Replacing a spot weld w/tig weld 304ss

My vendor who was making a part for me was spot welding a clip on the side of a small container before folding). The container and clip are both 1/16" 304SS.
The clip is 1/2" strip with a couple of bends but with 3/4" clear on each side of the bend detail.They were previously held with a spot weld centered on each end, with a resulting nugget about 3/16" in diam.
These are not high volume and I don't have or currently intead on purchasing a spot welder.
If I tig a "spot" should I start with a hole in the clip?
If yes how big?

Mike

(a newbie at tig)

pretty much as long as you can get a good puddle on the base metal before the plug fills in , try to feed filler rod into the puddle and build up before fusing around the edge - i would start with a 5/16 hole and a 1/16 tungsten, real sharp .

I think I'd start with a hole....otherwise you're going to have to melt thru both thicknesses.

You're going to have to practice some with Tig so you don't melt a hole in the bottom layer...probably have to do it in a couple passes so you don't get so much molten there at one time.

Do you have a mig machine? I would use a 3/16 to 1/4" hole and spot weld with mig. That would be the fastest way. Other than that you could use the same size hole and tig it. For that matter you could just run a quick bead around the perimeter of the clip as well.

I do have a mig but not done any ss with it only because the need never arose. The ss I've done has usually been larger structurals using stick.

I tried some sample pcs today.
Without a hole was useless, at least with my experiance.
Tried w/several hole diameters 3/16,1/4 & 5/16 straight thru.
The best for control of starting the puddle w/o melting thru was using a 5/16 ctr drill leaving a small countersink. Was easier bringing/seeing the puddle wet the edges of the clip.
The only issue I have to work on is the amount of filler.
There's a fine line between starting to join the base/clip and a little blob above the top of the clip.
But a dress with a grinder cleans it up.
Welding around the outside was considered but they have to look the same as the parts already made.
Thanks for the suggestions
Mike

I dont think you should even need filler here. How thick are the parts?

Mig would really speed you up. Bet 10 times or more. Get a small bottle of 98/2 ArCo2 and a 10# spool of wire and go to town.

SIR,
is there any way you can back up the
weld with a copper strip? if so, this
would help prevent overheat, and burnthru.
wlbrown
wright city, mo.

wlbrown
I've run more samples and seem to be getting the hang of it. As long as I get the puddle started in the ctr and keep the filler to minimum, I can do it with the small countersunk hole.
My first filler rods were 3/32, and have switched to 1/16 which helped control overfill and the blob.
Being a newbie I'll need to practice,practice and practice.