Controlling Warping On Sheet Metal

Minimize the amount of heat put into the weld.

Controlling warping on sheet metal.

An ounce of prevention the battle between hot cold. Work hot and fast a lot of damage or excessive warping when welding could be from dwelling too long in a small area when welding. Use intermittent welds instead of continuous welds where possible to minimize the amount of weld metal. The bigger the weld the greater the shrinkage.

This relaxes the metal and flattens the weld which in the end allows you to control the warpage in the panel. Though weld shrinkage cannot be prevented it can be controlled by following these steps. Intermittent rather than continuous welds help as does minimizing the. This is very important to keep the shape of the panel you re welding.

As a rule of thumb it s better to weld as hot and fast as possible to get in and out of the weld as quick as you can. The warping of metal during the welding process is due to the high levels of heat involved. Here s a list of tips that help reduce warpage in sheet metal fabricaitons. Aggressive abrasives like coal slag or aluminum oxide generates more heat and peening.

Correctly sizing a weld not only minimizes distortion but also saves weld metal and time. Use anti warping devices and techniques. If there isn t a lot of rust on the sheet metal softer abrasives like walnut shell soda blast crushed glass or plastic beads are sometimes used to reduce warping of sheet metal. Preset the pieces sometimes called counter or opposing set up this means allowing for the.