lglade wrote:+1 on DieselSpider's hand-formed rivets.

I work in aircraft manufacturing where we use NO welded joints of any kind on the airframe; this is due to the nearly un-measurable change in material properties when heated.

We therefore have hundreds of thousands of fasteners on an airplane, but we use almost no blind (e.g. 'pop') rivets because they will tend to loosen up over time and potentially fall out. We have some non-structural applications for them, but any rivet that goes through primary structure is a formed rivet (rivet gun & bucking bar).

Unfortunately, there is no access to the back of the bottom part of the frame.

So if I wanted to purchase an inexpensive welder to do this, what would be the recommendation?

davery wrote:

lglade wrote:+1 on DieselSpider's hand-formed rivets.

I work in aircraft manufacturing where we use NO welded joints of any kind on the airframe; this is due to the nearly un-measurable change in material properties when heated.

We therefore have hundreds of thousands of fasteners on an airplane, but we use almost no blind (e.g. 'pop') rivets because they will tend to loosen up over time and potentially fall out. We have some non-structural applications for them, but any rivet that goes through primary structure is a formed rivet (rivet gun & bucking bar).

Unfortunately, there is no access to the back of the bottom part of the frame.

A 1/4" hole to allow a pin to be inserted backed by a dolly takes care of that. You have to remove the upholstery and padding most times to do many of these types of repairs.

davery wrote:So if I wanted to purchase an inexpensive welder to do this, what would be the recommendation?

I picked up the small wire feed model that is regularly on sale at Harbor Freight for about $79 to $90. Stitch welds thin metal just fine and I have welded up to 3/8 inch steel just fine with it. By no means a high volume production unit but it will get the job done at relatively low cost.

Aluma Weld type rod and a good plumbers torch (also available at Harbor Freight) can take care of most aluminum repairs, even casting in repairs on cracked/broken off/missing sections of engine/transmission parts as long as you clean up the area to be repaired pristinely and do not use a plain steel wire brush since aluminum repair rod will not adhere well to anything with steel particles left in it. Nice thing is that you can use thin plain sheet steel/flashing (not galvanized) as a form for your repairs.

DieselSpider wrote:

davery wrote:So if I wanted to purchase an inexpensive welder to do this, what would be the recommendation?

I picked up the small wire feed model that is regularly on sale at Harbor Freight for about $79 to $90. Stitch welds thin metal just fine and I have welded up to 3/8 inch steel just fine with it. By no means a high volume production unit but it will get the job done at relatively low cost.

Aluma Weld type rod and a good plumbers torch (also available at Harbor Freight) can take care of most aluminum repairs, even casting in repairs on cracked/broken off/missing sections of engine/transmission parts as long as you clean up the area to be repaired pristinely and do not use a plain steel wire brush since aluminum repair rod will not adhere well to anything with steel particles left in it. Nice thing is that you can use thin plain sheet steel/flashing (not galvanized) as a form for your repairs.

Which one of these would be better?

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Sp ... oduct.html

http://t.harborfreight.com/welding/arc- ... 60768.html

Neither. A wire feed welder is usually better choice such as the one listed below.
http://www.harborfreight.com/welding/mi ... 61849.html

Both of the flux rod stick welders you linked to would get very frustrating in short time.

DieselSpider wrote:Neither. A wire feed welder is usually better choice such as the one listed below.
http://www.harborfreight.com/welding/mi ... 61849.html

Both of the flux rod stick welders you linked to would get very frustrating in short time.

Thanks for the help. I think I will go this way. I've always wanted to learn to weld.

Make sure you use this wire - and nothing else. Any other gasless wire will probably be very prone to burning holes in your seat frame instead of welding. You will thank me later.

https://weldingsupply.com/cgi-bin/einst ... X:E71TGSE2

You have to have reasonable expectations too. On thin metal you can't draw a continuous bead and need to practice stitch welding.

Here is a fairly decent demonstration for a beginner to ponder over:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQtQenmz7io