[Neosec]

I think you're already on the right idea whats giving you the problem. You need to heat the 1/8" fast before the expanded heats up, which would probably be very difficult to control if you're new to it.

I would try and pre heat the thick material up to annealing temp, which is quite close to melting.
Mark the metal with a Sharpie and heat until it disappears then try to weld again. If you already have welded some parts of the expanded metal you might need to bend it up slightly so it doesn't suck up the heat while pre heating.

If I preheat the thicker stuff enough would I be able to reduce the amps to 15-20 for the 51 thousandths expanded, and be able to get a puddle going in the 1/8th inch at the lower amps?

Unlikely. The 1/8" material won't weld with that low of amps, no matter how much preheat. A preheat, a 1/16" tungsten and a 1/16" wire (or smaller) and favoring the 1/8" is about your only option with a TIG.

You say, "...about your only option with a TIG", is there another welding process that would weld the thin expanded to the 1/8th inch angle better/easier?

[Neosec]

Extremely Difficult for a new person - you could just rivet through washers or bolt through washers.

Or lay a 1/8" thick flat strip over the mesh and rivet, bolt or weld.

"Extremely Difficult for a new person..."

Yup, I suppose it is. I'm a stubborn old bstd though and will probably keep working at it till I figure it out.

[cj737]

The other option is to use a MIG welder with a spool gun (this is an aluminum wire). Spool guns are inexpensive means of converting a DC MIG to weld aluminum. MIG squirts so much wire so quickly that the added wire overcomes the burn off of the expanded screen. You still need to use care, but welding thin-to-thick stuff like this, Spool Guns are the ticket for mere mortal welders.You'll be running 0.030 wire so it works a treat.

[Warrenh]

Extremely Difficult for a new person - you could just rivet through washers or bolt through washers.

Or lay a 1/8" thick flat strip over the mesh and rivet, bolt or weld.

"Extremely Difficult for a new person..."

Yup, I suppose it is. I'm a stubborn old bstd though and will probably keep working at it till I figure it out.

I would sharpen a tungsten and direct my heat into the 1/8 until I see it start to puddle then add a drop of filler onto the 1/8 then walk it to the expanded. You will need to have your torch at a 90 to the 1/8 material just off the end of the expanded but not close enough to melt it. Once you get the 1/8 to puddle and take filler you can reduce the heat a little move toward the expanded and add heat and filler. I do some thick to thin at work and this is my usual trick. Try to get the filler to flow to the expanded.

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[AndersK]

Or lay a 1/8" thick flat strip over the mesh and rivet, bolt or weld.

Or clamp a steel bar on the mesh. Leave a few mm of the mesh sticking out and hit it hard. The bar will stop the mesh from melting to far until the 1/8 melts.

[Neosec]

Extremely Difficult for a new person - you could just rivet through washers or bolt through washers.

Or lay a 1/8" thick flat strip over the mesh and rivet, bolt or weld.

"Extremely Difficult for a new person..."

Yup, I suppose it is. I'm a stubborn old bstd though and will probably keep working at it till I figure it out.

I would sharpen a tungsten and direct my heat into the 1/8 until I see it start to puddle then add a drop of filler onto the 1/8 then walk it to the expanded. You will need to have your torch at a 90 to the 1/8 material just off the end of the expanded but not close enough to melt it. Once you get the 1/8 to puddle and take filler you can reduce the heat a little move toward the expanded and add heat and filler. I do some thick to thin at work and this is my usual trick. Try to get the filler to flow to the expanded.

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I gave that a shot and it worked better.
I set the Amps to 75, cleaning to 10% (so more heat on the 2% Lanthanated Tungsten), Switched the tungsten from 3/32 to 1/16, increased the Argon to 20, and tilted the torch away from the expanded just a bit. This resulted in less melting back of the expanded. I need practice with peddle control, but the result was welds that penetrated and seem fairly solid though not too pretty.

0.051 Flat expanded to 0.125 Flat stock 6061

Expanded-to-dot125.jpg (88.06 KiB) Viewed 797 times