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Fly wings

I was making a frame for "fly wings" for a Halloween costume. The way I made them was welding three 3/32" sticks of ER70S3 into a 9 foot piece, then making a figure 8 from them. The figure 8 would look like a fly wing horizontally, with a stocking over it.

The short of it is that it worked after some frustrations, related to my ability to hold them and weld them at the same time as those springy rods were under tension.

I would like to ask what sorts of holding fixtures do you guys use, beyond C clamps and regular Vise-Grips. After yesterday's experience, I would like to buy or make some more. I would prefer an emphasis on make, such as some additions to vise-grips etc.

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Reply to
Ignoramus15187
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Vee blocks for holding round things. If you don't need them often, you can whip out a couple out of 2 by 4 wood and kludge the clamping using a couple of C clamps.

=20 Dan

Reply to
dcaster

I'm not a weldor, but I'd have made a jig out of a piece of hardwood with a couple of dados (dadoes?) at the angle you'd need a few inches away from the HAZ (heat affected zone).

Good Luck! Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

I have two identical cheap drill press vises with slotted flanged bases that work well for ad-hoc welding jigs. In this case I'd clamp some bar stock in both to align them, attach them to the table edge, then replace the bar stock with the rods. I use B&D Workmates for larger pieces.

This platform stacker is quite useful for clamping assemblies to be welded:

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adjusts to a comfortable standing or seated working position and uprights can be clamped to the frame. It would be more useful if it had a horizontal jib crane arm at the top to suspend and rotate the work, but I couldn't store it where I do and it might tip too easily.

The platform is wrinkled, so when I need a flat and rigid welding table I put a sewer drain grate on it, like an Acorn table. The grate is an unused, cracked reject from a paving job.

jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

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