Windy Miller
Semi-Professional Potterer!
- Messages
- 3,698
- Location
- North Kent, UK
Hi Guys, I have a question re making up a flange. A bit long winded - sorry!
I have some 48mm O/D mild steel tube that I want to weld to a 6mm mild steel plate to make a flange (for a brake drum forge).
I have an ESAB Compact 125 mig welder and an old Cebora 140A stick welder, but I would rather use the mig as franky my stick welding isn't really up to much! (At least not doing fillet welds anyhow!)
My question is how should I prepare the joints beforehand? Since reading the posts on here, I have learnt so much about the finer points of welding and preperation, but the more I read, the more questions I have!
A few weeks ago, I would never have bothered with grinding an angle on thicker materials and using the mig to weld it up. I would have left everything square and grabbed the buzz box and hoped for the best! A quick whiz over with the grinder and a lick of thick paint would hide most of my awful welds!
I find I can now produce a respectable job on heavier stuff using my faithful old Esab if I prepare the joint beforehand. Happy days!
SO! How should I prepare this flange of mine? I understand that an angled end on the pipe may well be needed, but what about the edge of the hole in the plate? Should I also angle that slightly? I have a 50mm hole saw, so I will have 1mm gap all around the pipe. Will that be OK? I had intended to weld both sides of the joint, and I am pretty confident that I will be OK on the face side with a bit of an angle, but what about the back side? If I angle the hole there too, I will end up welding down in a tiny recessed corner - does that sound OK? Or am I thinking too much?
Cheers!
Andy
I have some 48mm O/D mild steel tube that I want to weld to a 6mm mild steel plate to make a flange (for a brake drum forge).
I have an ESAB Compact 125 mig welder and an old Cebora 140A stick welder, but I would rather use the mig as franky my stick welding isn't really up to much! (At least not doing fillet welds anyhow!)
My question is how should I prepare the joints beforehand? Since reading the posts on here, I have learnt so much about the finer points of welding and preperation, but the more I read, the more questions I have!
A few weeks ago, I would never have bothered with grinding an angle on thicker materials and using the mig to weld it up. I would have left everything square and grabbed the buzz box and hoped for the best! A quick whiz over with the grinder and a lick of thick paint would hide most of my awful welds!
I find I can now produce a respectable job on heavier stuff using my faithful old Esab if I prepare the joint beforehand. Happy days!
SO! How should I prepare this flange of mine? I understand that an angled end on the pipe may well be needed, but what about the edge of the hole in the plate? Should I also angle that slightly? I have a 50mm hole saw, so I will have 1mm gap all around the pipe. Will that be OK? I had intended to weld both sides of the joint, and I am pretty confident that I will be OK on the face side with a bit of an angle, but what about the back side? If I angle the hole there too, I will end up welding down in a tiny recessed corner - does that sound OK? Or am I thinking too much?
Cheers!
Andy
