need to be. IIt feels like the next-best thing to real hands-on training. And you seem really nice. I hope you keep it up!

[@nevg5908]

Just getting into welding, this is great info, thanks!

[@TimWelds]

So glad it helped. Thanks!

[@TMAdventuresT7]

And this is what I’ve been looking for, perfectly explained Tim , new Sub

[@algordon5843]

Another 11 out of 10 video Tim. And a special thankyou for leaving the "mistake" in. I now not only know what suckback is but know how to fix it. Yours are THE BEST VIDEOS FOR BEGINNERS on the internet. Auziali.

[@TheTennesseeYankee]

Great video, very helpful as I’m currently trying to stick weld 16 gauge square tubing to 3/16” plate

[@Amp661]

Thanks, Tim! Keeping up with new material and learning to apply the methods! Slammin'!

[@TimWelds]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@danielchambers1958]

Hey Tim . . . I sure needed this info two months ago . . . however, I learned what I did wrong. . . . hope to practice the tips this evening . . . Thank you SOOOOOO much!

[@TimWelds]

Glad it was helpful!

[@kevinbransky1817]

Technique is super important as well. Make sure your torch angle is pointing towards the thick metal, say if you're welding out of position. And back-filling is useful. For instance, pulling slightly long on the thick metal during a MIG weld, and then pulling back and up into the thin metal during the fill, and returning for another forward stroke into the thick metal well help guarantee weld pen and throat consistency. I routinely weld 0.040 to 0.250 using TIG, and 0.675 plate with MIG, and both are out of position. All I remember, no matter what side or direction I'm going, is that the bottom side will be the 'coldest side" (because gravity pulls molten metal down), and the thicker metal is the side of the electrode I use. Lots of 2Gs and 3Fs. Always make the thicker side hot and wash into the other side.

[@Lord-Mikael-Stone]

Loving the videos and gratefull first off for you explaining things in metric also. This makes me realise I can do alot more with my stick welder, than I was orginally taught. You've opened my mind to new posibilities. Thanks alot.

[@Bob_on_Bikes]

I'm learning so much. Really stoked to start my first real project!

[@lukesierra5102]

Dude you make some great vids man. Keep on giving! God bless you

[@melgross]

Very useful video. When I began welding, it took some time to get this right.

[@PETERESTREICH]

What a Teacher ! excellent explanation and demonstration

[@brianjensen9199]

Thanks Tim! This is exactly what I needed.

[@RycckayaMafiya]

That was a great experience. Thank you for gifting your experience to help me resolve a headache.

[@elmerfudd5650]

I love your common sense explanations so that I can visualize what you are saying.

[@onefortheroad2291]

Great videos man, your style is different from a lot of the others here and it’s worked well for me the last few times I’ve got out there and did some welding!

[@TimWelds]

Thanks! I'm so glad to hear that it's helping!

[@philkensebben2000]

This was exactly the video i needed to see. Got to weld some rail posts next week and the bases are much thicker than the posts. Will do what you recommend!

[@isaks3243]

I have welded quite a lot of thin to thick matereals and I always do an asymetrical weave whilst aiming more towards the thicker piece. asymetrical in the sense that I spend more time welding on the thicker piece than I do on the thinner one. i spend most of the time on the thick piece and just quickly go up and cover the thinner one to go back down and contineue with welding towards the thick one. the technique is only really the way to go if you don't have the right consumables for the job. if the wire in the wire feeder is of thicker gauge or the sticks are too thick which forces you to weld at higher amps is this a good way to limit the heat on the thinner piece

[@TimWelds]

Great tip! Thanks!

[@isaks3243]

@@TimWelds not a problem buddy

[@kathybergquist5877]

Thanks, this was very helpful. I've been using just 90A with my TIG to put together 1/4" round bar and 16 guage -- it has not gone well, but now I know why.

[@BDauto86]

I think those were really good results for being such a difference in thickness. I have that Yeswelder and it's great for the price. I like that it's super easy to use, but if they added alil pre/post gas flow and made the trigger/pedal variable it would be an even better machine.

[@dahveed284]

This is one of the biggest challenges I face in my recreational welding. Usually I size the materials to minimize the differences. I'm about to head into the garage and weld some legs on my welding table. Since I'm making it from stock I have on hand, I think its going to be a mix of 14 and 16 gauge tubing with some 3/16" thrown in a few areas. Not as extreme as your examples here. Thanks for the reminder.

[@zoozolplexOne]

Thanks for the demo. I am still having trouble welding thin to tick metal. Will try the trick.

[@franciswalsh7408]

Very clear demonstration. Thank you man

[@dennisnashville7114]

You are a good teacher. Thank you.

[@Flatfoot2282]

Good explanation and demonstrations. I learned a lot

[@allenhunt3070]

This video is a great idea Tim. Well done!

[@TimWelds]

Thanks!

[@Mike-ud5of]

Another well-done vid on a very useful topic, thanks Tim.

[@jamesyates5191]

Thanks Tim for a great video. I’m in the process of building some dump trailer doors and have to weld 16 ga sheet metal to 12 ga frames.

[@JM-qy5yd]

Awesome! Well done! Thank you!👍

[@TimWelds]

Thank you too!

[@garasirumah2401]

Thanks... I learn samething in here... Nice video

[@PJ-ee5mc]

Fantastic video! Just what I was looking for. Many thanks.

[@motleypixel]

Thanks for the informative video. This weekend I'm going to try something I've never tried nor really seen much on how to do. I have a set of 65lb Professional Troy dumbbells that have had the rubber coating removed and therefore now weigh 59lbs. The are not cast iron like the cheaper CAP dumbbells, it's certainly a quality mild steel. Now that the hex rubber is removed they are completely round which is not really that great as they roll on the mats when you release them from a workout set. So I want to take 1/8" thick 1/2" angle iron and put them on the flat surface at 12 and 6 o'clock on one side and 9 and 3 o'clock on the other this way the dumbbell can only roll a max of just 1/4 turn before being stopped by the welded on angle iron nubs. So long of short I'm welding a 2" long 1/8" thick 1/2" leg angle iron (mild steel) to a hunk of 30 pound solid mild steel using my MIG with .035 flux core wire. I'm wondering if it's even worth trying or maybe there's more to it, like a good pre-heat with a MAP torch? Thoughts? Thank you.

[@paulp96275]

Great Tim thanks helped a lot for a job in the workshop 👍👨🏻‍🏭🇬🇧

[@davidbennett9543]

Thanks for the videos tim. You are helping me to learn to weld thanks.

[@bobanmilisavljevic7857]

I'm learning how to weld mainly to repair a few holes in the floor pan and wheel wells of a project car im learning on. I'm using a flux welder so i was debating on using a slightly thicker patch piece to butt weld the holes closed. Hopefully just a little more material will be enough of a heat sink to spot weld around the patch. Either way, thanks for the info

[@jbkhan1135]

This was incredibly helpful, thank you so much!!

[@quantumbox01]

Saved my bacon here, learning stick welding in my garage and having to weld a bicycle seat post (1.5mm) to some 3mm box and losing my rag with it after blowing a hole in the first one!

[@L00x93]

I'm a beginner hobby welder and these videos are really helpful- Thank you ! Can you explain what you mean by "suck back" and why it is bad if it happens ? Thanks.

[@hstrong97]

Excellent vid Tim. 👍😀

[@zero_to_1000]

Thank you. Very informative.

[@marioserra4383]

Good tutorial, thanks for share it

[@TimWelds]

You are welcome!

[@cottreda]

This is great. This technique is what I figured out on my own, which is cool. But even still, I think I am just trying to do it with metal that is too thin. I am trying to tack 23 gage metal to 1/8". If my settings are too low, doesn't penetrate the thick. If too high, instantly burns through on the thin. Can't find the middle ground.

[@mahmoudeid667]

When your friend asked you, what is the method for welding sheet metal with a thickness of less than 1 millimeter? Welding the head to the head

[@EricVonLutov]

Looking at getting into welding, always thought you had to (or should) take classes. Tips on first projects and type of welding?

[@vazreab]

great video, thx.

[@DennisHutton62]

When you overheat and warp your metal can you weld the other side to return it to its original straightness?

[@payco1000]

Priceless....

[@marius8578]

Thanks!!

[@MarvinConman]

I've a question, would this work in reverse? I have a 1.5mm stainless plate and I want to weld a 3mm tool steel to it.

[@Jp-gc8mj]

what is impotantly about welding and what you must to remember?

[@juniorandy2409]

thank you for the great video. it actually solve the problem..

[@TimWelds]

So glad it was helpful!

[@SevenDeMagnus]

Cool. Will it work with small water tanks? Or the metal used for water tanks too thin? God bless, Rev. 21:4

[@atubeviewer4942]

I know it depends on the size of the machine but how thick of metals will TIG weld? ie.. 1/2".3/4"/ unlimited with a big enough machine?

[@Jp-gc8mj]

what is impontaly about welding and what you must to remember?🙃

[@isaks3243]

when I tack with tig, no matter the thickness of the matereal do i run 200+ amps, no up slope and no down slope and just flash the matereal which shoots them together and leaves me with a tiny tack which doesn't require any filler to hold the thing together

[@TimWelds]

Great tip! I do that too, especially for outside corner joints.

[@isaks3243]

@@TimWelds yep, outside corner joints really wants you yo do this. But as long as the metals touch does it work

[@myroztoprozanski5824]

Were can you get thow charts win you machine has none?

[@Word569]

For the stick welding example, nothing was mentioned about polarity. What polarity did you use?

[@TimWelds]

I just used standard DCEP.

[@derekmoore1612]

Did you ever say Tic Tac by accident instead of TIG tac?.... In all seriousness, great vids

[@moejr14]

What is the best thing to remove mill scale ? I’m going through flap discs like crazy

[@TimWelds]

Flap discs haven’t worked well for me on mill scale, they just glaze over. A hard grinding wheel works better, but you need to be careful not to gouge your part. Walter abrasives makes a special disc for it called flex cut mill scale, which works pretty well. Another option is to soak your parts in vinegar for a day or so, then just wipe it off.

[@Mok_26]

would the same principles apply for lap welding with two different thickness metals ?

[@TimWelds]

Yes, I would do it in a very similar way.

[@markashlock9017]

Another great and informative vid and for that I thank you. Btw, we’re you welding the stick with the YesWelder? Thanks!

[@TimWelds]

Thanks! Yeah, I used the YesWelder for both the stick and TIG.

[@BDauto86]

That's impressive for a machine that's less then 250$.

[@backyardhotrods9885]

what was your wire thickness with the mig?

[@TimWelds]

.030” Wire. That’s what I use for almost everything.

[@backyardhotrods9885]

@@TimWelds thanks for the reply and thats good to know. I am just learning and my Miller 130 has .035 in it and my project has .070 up to .125 with a little .180 wall metal in it. I was struggling and a friend suggested going to smaller but wasn't sure if .030 would work with .180

[@spiroslamprou7208]

Please I would like to know, in these situations when you weld two metals of different thickness which is the decisive one for amperage selection i.e. the thin (3), the thick(5) or their sum of the two thickness (3+5) ? (for example 3mm, 5mm or 8mm). Thanks

[@TimWelds]

I go on the low end of the range for the thicker piece.

[@user-rk8co7vp3f]

@@TimWelds thanks

[@iheart3dprinting951]

Tim how did you channel blow up so fast! WTF

[@iheart3dprinting951]

Good work BTW I’m just shocked how big your channel is!

[@YT-User1013]

I could have used this same technique TIG welding a 14 gauge rectangular mild steel box and not blow out some edges!

[@jameskogan6401]

I’m just about to start aluminum stick, any tips? Also when using a 6013 is it a whip and pause motion or no cause I never used that type of electrode

[@danielchambers1958]

I think Bob on weld.com did a video on 6013 and he suggested that you only need to drag it, but I have seen others do what you mentioned. I tend to drag it myself..... I hope this helps!

[@crd20]

For aluminium stick , preheat part immediately before welding it. Its a PITA electrode to work with.

[@TimWelds]

I've actually never stick welded aluminum, but I've always thought that it would be interesting to try. As far as 6013 goes, I just move along with a smooth motion rather than a whip and pause.

[@qeva_]

What about 1 mm to 1 mm ? Thin sucks

[@TimWelds]

That can be rough, for sure! There are several things that can make it easier, including fitup, small wire and fixturing/backing. I'll put it on my list for future videos.

[@qeva_]

@@TimWelds We are waiting, thank you so much 🙏🏼

[@thecentralscrutinizer]

When is America going to go metric? "47 52th of an inch" wtf?

[@pblaise]

Hi Tim, I work for BBTV and would love to connect. What's your business email. Please let me know!