On Tue, 13 Nov 2018 18:19:20 -0000, Chris wrote:

Hi all,

Realistically, what is the thinnest gauge of steel one can satisfactorily
weld using an arc (stick) welder before blowing holes makes it next to
impossible? (I'm not talking about some time-served, fully skilled, coded
bloke with all the certification; just an experienced DIYer.)

ta

About 2mm in clean steel using an inverter welder. I can manage 1mm but it
gets a bit messy and needs a lot of grinding. My old oil filled
transformer welder not anywhere near as thin.

I've just got a small argon bottle and a TIG gun, it will do much thinner
but I'm so slow with it, I only managed about 3 linear inches of weld and
got through half the bottle (a refill is £25 IIRC), I think the big
problem was doing it outside where the slightest breeze blows the
shielding gas away, I'm much betyter with oxyacetyline.

AJH