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At home depot there is a sign that says that it is dangerous to weld with zinc plated metals. Is the zinc plated metal which is the darker kind correct, and the shiny metal aluminium. Sorry if I said something wrong or this is a stupid question.

us sniper wrote:At home depot there is a sign that says that it is dangerous to weld with zinc plated metals. Is the zinc plated metal which is the darker kind correct, and the shiny metal aluminium. Sorry if I said something wrong or this is a stupid question.

It's dangerous to be welding with zinc plated metals because it can create poisonus fumes. However I have no clue how to tell if it contains Zinc, just by looking at it atleast.

us sniper wrote:At home depot there is a sign that says that it is dangerous to weld with zinc plated metals. Is the zinc plated metal which is the darker kind correct, and the shiny metal aluminium. Sorry if I said something wrong or this is a stupid question.

can i just ask what exactly do you want to know? is it that the metal your thinking about is dangerous to weld?

sorry i diddnt catch the question that great

I am going to use the metals to make a metal thompson. I just went to home depot today and saw the sign and was just wondering. I has a gas mask that is for painters. Will that be enough for the poisinous fumes?

no it wont stp the fumes.

can i ask what type of metal you are going to be using?

if its what i think it is, its galvanized pipe which is commonly used for water piping and yes it is zinc coated which means it will give off fumes when you weld it.

can i just say i have done a lot of welding and i have to say welding gal is a bitch and suggest you take a grinder and take the gal coating off before you weld.
doing this will make it a lot easier to weld and not give off so many fumes

I am not welding with pipes. I will be using the strips of silver metal at home depot. I will be making a square piston valve.

that wont work out to good for ya soz.

how thick is it?

if its galvanized sheet thats gonna used it will still give off fumes when welded .
one quick question... what are you welding with?Arc? oxy/acce?mig?

Why will welding the strips not work. The strips are about 3/16 in width. I am using a butane torch to weld. Will that be enoguh to weld the metal together? How would I get rid of the fumes from the metals?

If its only zinc plated can you sand the zinc off?

us sniper wrote:Why will welding the strips not work. The strips are about 3/16 in width. I am using a butane torch to weld. Will that be enoguh to weld the metal together? How would I get rid of the fumes from the metals?

WTF? you cant weld with a butane torch. theres no way it would be hot enough to weld anything (except plastic).

If the paper tag says 'weld steel', it's probly zink plated. Arc/stick welding is probly to hot, unless you use really thin weld rods. I weld with zinc plated weld steel all the time with a wire feed arc welder that uses flux core wire. You need a Tig welder to weld aluminum. Aluminum is not magnetic, take a magnet with you to tell the difference. A butane torch will not work to weld with.

MrCrowley, you can hand sand the plating off, but not really nessisary.

As far as fumes go, weld in a well ventilated area, i use a small fan sitting on my bench, i don't use a respirator, it would get in the way of my welding helmet. If your really worried about the fumes, you can invest in a full hooded forced air welding helmet, but they are pricey.

@jrrdw, aye what is zinc plated weld steel? is it just zinc treated steel? also a tip when welding any metal would be to clean the surface of what you plan to weld, even zinc coating should be ground off.

chaos wrote:@jrrdw, aye what is zinc plated weld steel? is it just zinc treated steel? also a tip when welding any metal would be to clean the surface of what you plan to weld, even zinc coating should be ground off.

Just what it says, steel strips/rods/square/round stock thats Zinc plated, the shinny stuff. Rite beside the not plated weld steel, the black stuff thats saposed to have the carbon dust removed, but still gets all over your hands/cloths/automobile.

jrrdw wrote:

chaos wrote:@jrrdw, aye what is zinc plated weld steel? is it just zinc treated steel? also a tip when welding any metal would be to clean the surface of what you plan to weld, even zinc coating should be ground off.

Just what it says, steel strips/rods/square/round stock thats Zinc plated, the shinny stuff. Rite beside the not plated weld steel, the black stuff thats saposed to have the carbon dust removed, but still gets all over your hands/cloths/automobile.

lol ok, who cares about getting dirty? and as for ya car just wrap it in something.

must be just the language that is confusing me ive never heard metal being called weld steel before

my best bet would be to go with carbon(black) steel with no zinc coating as apposed to the coated stuff, it will be much better to weld with.

i agree with chaos, DO NOT USE ZINC PLATED STEEL!!! it prodices toxic fumes whem being welded, just use the carbon steel, or stainless, and you can weld alluminum with methods other than the TIG method, you can weld it with the oxyacetelyne method. if you do weld zinc plated steel do so out side and while using a fan to blow the fumes away from yourself.