Stud gun tip

W

wrndln

Well-known member
I have a Harbor Frieght stud gun. I am looking for an electrode that fits in the gun tip to use for shrinking sheetmetal. I contacted HF and they said they didn't have an electrode other than the tips used for stud welding (wrong shape and they have a hole in the middle. I am pasting a picture of what I am looking for that I got from the Eastwood website. I tried contacting them twice (via the internet and then the phone). Neither contact got any response. Finally a person in customer service that said the electrode they have wont fit a HF gun. I am not very happy with Eastwood's customer service. Does anyone know where I can buy an electrode for a HF stud gun?
Rusty Nelson

Studweldershrinkingelectrode.jpg
 
its a copper tip right? why not just braze a circular piece of copper to the end ? Half of the time if I shrink with the studgun I dont even change the tip out and shrink with the tip I use to put the studs on with .
 
Flop,
I believe the tips are copper plated or solid copper. I thought about getting a stud tip and grinding it to the shape shown if I can't find a shrinking tip. It would have a hole in it, but that probably wouldn't make much difference. Do you usually use the stud gun for metal shrinking or another method?
Rusty Nelson
 
Rusty, I have one called Magna-Spot Stud Welder Kit, and it came with 3 different tips and one of them looks just like the picture you are showing.
Here is the info on the Case,,,,,,
Motor Guard Corporation, Manteca, Ca. 209-239-9191
Dont remember where i got it , dont remember when i got it, since its been a few years. Dont know if this will help you. Good luck. Mark.
 
I dug out my Harbor Freight stud gun and removed the tip. I took a picture of it and it is pasted in below. I didn't realize it was threaded until I removed, it as I had never had the tip removed before. I assumed it had a tapered shaft like the picture I posted above. I had heard and have talked to people that use a stud gun to shrink sheetmetal instead of a torch and it sounded intriguing. They say it is easier and better than using a shrinking disk or oxy-ace torch. I don't understand why the tip doesn't stick to the sheetmetal except it is copper. The studs are copper coated, but must there must be steel right under the copper coating that causes the stud to "weld" to the sheetmetal when you want to use the gun as a stud welder. If someone that does shrinking with a stud gun could explain the process, I would appreciate it.
Rusty Nelson

Studguntip.jpg
 
Perhaps Flop or Brent might give you some good insight. My son has used it to shrink metal but i have no knowledge of how it worked for him. But he is fairly decent at working metal.
 
I will need to check the thread type - metric or US. I may need to settle for a stud tip and round it on the end a little.
Rusty Nelson
 
zzlegend said:
Perhaps Flop or Brent might give you some good insight. My son has used it to shrink metal but i have no knowledge of how it worked for him. But he is fairly decent at working metal.
Click to expand...


Thank you for thinking of me but I personally do not use a stud gun for shrinking as I feel it gets the metal too hot in a concentrated area. I am of the opinion that if sheetmetal gets "cherry red", then it is too hot. I like metal to just be hot enough to make steam when water is spritzed on.


One thought that if you are to braze on something to that tip, my initial thoughts are that its mass needs to be substantial enough to uniformly transfer heat in a large(r) area. That is why a 000 tip on a pencil torch with a soft flame, or a shrinking disc is so effective as it allows the metal to uniformly heated over a broader area. IMO, a shrinking disc is the best as it allows you to controllably shrink just the high areas. Just my perception, --your mileage may vary! ;)

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Hi:
Funny you asked that question because yesterday was the first day I tried heat shrinking wit a HF type stud gun. I found it to be quite effective although be prepared for the built in circuit breaker to trip. If you're doing many "shrinks" you may get to the point where the gun will need to cool off for several minutes before the breaker will reset. You don't need any special tips. Take any size tip and fire it up on any surface where it won't weld. You've now worn off the copper coating and contaminated the tip which is what you want. Keeping this tip in the gun apply it to the area to be shrunk. Depending on the gun you may have 5-8 seconds before the internal breaker shuts down the gun. A few tries and you'll figure out the optimum time. Much more controllable than the oxy/acetylene method
 
Lefty,
You did what I was thinking of doing, just use the stud tip. I'll see how it goes.
Rusty Nelson
 
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Rusty, I am glad you ask this question about the stud welder. I bought a HF stud welder to pull out dents on my 31 phaeton doors but I never thought about using this stud welder to shrink sheet metal. I will give this a try to see how it works. Thanks.
 
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I've used a stud gun for several years for shrinking and I don't change the tips out either. Depends on how long you hold the trigger as to how hot it gets.
 
Rusty,
If you give me the dimensions of your tip, thread size, inch or metric and the radius for shinking radius and I will make a couple for you out of copper.
You did a big favor for me a while back and it's time to repay you.
You can go to the local hardware store to buy a nut for a thread gage.
I sell and service small CNC lathes.
BigJohn
 
wrndln i usually use it for shrinking . much easier then the torch


your a good man big john !! good to see stuff like that !
 
BigJohn said:
Rusty,
If you give me the dimensions of your tip, thread size, inch or metric and the radius for shinking radius and I will make a couple for you out of copper.
You did a big favor for me a while back and it's time to repay you.
You can go to the local hardware store to buy a nut for a thread gage.
I sell and service small CNC lathes.
BigJohn
Click to expand...


Make a small run of 1¼" and 2" diameter ones and see if there is a market for them on the classifieds here, on HAMB, and on eBay. I would probably buy a set from you just to try again to see if they can be made to work better than the shrinking discs we currently use. I am all about efficiency of a tool.
 
BigJohn,
I sent you a couple of personal messages (PM's). I don't know if you get them or not. I don't have your email address. It is easier to communicate via emails. If you don't receive PM's, please let me know.
Rusty Nelson
 
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