The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Grinding welds

What would you guys use to grind these welds flat as possible?
Hard to reach area ...at the right angle.

I would start out with my 7" grinder and get what I could with that, then down to the 4" for a little more access, then probably have to finish with the pneumatic die grinder with a thin cut-off wheel.

I used a 4" grinder, but for the corner stuff, go with a die grinder with a small diameter burr. Something like THIS.
Robert (username MPandC) would probably say use a small cut-off wheel on edge till you get close to flat, then go with a flap disk on a 4" grinder.

I, like to use a 3”x1/4” thick wheel on a die grinder followed up with a 4” flapper disk. In corners, a 2” flapper on an angle grinder and (like Kevin) a burr in a die grinder.

Thanks fellas! That helps alot. I think then what I need to continue, would be a small angle grinder and the burr die grinder.
I finished the other side this morning. That rear lower pillar patch was easier than I thought it would be.
But regardless,I will have to smooth those out with bondo? I am new at this sort of thing.

After making the mistake of putting a plug weld where nothing could get at it, I learned to weld in areas accessible to grinding.

I use above method of large wheel, small wheel, and then zippy wheel.

That makes good sense. I am making the mistake of welding the easiest place to get at.
Yeah, I think I could get underneath once tacked and finish.

I've got an attachment for one of my small angle grinders that uses a 3/4" wide sanding belt- - - - -not a conventional grinding wheel or sanding disc. It can get into nooks and crannies where a rotary tool can't reach, and it's MUCH faster than using a Dremel tool. Another handy accessory is a variable speed control adapter for the grinder.

www.ebay.com/itm/395322329860?

www.ebay.com/itm/176434100522?

Jerry

I`ll bet having that variable speed helps alot. Great little gadget.

Inexpensive, and very useful. It also works on my electric die grinder with the 1/4" shank stones. I use that one on the lathe as a tool post grinder. "Dremel on steroids"!

www.ebay.com/itm/335433459003?

Jerry

I wouldn't get anywhere close to a sheet metal weld with any full size grinder. Angle die grinder with a 3M Roloc Cubitron disc, first with 36 grit, finished up with 80 grit Cubitron. Tight spots get a mini belt sander. DA with 40-60 grit for a nice finish.

That looks really nice. Bear in mind I don`t have access to nice equipment or working space.
I just started welding for necessity. Limited money is an understatement. I have to consider things on the cheap and
in a very redneck way. I`ll try the best I can. thanks!

If you're a cheapskate like me, Harbor Freight sells die grinders and angle grinders real cheap. I buy them in pairs to have a backup when the first one smokes. They even have a current coupon for a free 4.5" angle grinder when you spend $50.
I already have one of the "free" ones that I paid $10 for. It's bushings are shot, but it still works.

I've even found that a Home Depot Husky cutoff air tool, at $50 compared to $150 for my Blue Point version, has more umph than the Blue Point version.

All that nice equipment, I spent years buying. Anyone can. The space, is wherever you can get the work done. I've had to schedule paint jobs around rain and daytime temperatures.

Will this weld into place without having to hammer and dolly? The metals are different thickness.
There is an inner wall ,so I will not be able to get behind the weld.

Back in the dark ages (the late 1940s) when my father owned a body shop, there was one way to weld sheet metal- - - - -an oxyacetylene torch, and one kind of body filler- - - -lead. Somehow the tin benders back then did very acceptable body work. Maybe it all boils down to the skill of the guy holding the tools- - - -not having a shop full of fancy equipment. I saw the same kind of skilled work being done in the 1970s- - - -on Okinawa and in the Philippines! A little guy with nothing but a ball peen hammer, a concrete template poured into a dirt floor shop, and a piece of flat sheet metal could produce a fender that would bolt right onto a WW II Jeep and fit right!
Jerry

Whew , there ya go. I`m meeting with a guy today that might have been there in the 40s.
These would be the crucial welds that will be seen and I doubt I could pull it off. I`ll have just the one chance.
I will drive my 59 over there and the repair panels. And see what he thinks he would do.

I'd recommend rounding the corners of that repair panel. You'd get some pretty severe warping at right angle corners, and raidiused ones will minimize that. Also, use as much of the original metal as you can.

So, this is going to be some really DUMB questions but;

1. Aren't regular 4" grinders variable speed? Why the speed control adapter? Or are only the cordless variable speed

2. Which thread should I order for a 5/8"-11 arbor grinder? The M10 or the M14?

S2

Some higher end angle grinders have speed control built in, but usually they don't. I'm borrowing a 7" Snap on angle grinder with buffing wheel that's variable speed. I probably wouldn't want to buy one. $$$$

If your angle grinder has 5/8 x 11 threads, then neither an M10 or M14 will fit. You'd need an adapter from your Standard threads to either of the two metric sizes.

I bought some dremel tips. It worked some for the real tight corners.
I think the cut off wheel and then light disc grinding. But it seems with the same method used on
the cutoff wheel (shaving like a stump grinder on its side ) you could use the same technique with a disc.

Thank you, Kevin. I think that belt sander might actually help me on some projects!

S2

I've got three small angle grinders. All of them are single speed. The speed controller has a switch that can select full or variable speed operation. For fine detail work I can slow the grinder down.
Jerry

Grinding done

Oh that what looked like a panel or suburban rear wheel area, the patch to use there is a fleet side panel, that whole lower area is the same on them all, and would fix all that other mess that would need fixing using that patch panel in the photo.