When I weld some things, such as especially pipes, but other things also, I often want to hold then relatively firmly in a certain way. The limit would be something like 10 lbs weight. What I want is that I want this holder to be flexible and hold stuff in any position. I am not looking to buy a $30,000 5 ton welding positioner, but more like a work holder that could hold stuff. Something like an arm with ball joints. Numerous searches turned up nothing at all. Ay ideas will be greatly appreciated.
If you wish to emulate the "big boys" look for a large clapped-out rotary table and mount it on an adjustable angle plate. A client of mine has several real monsters... 12 foot dia. rotary table, tilt axis, 90 or so tons capacity, all motor driven axes.
You can then use a vise or other built-to-suit locating and clamping device as required. Perhaps one or two of those drill-press table vise-grips would suffice.
A camera tripod works really well for this. Drill and tap a piece of steel
1/4-20, which will allow it to be mounted on the tripod. From there, you can add a C-clamp, or a pair of Vise-grips or whatever is convenient. I did this for a welding student that I know, and he LOVED it.
It really is. As much as I hate supporting the crap tool industry, It would take more than $10 of my time to build one. I will put it on my list to Santa.
The most useful positioner I have is similar to these;
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It cost me $10 at an auction, plus $40 IIRC to have the cylinder rebuilt. The other, working, stacker went for $125.
Aside from the lift it has the vertical back wall and posts to clamp parts upright and it works as a crane with the frame being welded hanging below the platform. If I need to line up long beams to weld the joint (16' max, so far) I put it in line with two Workmates and jack the beams into eyeball alignment. It's a good support for bandsawing them to length, too. I hang projects too large for it from a tree.
For small complex assemblies I put a (cracked, reject) sewer grate on the platform. It doesn't have the accessories like an Acorn table but bar clamps fit into the slots.
Particle board doesn't burn all that badly when you clamp tubes to it to weld the joints.
If you want a not-difficult machining project, see clamp at
shows an example of a Thompson Retractor system as it might be used during an operation. That set is listed at $900. Ebay sometimes has larger sets for half as much, typically restricted for sale to medical profession.
Steve, maybe I was unclear, but my problem is that I only have two hands. Not three and especially not four. So a welding jig like that Harbor Freight one, would come real handy. I agree that if I was welding pipe, it would be good to learn to do in all positions. But my question was about putting small things together, or turning little tubes etc.
Iggy, my boy, I'm disappointed in you. In the real world, a pipeline can't be aligned and rotated so the weldor can weld flat all the time. YES, YES, YES, it is nice when you have a positioner to make it all easy. And the welds do come out a LOT better.
However, if you ever want to call yourself a REAL weldor, you have to take it in any position, and weld it up right and x ray proof. But then, not everyone has that opportunity to weld that many hours and burn that many cans of rods to get there.
So yeah, it is really nice when you can flip stuff and make it all look purty.
Still, work on your skills and hone them. It's like bowling. You learn a lot at first, and your average comes up fast. Then it slows down as you learn the really fine points. Those fine points differentiate between a weldor and a dauber. And they come slowly with doing it.
As for the positioner, just always to do the simplest thing. If you give a lazy man a job, they will find the easiest way to do it every time. And surprise you.
Sometimes it helps to think simple. A big box of sand will hold "stuff" in "position", so long as the stuff is long enough to stick out, but short enough not to be out of reach when it does. A lot of welding jobs fit that criteria, or at least some of the parts needing to be held do. does well with odd-shaped parts, etc.
The most useful device to come from discussions on this newsgroup is the WOK OF DOOM.
Take a $10 steel wok, and fill it with 50 lbs. of steel shot peening shot. Works great for TIG to position odd parts. Doesn't work as well with stick or MIG since they lack high freq.
I have one at home and one at school. Simple cheap and incredibly versatile.
I call it the Wok of Doom because of how much it weighs. Not something you want to spill. The secondary benefit is that is spins beautifully so it works great for welding round things.
For a simple positioner that doesn't have a motor to rotate it, just use steel pipe and kee-klamp fittings.
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They are normally used for railings, both temporary and permanent. With a few flange, T and L fittings, and a few lengths of pipe you can make all sorts of jigs. ...and they can be dismantled for storage.
I use several small drill press vises for TIG positioners. Get an angle vise
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They are very handy for angling things as you weld.
The item I use a LOT for hold small parts for tacking is aluminum foil tape for air ducts.
It has enough grip to hold parts tight and tack welding warms it up just enough that it peels off easily.
Ernie Leimkuhler wrote in news:221120080040354379% snipped-for-privacy@stagesmith.com:
Ernie,
I recall you made a welding positioning frame for doing accurate right angle welds. I looked through the Metalworking Dropbox lists, where I thought I saw it...but no luck. A link?
On Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:12:13 GMT, the infamous BobH scrawled the following:
The grounded, spring-loaded lever is for grounding the hub to keep arcing out of the bearing, but does it also act as an anti-rotation device? Is it straight or toothed?
-- Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired. -- Jules Renard
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