I am wanting to weld a dog pen made out of chin link top rail. Can I use a standard Lincoln AC arc welder? What kind of rods do I need ? Will the weld rust? If so what do I coat them with? <font color="blue"> </font color>
Hello BillyRay, I'm not sure I follow U'r post but let me give it a shot! Building dog pen out of chainlink fence and want to know if you can weld the chain links and will they rust! Chain links are galvanived and will need the coating removed in some form or fashion! Yes stick rod it(6010/6011rods)and it will burn the galv off and weld but will rust too! I'm assuming that U'r welding the fence material to some kind of post/bar. It will be very hard because of small diamerter of wire and coating but possible with cold machine! Best bet would be to use different method maybe heavy wire to tie it or some kind of brackets bolted together with chainlink in between! ?? Hope this has helped some! I wouldn't think an inexperence welder with questionable equipment would have much luck! [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
I'm not much of a welder, so the more experienced: please chime in. A concern of mine would be the inhalation hazard of any galvanizing material when you start getting it hot enough for welding. [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]
It was quite a while ago but I'm pretty sure my neighbor temporarily did something to his eyes welding galvanized. I may be mistaken but I wouldn't feel right not putting that out there. I'm not terrible experianced with welding.(hobby)
Wire ties sound a whole lot easier and quicker.
Well Hello AGAIN BillyRay! Took kido to school and was pondering further the message on welding chainlink fence! Well it's possible with stick, wirefeed or gas weld and I wouldn't worry to much about the fumes with that small area but would be aware of fumes and keep them away from my face! But have been thinking about it and it's probably not worth the effort! Use plenty of fence wire ties and live with it! Even thou you weld the low grade galv. fence wire, expect a lot of failure right past weld(heat related)!!!
Thanks for the response fellas.
I reread my post and realized it wasn't clear as to what I wanted to know. I want to weld up a frame made out of the tubing that is used as top rail on chain link fence.
I've googled several different ways but can't find a site that gives me the info I need.
Yes, you can weld it, but it's thin material so adjust your welding accordingly. And it's galvanized, which won't be a big deal if you're out in the open with plenty of fresh air; breeze blowing away from you preferably. And yes, it will rust unless you use some kind of paint or finish on it, and I don't know what the best thing is. If you use paint, you either need to use a primer made for galvanized or wash it down good with vinegar first.
I ended up doing as handyman suggested and built the frame using hardware connectors. It was more expensive that way but I'm sure it looks better than what my welding would look like.
The one advantage is that I can take my frames apart and replace anything that rusts out. A local fence builder told me that dog urine is highly corrosive and I would be better off doing it this way rather than having to replace the whole panel or gate when the time comes that the bottom rail has eaten out. Thanks again for the good posts fellas