Welding outside corner

MIG, Tig, or stick depending on your skill, the fit up, and what machine you have at your disposal. Mig is faster, Tig gives more control but much slower, stick works fine (6013 was made for this application)

No, you can't use this as an excuse to buy a Mig welder!!!

Ignoramus19678 wrote:

But it might be incentive to keep the one he has ...

Snag wannabe welder too

"Ignoramus19678" wrote: (clip) wondering what is the best

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ If you align the corners properly, you can do really nice looking outside corners with oxy-acetylene, using little or no filler rod.

You could also lay a 3/32 or 1/8 ER70S2 rod into the corner (if the corner points upwards) and run a TIG arc over that. That would probably give the best look, as opposed to messing around with the new MIG machine. Had I been proficient with MIG, MIG would probably be a better choice.

Maybe I should take a MIG class in the spring.

Unless the fitup is poor, you probably won't need any filler for TIG.

Good Luck, BobH

I did weld a small box with TIG without a filler. Here it is:

The box does not leak.

Pick the method you consider yourself most accomplished in and remember that grinding wheels are your friends.

Find yourself a large chunk of aluminum. Square the block to fit into the inside of the corner you want to weld. Weld the outside with the welder of choice. The aluminum block will keep the burn thru's to a minimum and grind to finish desired.

Body guys use the same principle using a copper spoon when filling holes in body panels. A vanishing art I might add.

Good luck

Jim Vrzal Holiday, Fl.

You've met the most important criteria, then. Form is always nice, but it should never get in the way of Function, IMO.

Should you do another one or something similar, try to get shielding gas on the opposite side of the work, too. You can use a steel bucket as a chamber to weld in (just keep your face outta it...) and keep it purged with Argon at a low flow rate (

With 14ga it takes lots of skill and practice to make a good looking outside bead on a corner. With the open top you're much better off getting a good fit with your metal and running the bead on the inside. Then either grind a nice radius on the outside or run the tig down it to melt it into a nice profile.

The problem with MIG on the outside in this light a metal is that a well fused bead will tend to be way to big till you get the hang of it. Plus any imperfections in fitup are harder to deal with on the outside compared to the inside.

One of the nice things about welding Stainless is that it is a really poor heat conductor. For Stainless, I tape a piece of aluminum foil to the back side of the weld and put an argon line in it. Steel conducts heat well enough that it would cook the tape pretty quickly. I have some bars made from aluminum with a corner milled out and hose barbs threaded on the other edge. Clamp them into the corner and hook up the argon and you have back purge and a clamped joint.

BobH

Nice!

We used to use TIG and fusion weld them. Arrange the corner pieces and clamp them so that one piece slides slightly on the edge of the other. Then take a needle sharp TIG tungsten and run over it to just melt the little part sticking out. Looks beautiful, and no filler needed. Do some practice pieces to get the amperage right, and tack, tack, tack, so as not to distort, and then do short intermittent staggered distances. We used to use it on 16 ga stainless for control boxes, and all you have to do is buff it.

Steve

I did a similar weld with OA on a lip on a shelf to mount to my MC fairing . Beautiful bead , I didn't touch it except woth rattlecan paint .

Weld inside and outside. Grind outside for nice appearance.