Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone familiar with welding? I am looking to attach welded steel wire fabric to emt type tubing like an aviary. I have seen some that were welded and I’d like to build that type outdoor cage. Can that small gage wire be welded or brazed with gas or would you recommend a small mig welder for this type work? I would probably like to weld the emt into frames as well. Emt is typical electrical wire steel pipe. Any tips for welding galvanized wire or should it not be galvanized, etc. I’m a noob to welding.

If you would like to avoid the mess and expense of welding, you might be able to affix your wire using self tapping screws with a big washer type head.

You first drill an 1/8th inch hole and then you screw the self tapping screw in and it will hold your wire in place.

Home depot may have these type of screws, but I am not sure.

Depending on the awg you will have difficulty to extream difficulty welding the low temp point of the welded wire mesh to the high temp point EMT conduit. It comes down to the size of the material.

Its difficult enough edge welding thin sheet metal together, what your asking may be impossible.

I would recommend the self taping screw and washer like what Vision recommended.

And yes you can weld galvanized...
-----
Jeremy Payne
Owner
JB Reptile
www.jbreptile.com **Coming Sooner or Later**

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Motley Het Anery **In aquisition**
1.0 Snow "Khal"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Khal" **coming soon**
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard **coming soon**
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow
1.0 Ghost **coming soon**
0.1 Possible Super Hypo **coming soon**
1.0 Hypomelenistic
1.2 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Suriname/Columbian cross
0.1 Anerthrystic
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
2.0 Child

The self-tap screw idea is a good one. Home Depot sells such a screw complete with a large pan head, in bulk. Much easier than trying to weld the entire length of wire mesh.

Another idea is epoxy. They sell an epoxy specially suited for metal, and it works perfectly. I did that with some parts that went underwater, and it works. You'll have to clamp it while the glue cures. You'll likely do a small section at a time. Or combine screws at intervals and glue inbetween. You can also use the epoxy to seal the screw so no water gets in.
-----
Mark

The cage I saw actually looked a lot like epoxy. The welds maybe were brazed, I’m not sure. The weld material seemed sorta gobbed on, not a nice neat thing on just a thin wire. I assumed it was welded. It looked very strong though. It was like a puddle of molten weld material was fusing the wire to the pipe. It looked like whatever did it, once you got going would probably go pretty quick. And like I said, looked very strong. Maybe I could go back and really check it out and take a picture or two. Thanks for the replies.

>>The cage I saw actually looked a lot like epoxy. The welds maybe were brazed, I’m not sure. The weld material seemed sorta gobbed on, not a nice neat thing on just a thin wire. I assumed it was welded. It looked very strong though. It was like a puddle of molten weld material was fusing the wire to the pipe. It looked like whatever did it, once you got going would probably go pretty quick. And like I said, looked very strong. Maybe I could go back and really check it out and take a picture or two. Thanks for the replies.

A gobbed on weld is not a good looking weld. If it was welded they built up a weld next to the material than flowed it over the wire, encompasing it. It works but doesn't look neat at all, and can still be tricky.
-----
Jeremy Payne
Owner
JB Reptile
www.jbreptile.com **Coming Sooner or Later**

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Motley Het Anery **In aquisition**
1.0 Snow "Khal"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Khal" **coming soon**
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard **coming soon**
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow
1.0 Ghost **coming soon**
0.1 Possible Super Hypo **coming soon**
1.0 Hypomelenistic
1.2 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Suriname/Columbian cross
0.1 Anerthrystic
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
2.0 Child