Welding advice or How I might have just screwed up my grinder

Wloch248

Wloch248

Joined
Jan 2, 2010
Messages
337
So I finally got around to finishing my EERF grinder, just got my gas tank back from my buddy, set up my welder and went to task.

I used clamps and some welding magnets to hold the base and upright in 90 degrees. I laid my first approx 1.5" weld....... Looking good. I take my normal break when welding at the high setting and start on the second weld (same side). I lay that one and forget to check the alignment to see if they are stil 90 degees to each other. I lay the third one and start feeling pretty good about my newfound welding prowess. Wait.... why is it leaning......OH CRAP!

So, where do i go from here. I have a slight lean to the upright that will be a pain to bend back. Am I stuck with cutting out the weld with an angle grinder and rewelding? I don't have an O/A torch so heating and bending back wouldn't be a option. It looks like when I welded on just the one side it sucked it down towards that side so would just welding the other side draw it down to that side and even it out?

I am so mad at myself right now. Any advice would be helpful and appreciated. The lean is what I would consider unacceptable and noticeable. I can take pictures if it would help out any. I just want to be up and grinding on this thing asap.

Thanks,
Nathan
 
Unfortunately I think about the only way you are going to fix things is by cutting the welds and starting over. Its a bit of a pain and some work, but luckily things aren't beyond repair. If a jobs worth doing, its worth doing right. Unfortunately, if things have leaned and pulled one side out of contact with the base, your weld will flow in between that on the other side and won't ever straighten out on its own with just the heat from the other welds (almost like sticking a shim in the gap and then trying to pull things straight, just won't work).

Its important to always remember that due to the thermal contraction of the welds, and changes in the internal stress of the steel in the HAZ (heat affected zone) warping and pulling will always try to rear their ugly heads.

What I would recommend is to ALWAYS tack weld everything in perfect alignment on both sides first, then when you weld, try to weld "symmetrically". In other words, don't just run the entire welds on one side and then go back to the other. Try to weld one section on one side, then switch to the other side and weld that section, etc. The tack welds will help prevent things from pulling and leaning, but can't stop all warpage due to the heat applied in the surrounding steel, so thats why you should balance your welds.

I used to work as a welder and would do quite a bit of things like fences, gates, hand rails, stair rails, etc. I rember on one occasion, a fellow welded up the entire side of this beastly pipe rail gate, probably 15' long or so, then took a break. When he went to flip it it probably had a good bow to it about 4" measured at the center. That was no fun trying to straighten. It took a couple guys jumping up and down on the thing and heating it like mad with a big rose bud to get it to straighten. He didn't do that again.
 
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take a cut off wheel, slice the weld down the middle enough to knock the piece straight again, throw 2 tacks on the side opposite the weld you just cut and have at it.
 
jules_223 said:
take a cut off wheel, slice the weld down the middle enough to knock the piece straight again, throw 2 tacks on the side opposite the weld you just cut and have at it.
Click to expand...

This might work. Worth trying if ya have to grind it otherwise.
 
I had a fellow who had been welding for years tell me the secret to a good looking weld job....a good angle grinder.

I would grind it out and re-weld, being sure to tack on both sides before welding up.
 
Thanks for the replies. From the time I posted this and now I came to about the same conclusion as you guys. I realised that even though I was taking a break between welds there was still the thermal contraction and doing it to the other side wouldn't straighten it. I will get to grinding and then tacking like I was thinking about doing from the start.
 
rule of thumb, when welding, tack weld one side and then the other quickly thus keeping the piece from flexing too bad. it will still do it somewhat, and then what you can do is hot tack the piece basically take your stick say it's a 6010 rod, weld a tack in the gap making sure you go over the area and getting it super hot and getting into both pieces and then taking a hammer and drawing the gap while the welds are still hot.
 
Yes, tack well and then weld small equal amounts on opposite sides to keep things in line. Another trick is never to weld towards an open ended seam. i.e. Tack, then move a short distance (1/2"-1") away and weld towards the tack, then move another short distance along the seam and weld back to your first weld. Back-stepping like this helps keep the seam from opening like it will if you just weld straight along it.
 
Hi
If it has not come to the weld side too much. Turn up the welding current and do your welds on the other side and let it cool. This should bring it back.
Dan
 
I ended up cutting the weld out with an angle grinder. Then tacked both sides with 5 tack welds each side. Then I did the welding evenly on each side and now it is just about perfect 90 degrees.

Thanks for the help and now i have learned an important lesson about welding. Everything have welded before didn't have to be precise like this.
 
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