Testing welds

Can't you think of some simple welded structure that the jack can rip apart? The idea is to see if it can be permanently bent out of shape before any weld breaks. The welds should be at areas of highest stress concentration. Just be careful it can't do damage if it slips off the jack or snaps and sharp pieces fly.

i am not going to be any more specific. This is info you should learn first-hand from an experienced weldor, as I did, or at least from a good manual.

Jim Wilkins

stryped wrote in news:10e92a1e-0ffb-4ab5-bbbe- snipped-for-privacy@59g2000hsb.googlegroups.com:

If your "floor jack" isn't a bottle jack:

If the pieces are long enough to extend 2"-4" beyond the width of the jack _and_ you have a tow chain, make a closed loop of the chain that wraps tightly over each end of the piece as it rests on the lifting point and under the jack - then operate the jack.

If the jack breaks and the weld doesn't, you just got a good excuse to get a better jack.

If the piece bends without breaking the weld, the weld was good and your jack was strong enough.

Thanks. That is a very good idea.

Beating with a hammer is a pretty good way to test for cracks in a butt weld or a lap joint (with one part clamped in a vice).