Wire Size For Welding 20 Ga Sheet Metal

Keep the stick out short stickout of your mig wire is important when welding any type of metal but especially sheet metal.

Wire size for welding 20 ga sheet metal.

This may help you standardize on one or 2 wire sizes for most of your work. So if you are welding 12 gauge mild steel with a thickness of 0 100 you would set the machine at 100 amps. To weld mild steel choose an american welding society classification wire such as er70s 6 which has a weld puddle that wets out nicely. That will keep your joint from spreading on you while welding.

Wire size amperage range. However if you are dealing with materials that are 18 gauge or thicker one should be able to use 030 inch welding wire. Use a hammer to tap all the spots that aren t tacked together. For sheet metal i use ine welding wire and it is just as good as their flux cored wire if you want you can grab one here.

If you are using mig it s best to weld vertically down. Using a thinner wire 0 30 instead of 0 35 will also help. Move the torch faster and or reduce the amp setting of the welder and the lower the wire speed. Holding the tip too far from the surface will cause the wire to have to come out too far to touch the metal.

The 1930 s seem to have used a lot of 19 gauge in their body panels. Problems with welding sheet metal. Short bursts or tacks will help. For thinner gauge sheet metal like 18 or 20 gauge we suggest 023 6mm wire in your mig welder.

The following sheet metal gauge size reference chart gives the weight and thickness of sheet metal given as a gauge sometimes spelled gage and indicates the standard thickness of sheet metal and wire for most materials as the gauge number increases the material thickness decreases. Each wire size offers a substantial operating range and overlap considerably. I m repairing them with 20 22 gauge material. It s recommended to use a 023 or 024 inch wire for most light gauge sheet metal work.

As a rule when mig welding sheet metal never use a body filler metal that is thicker than the base metal. When the material is 18 gauge and thicker you may be able to use a 030 inch wire. Once you have the the welder set then the trick is to keep a steady a arc. If you are burning through the metal you re not moving the torch fast enough and or your welder is set too high.

I have an older miller 180 mig that works great just wondering if anyone out there can recommend a good wire diameter 023 or 030 for what i m doing. When welding sheet metal you re going to want to tack your joints every 1 5 to 2 inches. Try going for a wire of 023 inches when welding sheet metal.