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Smoothing out welds before paint

vtboy51

Sr. Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Messages
383
I hired a certified welder to weld together my new roll cage, and when I got home noticed the welds look ok, but not super nice. After speaking with him, he told me he used a stick weld , which creates a super strong joint, but isn't as pretty as a mig/tig style apparently. I've gently tried to smooth the weld outs, but wanted to know if there is anything I can to during prep for paint, maybe a small amount of body filler....
 

Jluck

Jr. Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2017
Messages
118
Stick welded a cage? Is this 1984? Holy crap I'd be pissed. Strength is in the weld arch as much as penetration or more. Don't grind more than you have to. Body filler is fine. You should post pics. Please?
 

duffymahoney

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Apr 26, 2015
Messages
2,556
Fire him, have a real welder come back and do tig over the welds. They should be able to make them look decent. Tig is stronger then stick. Stick is normally reserved for like in the field pipe work.
 

73azbronco

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 11, 2007
Messages
7,796
Yeah thats not right, stick is so 1970's, used today for field repairs on steering parts and such on the trail as a last resort.
 

Rustytruck

Bronco Guru
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
10,875
Sanding rolls and rotary files in a die grinder will smooth them up quickly. Then sand blast them and use some epoxy seam sealer and wipe it on with your finger like calking a bath tub. As long as your not powder coating just prep and paint.
 

bmc69

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Jun 11, 2004
Messages
11,852
Stick welded a cage? Is this 1984? Holy crap I'd be pissed. Strength is in the weld arch as much as penetration or more. Don't grind more than you have to. Body filler is fine. You should post pics. Please?

That. I've been a professional welder for almost 40 years...yes, I could stick weld a cage and have it pass any inspection but ..whoowee..why?? Some I MIG and some I TIG...

But I wouldn't want to be too quick to judge, since I know I could stick weld one..any pics of the welds?
 

blubuckaroo

Grease Monkey
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
11,795
Loc.
Ridgefield WA
When I was a young man, I worked in a weld shop. When I was still a helper, one welder had me grind his welds smooth. The next day I worked with another welder. I started grinding his welds. He jumped all over me! He said "why would you grind beautiful weld?
It's true. A good weld is beautiful, and should be seen.
All we had back then was welding rod. MIG came along later.
Rod weld can be beautiful too. It just takes a bit of planning to start the weld in an inconspicuous place.
 
OP
OP
vtboy51

vtboy51

Sr. Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Messages
383
Here are some pics of the welds after he "smoothed" them out a bit. I really just want them to look good after paint, so I'm willing to use some sort of body filler at this point. I just want to get the bronco back together so I can drive the damn thing....
 

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nickgp

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
1,023
I would not use body filler. Either live with it, or grind it mostly out and use mig or tig. Can't say how it would turn out w tig( fine I'm sure if the right guy is doing) but I can say that mig worked fine.
 

broncobilly72

Full Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2010
Messages
349
I'm old school. My roll cage is wrapped with form and black tape to keep my bald head from roll cage injury!
 

rguest3

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Dec 13, 2012
Messages
3,778
The guy I use for my Roll Cages does not grind down any welds. They welds are very good as is. He is not allowed to grind the welds if it is going in a NHRA race car.
 

bmc69

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Jun 11, 2004
Messages
11,852
Here are some pics of the welds after he "smoothed" them out a bit. I really just want them to look good after paint, so I'm willing to use some sort of body filler at this point. I just want to get the bronco back together so I can drive the damn thing....

Do not touch those..they look to me to be "ok"..but dont take another lick off em.
 

rjrobin2002

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 13, 2007
Messages
2,664
Get a DA sander and sand the entire cage with 220 grit and use it to feather the welds into the cage tube with a 220 grit, will make them pretty enough.
 

Glass Pony

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Feb 13, 2012
Messages
1,817
Loc.
Sussex County Delaware
Working in the power plants tig was mainly just used to close an open root. Then the rest was welded out with stick depending on the base metal. 7018, 8018, 9018 were the most common used to weld on boiler tube and associated power piping with steam pressures in excess of 2000 psi and 950 degrees F.
I know what the racing sanctioning bodies say but I would not worry about the strength welds just because they are stick welded.
 
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