Welding Tips and Tricks

What do you think about laying a piece of 16 or 11g over the top of this about .625 smaller(length+width) and staggering the stitches? Currently its approx. 28"x31" sitting on 1.250" tubing

Any SS wizards know how thick I'd need to go to eliminate it?

Good luck

Best outcome I've had was using large chill blocks immediately adjacent to the seam to help absorb the heat before it transferred through the sheet. I've not found that "sandwhiching" the sheet makes any difference in preventing the welded sheet from warping.

I knew it was going to do this, just not how bad. The original plan was to bend it into a box and stick it on the edges, but as they do, plans changed.

I don't have much SS experience, but I'm thinking any oil can in 11g might be more manageable. From there I can put a cross-member in under with some kind of deadener it if its still being finicky.

I want to put the 11g over it rather than cutting this 18g off. That was my original plan, but I wasn't the one procuring the material. Now I am.

Thanks for the reply

Where are the SS tin man? They've got to be on here. Will 11g stiffen it up? Or should I glue a piece of 11g aluminum to the bottom to try and dampen it?

If you want to stiffen it up as it is, yes, 11ga strips underneath tacked to it will help, or, you could simply run some stringers of flat stock on edge across the rails and tack them to the underside.

Your issue is mostly due to the thin material spread across the space without support. So intermediate support or stiffeners will reduce the spring effect.

11 ga will stiffen it up. Your best outcome will be if you grind off the old top first. But you can overlay it like you described.

With material that thin, where are the supports under the sheet?

If by "oil can" you mean the sheet is drooped down, run some angle to support it underneath - but don't weld to it unless there is a reason to.

I don't know how to quote posts on here yet so bear with me!

cj737 - If you want to stiffen it up as it is, yes, 11ga strips underneath tacked to it will help, or, you could simply run some stringers of flat stock on edge across the rails and tack them to the underside.
Your issue is mostly due to the thin material spread across the space without support. So intermediate support or stiffeners will reduce the spring effect.
Thanks. Yes, I know what the problem is. And I have already cut a crossmember to see how that might do, but clamping it in place I realized it won't be enough to get that thin/cheap feel out of it. I would need to put them an inch apart to make it 'solid' like the 11g would do quicker and easier. I'm trying to avoid putting any heat into the thin top to avoid warpage. It would probably get pretty ugly. This thing isn't exactly inexpensive, so I'm trying to avoid the China feel!

Poland308 - 11 ga will stiffen it up. Your best outcome will be if you grind off the old top first. But you can overlay it like you described.
Thank you. That's what I was hoping. I think overlapping might look pretty good and will save time in cutting! Judging by your screen name is it safe to assume you have a good bit of experience with SS?

With material that thin, where are the supports under the sheet?
If by "oil can" you mean the sheet is drooped down, run some angle to support it underneath - but don't weld to it unless there is a reason to.
I think the 2nd pic illustrates that there are no supports under it currently. Like I said, if I were to put supports under it to remedy the situation, I would have to put them pretty close to each other which would be more time consuming than I'm comfortable with.


Thanks for all the replies!

Based on your reply, I wouldn't screw around with the sheet you have.
I'd cut it off, add another support, put a thicker sheet on.
I've had to cut off things that didn't work as planned before - it happens.

None of you tried heat shrinking to remove oil canning?

AndersK wrote:None of you tried heat shrinking to remove oil canning?

I have done heat shrinking, mixed results on thin material.
But I don't think this will solve his particular problem - looks to me like too thin for the desired use.

MinnesotaDave - Why? The 18g goes almost to the end and if I put the 11g on it, it will basically be sitting on the tubing underneath. The 18g is sitting perfectly flat so I'm thinking the 11g wouldn't know the difference if I cut the 18g off or not. It'll add a nice decorative characteristic

AndersK - I know a thing or two about that. Notice the 'dimples' in this floor pan. I'm not sure if you know a better way, but here, I used a dent puller gun

Why would I replace the sheet that you're not happy with? Because that's how I would do it if it were mine.

You should fix it however you like.

I'm not sure you would if your time was as limited as mine right now. I'm killing two birds with one stone here. I'm fixing the problem while saving time doing it. Thanks for your input

Yeah the dent puller works similar, will help heat shrink in a small area.
The old school method is heat, hammer & dolly which you can apply to your problem.
Put the sheet on a flat steel bench, or plate, so the canning bulge upwards. Heat the center and give it a good whack with a hand sledge. Leave the sledge against the sheet, will suck up the heat. You might have to repeat. If it's a large area you might have to work in circles outside in.