I am official now

Congrats Ernie. You going to take these inspection quals to a higher level still? I can't see you being without another 'challenge' for long. cheers!

JB

Congrats!

i

I am already signed up for a class on Bolting. The only other one I will need is Concrete Anchors.

I should have those 2 within a year.

With Structural Welding, Rebar, Bolting and Anchors I will stay very busy.

Congrats !!

Not that it counts for much, but I already take your weld setups to the bank. If you tell me how to do something it works every time.

Bob La Londe

Wow that is really good for you!

After all of the tests and tests you get to another Testing career!

Good o there Ernie

Mart> Today I had my Oral Exam for my WABO Special Inspector's certification

Welcome to the joys and tribulations of aircraft construction. At least you are welding to a square tube and don't have to fish-mouth the joints. (Count your blessings!).

I've always done this kind of welding with a torch instead of stick. It's easier (for me anyway)

But you figured it out already. Do it in sections, and when you start a new section melt into the existing weld.

At the end of the day you will find muscles complaining that you haven't heard from before...

Hello,

I am working on an exercise contraption that has a number of pieces of horizontal pipe, welded on the main structure, which provide a convenient place to hang the weight plates when they are not in use.

I am at the part where I have to weld the pipe sections on to the main structure. The pipe sections are five inches long, and are 1.25" schedule 80 pipe, and they will be fillet welded around the circumference where they join the main structure (the main structure is made from 2.5" square tubing).

So I'm all ready to weld these on, I have the main structure laying on supports on the shop floor, and I have the first one clamped up, ready to be welded around

Here's my question: how the heck to I maintain the correct rod angles as I go around the circumference?

I played with a couple pieces of scrap yesterday, and while I can get my weld started just fine, when I go to move *myself* around the work, I find it nearly impossible to maintain the proper angle/distance/speed of my electrode.

So how do you do it in a situation like this? Is the trick to give up on the idea of doing one continuous bead, and instead do the weld in two or three sections, so that you don't have to move your entire body while trying to weld at the same time?

What's your technique?

Jon

Weld positioners exist for a reason, move the part, not yourself.

Are the pipe pcs vertical? That will be much easier than if horizontal.

Also, idn't sched 40 normal? Sched 80 very heavy? I"da thought sched 40, in 1.25, would be more than strong enough.

Proly difficult without a rotary sumpn or other. I would certainly break it up.

Don't know if it's the way the pros do it, but I tack opposite sides

6-8 times, then weld between tacks. I pretty much had to do that with a muffler that split circumferentially or it would have distorted too badly to make up. Going to have to have a healthy bevel to get penetration on that schedule 80.

Stan

Stanley Schaefer fired this volley in news:844e07ea- snipped-for-privacy@b20g2000yqo.googlegroups.com:

If you're not an exaggerated case of athletic eye-hand coordination, and you can't put the work on a turntable, you're pretty much limited to "segment" welding. If done well, it can look good, though not as good as a continuous bead.

LLoyd

I can weld around a pipe in two halves.

Ignoramus8993 fired this volley in news:obCdnUCc6M_asu3MnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

That's still 'segments', Ig. You must be more coordinated than the average Joe, but you still can't WALK around the circle and keep your angles, can you?

Lloyd

Tack the pieces in at least 3 places. Remove your clamps. Weld from above, moving the rod around the joint. If you can't manage a full circle, do it in 2 halves.

For prettier welds use a 7014 rod. Much easier to run and plenty strong for weight lifting equipment.

Lloyd, I will try practicing without the arc, it helps a lot, maybe I can learn to do it in one circle.

i

Thanks Ernie, and everyone else who replied. I ran a couple of test pieces yesterday, and was able to do them in two passes. It was a lot easier to run the bead without having to move my body at the same time, so despite having to join two welds, the resulting weld looked a heck of a lot better (and should be a lot stronger as well).

Thanks again,

Jon

I would have considered this, and while it would have worked on the test pieces, the actual part I am doing the work on is too big (7' x 3') to rotate in my shop.

Jon

Thanks Stanly, I actually didn't bevel it, but just ran a fillet along the outside; hopefully that will be sturdy enough for the application.

Jon