Thread: Stud welder

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I will be buying a stud welder. I could get one from Harbor Freight, but I had one before and it didn't work good. It could have just been a bad one.. Not sure. Now I wouldn't be making this a practice of using it every day, so I don't want one in the $200 and over price range.. Are there others I should look for?? I saw Mac, and Snap on, a H&S, and a Magna Motor.. I am not usre if these are any better though.. Thanks.. Al

I have a HF stud welder and haven't had any problems with it. I do know that others have had issues.

Whether you find a new or used one, most stud welders will be 115vac powered. This should make it fairly easy to plug in and test them out prior to purchase. I'd take some scrap sheet metal, even if to a HF store, and explain that with your previous experience with the HF product you'd like to test it before leaving the store. Don't forget CL or even local pawn shops, perhaps you can still find a good used price on a better tool that would about equal the new HF price....

The stud welders are sensitive to having a good electrical contact between the part and the tool.. Even with the high dollar one I owed before some theif decided he needed it, I occasionally had to wire wheel the face of the tool.

yep i was going to say that if not a good contact they can arc and blow a hole in the thin stuff . trick with them is no more heat to stick the studs then needed .i used side cutter grab them at the head part and with a twist they would pop off with out grinding them off many times i would reuse the studs

The main place I need it is on the panel above the rear fender. I can't hit it,or pry it. A stud welder would be the next choice.

stud welders are ok for fast work . but for fine finsh work hammer and doly i would like to see were you can not get on your 37 ? there has been many times were i had a helper hold a doly or a port a power with a 2by4 or rubber end for soft push another way is lite tack welds to sheet metal grab it with a mowe clamp pull with come along or sluger with a hook . i cut the back side out to get in were i need or cut in a door jam to get at the skin rework it with a flat spoon or re work a old leaf spring work s good. work it out then weld it back up were you cut it open if you can sit in the trunk i hand sanded the back of the panle to show up the spots that need work . beat up metal with a doly from the back side work the low spots up

if your working on your 37 there is really no need for a stud welder as you can get behind every panle with a spoon or pry bar or pick rods.dolys . i used all the studs welder s out there in the last 30 years every shop i worked at had one a some spot welders that stuck washer up and you hooked them with a puller not shure if i used the HF one .you could see if any of the tool guys have one used on the truck snap-on mac pawshops .E bay .craigs list

Also have to remember.. I am not a shop.. Just one guy trying to build a car for the first time in his garage.

There was a guy that used to do body work that lived across from me. He had what looked like was a bent small screw driver with a T handle welded on it. He would just drill an 1/8" hole on the low spots and pull out the dent with this tool. Then he would mig weld the hole up and grind it off. Simple and fairly easy. He probably would have used a stud welder if he had one but this worked for him.

I have never done any body work or paint but I have been toying with the idea. Been thinking about going to the wrecking yard and picking up a couple of items to practice on.

I mentioned that before. Many years ago. You would drill holes down the crease. Incert sheet metal screws, and pull them with a slide hammer.. I nearly got reamed on that one. To hard to weld back up again. The only other thing I can think of is to use a palm nailer. Using a carriage bolt up against the dent, and do some off dolly work. It would be hitting the dent many times. It might drive it up, but then maybe it won't. A stud welder might not work either..

I have a MAC tools stud gun, i love it. I used it one time to shrink and it is amazing! You can actually see the metal shrink. It is one of those tools that can sit under a bench for ages and used rarely but you can easily justify it.

A good stud welder, the slide hammer, the small stud puller, and a pingin' hammer will get a lot of ugliness out of a panel in areas that are difficult or impossible to access from the backside.... I've got a Snap-on that I bought when they first came out, never has failed me!!!

Looking at a used one on ebay. Don't know that much about them to know if I would be buying a good one or not. I could only go about $140 right now. I was going to bid $100 right now, but it is already up to $66 last time I checked.

that panle can be worked at from the back side ?? with a pick rod EZ looks or a 2by4 has a backer to lever off of inside using a pick rods or spoon long crow bar . reworked leaf spring . not very hard to remove part of the back tin with a cut off re work the panle and weld back on as for shinking i used to use the washer welder at the shop and a wet rag i done a well worn 24 grit sanding disc on a air grinder and a wet rag on new cars and used kinking with a sharp pick hammer sometimes not the best way but work s last is a torch and a bucket of water with a rag this way takes many years to now were to shink the metal after you over worked the steel you learn not to over do it . it comes down to how hard you hit the steel in one spot to many times or on doly smashing .i did shrink more metal for a buddy that did not know when to stop he was good at making oil cans . it got to point were i just took the dents out for him as i got sick of fixing his oil cans