Working on patch panel work.
I am butting them all in with mig. I take my time and planish the welds. I tack from middle out. Then when I get approximately 1/8 of an inch away on the tacks I start stitch welding before the first tack weld over it and end up on the flat after the second tack. Then let the panel cool. Once finished I then proceed to start grinding it down.
I use a 3" cutting disk on edge to grind it down, then followed by a 80 grit sand disk on a grinder. Basically what I end up with is a "seam" where it is evident that a weld is there. No holes on the side of the weld that you see in this but it is evident that there was a panel welded in. I stay far away from thinning out the metal right next to the seam. Should I grind each round of tacks down before I move on?
I am curious how I get a joint to look like this:
I also am curious about how I should finish a patch I did. I solid welded the roof to qtr seam (following procedure above). Then ground those down and made a piece of metal that would "bridge" the gap and welded that in.
I am planning on epoxy prime then, evercoat ultimate to finish over that. The factory flange was perfect so I didn't want to cut it out entirely, just to make a butt welded piece. But at this point I could cut it out entirely and butt weld only a bridge on it. If I needed to to prevent telegraphing.
Thanks
I am butting them all in with mig. I take my time and planish the welds. I tack from middle out. Then when I get approximately 1/8 of an inch away on the tacks I start stitch welding before the first tack weld over it and end up on the flat after the second tack. Then let the panel cool. Once finished I then proceed to start grinding it down.
I use a 3" cutting disk on edge to grind it down, then followed by a 80 grit sand disk on a grinder. Basically what I end up with is a "seam" where it is evident that a weld is there. No holes on the side of the weld that you see in this but it is evident that there was a panel welded in. I stay far away from thinning out the metal right next to the seam. Should I grind each round of tacks down before I move on?
I am curious how I get a joint to look like this:
I also am curious about how I should finish a patch I did. I solid welded the roof to qtr seam (following procedure above). Then ground those down and made a piece of metal that would "bridge" the gap and welded that in.
I am planning on epoxy prime then, evercoat ultimate to finish over that. The factory flange was perfect so I didn't want to cut it out entirely, just to make a butt welded piece. But at this point I could cut it out entirely and butt weld only a bridge on it. If I needed to to prevent telegraphing.
Thanks