Mini spot welder to weld railing

[modeller_masa]

Hello,

I bought the mini spot welder several months ago. It is the first time I've used an electric welder, so I don't know any specific safety rules. Obviously, I felt the tool was as dangerous as a table saw, so please don't use this electric shock welder before you're trained well.

 

One of my goals was to weld yacht railings, but it seems like not simple. This mini welder is optimized for 18650 battery welding work, which uses nikel sheets, so that I had many difficulties with welding "weak" metals such as brass and tin. I was able to get successful result under only specific conditions.

 

Good results

Brass rod - Thicker than 0.80mm.

Stainless steel or steel wire - Thicker than 0.30mm

 

Bad results

Brass tube - It sparks everywhere.

Stainless steel or steel wire thinner than 0.20mm - Too easy to cut, like the brass rod thinner than 0.60mm

 

The melting point of the brass is relatively low, and the thinner steel wire has high resistance, which causes higher temperatures and snapping. If I can make the welder weaker, I may be able to make more precise and smaller brass railings or shrouds for 1/350 scale models.

[KeithAug]

I can think of a number of pros and cons for welding vs soft soldering. Why are you preferring welding?

[modeller_masa]

And, I'm experiencing a number of cons with welding... I imitated railings in the real world. Due to the unpredictable welding process, I need to think about a different method...

[GrandpaPhil]

Try using a ceramic tile as a work surface.
 

Ceramic tile is inherently heat resistant.
 

Did you have to use a welding mask for that?

[modeller_masa]

Thanks for the tip, Grandpa Phil. I used the ceramic tiles and metal holders when I soldered brass masts with a gas torch. This tiny spot welder isn't stronger than the gas torch, but it makes shiny sparks like an arc welder makes. 😎

 

Making a metal model ship is one of my future goals, but I feel it is still far from now...

[jud]

Put the arc welder away and use a gas torch to weld with if you must weld, be better to braze the joints. From the net; A brazed joint is made in a completely different manner from a welded joint. The first big difference is in temperature – brazing does not melt the base metals.

 

[Roger Pellett]

A “compromise” might be resistance soldering.  In fact you might be able to use your spot welder as a power source for resistance soldering. 

 

Roger

[modeller_masa]

I'm not a mechanical engineer but an IT engineer. Learning new techniques can be frustrating, but I enjoy the adventure. Resistance soldering seems to be a new challenging area. Thank you for the information, Roger.

Edited August 10, 2022 by modeller_masa