New member from South East UK

[GeorgeG93]

Hi I'm George, I'm 23 and from East Sussex England. Known how to mig weld for the last 3 years or so but it's only been in the last 18 months or so that I've gotten results that I'm pleased with. In late 2015 I bought a 1996 ford transit camper an and put 18 panels in it, and that was probably the single biggest contributor to my improvements.
I am a general mechanic but also work part time at a garage that restores fiat Dino's and is fully equipped with some very comprehensive tools, period FE English box and pan folders, rollers, guillotine, English wheel, bead rollers, gig welder, oxy torch, sandbags, hammers and dollys etc etc. because I only work there part time my use of these tools has been limited but having seen the work that has been created by using them my metal working skills have improved vastly because I get to ask what processes to use to get a certain effect. I am always thrilled to look at beautifully fabricated panels and think about the transformation they have had since starting out as regular sheet metal.
At the garage I work at regularly, my metal working tools are much more limited in scope which can be frustrating but I think it actually does me a lot of good because it makes me think outside the box and gives me a good foundation in knowing what can and can't be done with metal.
Last week I finished 5 days of welding on a clients porsche 944s. Rear of sills, front of rear arches and the rear of the front wings were all done for and replacement panel prices were cost prohibitive for the job at hand so I made my own. The sills annoyingly had like 4 folds underneath where they meet the sill which I copied successfully, testing my skills at allowing for metal thicknesses when folding, something that often trips me up! And for making the curved edge return sections I scribed the profile of one and transferred it onto a piece of thick plywood, screwed that on top of another piece of the same gauge plywood and ran it through a bandsaw. With this I put the piece of sheet metal in between them and held it all in a vice and tapped the exposed edge round with a small ball peen hammer, shrinking it as I went, then tidied up the return after with a planishing hammer. Then I welded in the panels using this process on all 4 corners of the car with a mig welder taking my time as I went and the results I got given the time allowed were very satisfying in my opinion!

https://ibb.co/gYSTAk

https://ibb.co/mHPVO5

https://ibb.co/cpj8Ak

https://ibb.co/iBS6wQ

https://ibb.co/i5MMVk

https://ibb.co/fHQUi5

https://ibb.co/d8Z0qk

https://ibb.co/jyBrwQ

I would like to buy a tig welder soon as I know how to use one but haven't had much practice as I haven't had much chance! From what icee seen they can provide much more finessed work when it's required to, and being able to play with aluminum and stainless would be a big bonus!

[crystallographic]

Originally Posted by GeorgeG93

Hi I'm George, I'm 23 and from East Sussex England. Known how to mig weld for the last 3 years or so but it's only been in the last 18 months or so that I've gotten results that I'm pleased with. In late 2015 I bought a 1996 ford transit camper an and put 18 panels in it, and that was probably the single biggest contributor to my improvements.
I am a general mechanic but also work part time at a garage that restores fiat Dino's and is fully equipped with some very comprehensive tools, period FE English box and pan folders, rollers, guillotine, English wheel, bead rollers, gig welder, oxy torch, sandbags, hammers and dollys etc etc. because I only work there part time my use of these tools has been limited but having seen the work that has been created by using them my metal working skills have improved vastly because I get to ask what processes to use to get a certain effect. I am always thrilled to look at beautifully fabricated panels and think about the transformation they have had since starting out as regular sheet metal.
At the garage I work at regularly, my metal working tools are much more limited in scope which can be frustrating but I think it actually does me a lot of good because it makes me think outside the box and gives me a good foundation in knowing what can and can't be done with metal.
Last week I finished 5 days of welding on a clients porsche 944s. Rear of sills, front of rear arches and the rear of the front wings were all done for and replacement panel prices were cost prohibitive for the job at hand so I made my own. The sills annoyingly had like 4 folds underneath where they meet the sill which I copied successfully, testing my skills at allowing for metal thicknesses when folding, something that often trips me up! And for making the curved edge return sections I scribed the profile of one and transferred it onto a piece of thick plywood, screwed that on top of another piece of the same gauge plywood and ran it through a bandsaw. With this I put the piece of sheet metal in between them and held it all in a vice and tapped the exposed edge round with a small ball peen hammer, shrinking it as I went, then tidied up the return after with a planishing hammer. Then I welded in the panels using this process on all 4 corners of the car with a mig welder taking my time as I went and the results I got given the time allowed were very satisfying in my opinion!
I would like to buy a tig welder soon as I know how to use one but haven't had much practice as I haven't had much chance! From what icee seen they can provide much more finessed work when it's required to, and being able to play with aluminum and stainless would be a big bonus!

Welcome to the Forum, George. You are on your way to some serious craftsmanship!
And thanks for the good read...

[galooph]

Welcome to the forum, George

[Maxakarudy]

Welcome George,
With an interest as strong as yours at this age, you should go far.
The Porsche came out really nice, keep up the great work

[GeorgeG93]

Thanks for the encouraging replies guys! This forum has already kept me up way past my bed time learning invaluable new tips and tricks and given me much inspiration!

[Peter Tommasini]

Hi George welcome to the forum
Peter

[Z5Roadster]

Welcome to the site George, incredible what some of you young lads get up to, must be the sense of no fear. Looks good to go.
Cheers from Devon.