Can I Stick Weld Razor Blades? | Thin Steel Stick Welding Tips

A fun challenge to test the limits of stick welding thin metal while providing 4 practical tips.

Stick welding is great because of the simple equipment, portability and intuitive nature of the process. It is really well suited for thicker materials, where very thin material is a better fit for TIG welding or MIG welding. In this video, I explore how thin of material can be stick welded.

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[arnoldaltjr.]

The guy that taught me (early 60's) could weld a beer can to 1/2" plate with a stick welder. Nice clean weld. I was never that good. In later years I had a guy working for me that would bend a 7018 1/8' rod backwards and do vertical ups in a mirror. I did master that one.

[spiderlovesbeerotto]

I’m blowing thru on all my square tubing
I was wondering if 16 gauge was to thin but you just proved to me that it’s me, not metal, rod or welder. I’ll keep trying. Thanks for the videos.

[mantrajack]

Tim! I'm just on the very beginning of my stick welding (or just welding) journey and I've run through a lot of your videos recently. All of them are brilliant and loaded up with useful informations, but this one is just insane. :) I would never believe that it's possible to weld such thin materials with stick, until I saw your vid today! :) It seems that you not only have a gift of being a talented welder, but also a great teacher! Thank you so much!

[darzo]

Dude, has anyone ever told you, you are an amazing teacher..?? Well you are an amazing teacher

[frankkante]

THAT changes Everything !!! Very cool. Please more of thin material. Absolutly amazing. Great job !!

[peterdouglas]

It works, the bought a $99 inverter ark welder. 1.6mm rods, 20amps, electrode reversed and the frame wall thickness is 1.5mm or less. Thanks TimWelds.

[zyb]

Thanks a lot for including metric measurements! Great video!

[robertames]

Went to the weld school back in the nineties, stopped welding to work as equipment op. /CDLA driver, these vids are perfect for refresher and even learning new stuff. Thanks man!

[ambroscustom]

Beautiful explained, I did alot welding on 1mm stainless but that polarity tip is awesome for sure, I never used that trick. Thanks for letting us know.

[Tglider]

That was awesome! There is a great video on YouTube showing an expert that did rocker panel rust repair using a stick welder. There are horses for courses, but when you only have one old nag, you ride it!

[RC-Heli]

This is amazing! Most all of the thin stiff I have worked on was where we were trying to avoid buying a 1300.00 muffler for a piece of heavy equipment.
I used oxy/acetylene torch, filler rod and sometimes I needed thin metal to patch with. I was able to get many many years out of mufflers most would throw away.😃

[iancaseley]

I watched this because I can't afford a tig or mig but I do want to weld thin tube. An amazing video and very educational. Thank you for going to the effort of producing this video. I'll be watching more.

[diegoribeiro]

Great video buddy!! Another way to weld thin material is to raise your amps to the recommended (6013) range and make really fast dots, it works fine mainly when you are welding galvanized material and need to burn through. This method works when you are welding out of position too, like that impossible angles and weird positions. You have to set your amps high and work fast. Anyway, this is just the way I do it when need to. I wish the best luck to you, your business and family, keep up the good work

[danielchambers]

I love stick welding, but it is so challenging on thin thanks for the info!!!!

[JamesCouch]

I've successfully welded car fenders and other car body parts with a stick welder and it is challenging.

[markashlock]

Well I for one am impressed!!! Dang!!! There’s a lot of tig welders that have a hard time pulling the “razor blade” trick. Good job and good vid. Thanks!!!

[jalebeverson]

I had to watch this after reading the title, reminded me of when I was an apprentice it was like a claim to fame if you could tig weld 2 coke cans together at the base, although I never attempted it myself. (I've just now decided I'm gonna give it a crack on Monday).
I figured I'd watch the intro then skip to the end to see you attempt to or successfully weld the razor blades, but to my surprise it was informative and engaging through the whole video, well done mate, subscribed!
I'm a sheety with 14 years experience but never done learning. Looking forward to seeing what knowledge I might be able to gain from the rest of your channel! Keep it up

[scottsteinhoff]

Thank You! For the awesome video. It all makes sense. You have improved my technique immensely.

[BrettDalton]

Great info. I am not a great welder but 80% of what I weld is 1.6 or 2mm, often gal. I mostly use electrode negative as it avoids blowthroughs but might switch back and give it another go

[silentpoet]

I think the real value of the razor blade challenge is pushing your skills to that level. It makes other stuff much easier. I have not attempted it stick, but I have put a lot of beads in and attempts at beads. It has greatly improved my tig skills. I may have to take my 1/16 6013 rods to school and try it.