welding steel base or just getting aluminium extrusion

[reefy86]

if you was to ask me to weld a steel shelf up or repair a car exhaust then id happily try learning it but its getting the frame squared perfectly and then making sure the steel that the rail goes on is welded down with no twist ect that scares the shit out of me. i see these sort of comments that makes me understand and feel better

"Clamp your work to a surface that will keep it square, use plenty of tack welds, and dont weld opposite corners because it will tend to push your square into a paralellogram."

and then this straight after that buts me back to square one lol

"if you have a part that must be square, simply make a lighter root pass to hold everything in place, then fill the joint up to a level that is nessecary.

Also if you are welding thick metal, pre heat it, it will prevent cracking of your welds, and it will prevent "pulling" by the weldments."

[reefy86]

would this be useful i just heard of it watching a video but not sure of the accuracy

[magicniner]

So design your base so that the two rails which must be in the horizontal plane bolt to it!
Hey Presto!
No machining!
No Epoxy!

If you pay for fuel I'll provide use of my Optical Clinometer which is good for ridiculous tolerance when you level the feet for the base and then set the rails.

[reefy86]

appreciate that mate ill get back to you on that one once i have the frame partially built. ive just come across this and would like to know if that frame is capable of doing what he says he is doing? ive never seen a table like this before what do you think. also would 80x80x4mm be thick enough or does it need to be 5mm

http://www.oneoceankayaks.com/madvac/madvac_index.htm

[Desertboy]

if you was to ask me to weld a steel shelf up or repair a car exhaust then id happily try learning it but its getting the frame squared perfectly and then making sure the steel that the rail goes on is welded down with no twist ect that scares the shit out of me. i see these sort of comments that makes me understand and feel better

"Clamp your work to a surface that will keep it square, use plenty of tack welds, and dont weld opposite corners because it will tend to push your square into a paralellogram."

and then this straight after that buts me back to square one lol

"if you have a part that must be square, simply make a lighter root pass to hold everything in place, then fill the joint up to a level that is nessecary.

Also if you are welding thick metal, pre heat it, it will prevent cracking of your welds, and it will prevent "pulling" by the weldments."

One suggestion why not buy a 2nd hand machine and do it up, then you haven't got to make a frame.

[reefy86]

ive tried looking mate but cant find any

[m_c]

The key to welding something well, is preparation.
All bits have to be a good fit before welding, it's then a case of tacking, and alternating where you weld to balance out any twisting.

Something you really have to appreciate, is just how much weld beads will shrink/pull when cooled, which is why you want a good fit, and do alternate welds to balance any pulling.

Alternatively, you could just bolt it all together, however you run the risk of knocking it out of square.

[reefy86]

well after watching a lot of youtube video's i am starting to come up with a method and feel a little better however after getting the materials and all necessary equipment/tools then its still going to cost me £1k+ anyway but i suppose i learn a new skill trade in the process.

[reefy86]

anything wrong with this frame and is the diagonal supports ott? i will be adding adjustable feet on aswell

cheers

[JoeHarris]

For what's it's worth I was not confident welding either, so made mine in several welded parts which where more manageable then used bolted connections to fix them together and finally tacked it together once it was all squared up. It is actually not that critical to have the frame perfect as you will most likely need to level it with epoxy anyway and so long as the rails are parallel the support under them does not need to be perfect. Basically what I'm saying is I'd have a go yourself and spend the money you save on the other parts!


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