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Spot welder tongs for wheel arch pinchweld

8K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  joe_padavano 
#1 ·
I picked up a used Chicago Electric spot welder at Fall Carlisle, and it works amazingly well for a Harbor Freight Chinesium tool. Since I have a few quarter panels to replace, I've been looking for a set of tongs that will make it easier to reach the spot welds on the wheel arch. I've found what I need in photos on line, but I've only found vendors selling them in the UK or Australia. Yeah, I can whittle my own out of copper bar stock, but given my limited free time, I'd rather spend it working on the car than working on tools to work on the car. Does anyone have a source for something like this in the U.S.? Thanks.





 
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#3 ·
Not all spot welds need to be pinched. Run battery cables and have a buddy meet you on the other side. A bit hit and miss, but if you're only doing 20 or so per side, might be quicker and a cool new skill. I've done it to fab panels for a free-standing freezer.

Or Ebay?
 
#4 ·
I've got a Panel Spotter welder with two separate contacts, so I can do it that way. The pinch-style tongs just make it a lot easier and faster. And yes, I've scoured the interweb for this tongs, which is where I got the links to the UK and Australian sources. Again, I'm looking for a US-based source if possible.
 
#5 ·
Blacksmith ?

When I worked at Ford the body welding engineer used to have The One Skilled tradesman that still got Blacksmith Pay ( Union Scale, some old timers held on to their rating and an extra 25 cents per hour ) Custom make welding tongs that would do unique spot welds, Heat and bend time, and dress the points to a blunt cone shape. If you grind flats so they won't turn , you don't need the block with the hole thru it.
 
#6 ·
When I worked at Ford the body welding engineer used to have The One Skilled tradesman that still got Blacksmith Pay ( Union Scale, some old timers held on to their rating and an extra 25 cents per hour ) Custom make welding tongs that would do unique spot welds, Heat and bend time, and dress the points to a blunt cone shape. If you grind flats so they won't turn , you don't need the block with the hole thru it.
Yeah, you do need the block. The reason is that if you make the tongs curve around each other, they twist when you squeeze them against the pinchweld. I can guarantee you that if they worked properly without the machined block the manufacturer wouldn't put that cost into the product. Plus, you still need the adjustment capability to get the tips lined up properly and applying the correct pressure to the weld site. It took me about 15 minutes to get the original tongs and tips properly filed an aligned (mostly due to the crappy access to the mounting screws on the HF welder), but it was well worth it when I started welding.
 
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