Welding Tips and Tricks

I know the distortion videos is going to be a series but are you going to cover how to straighten distorted metal, rather than just mitigating it? I've heard alot of things from heating it up to cherry red and letting it cool slowly to welding gussets and pulling it...all kinds of stuff.

I think that would be interesting! I would like to learn more about that.

How thick of material are you referring to. It's to bad I'm not still on the rail I could have made a vid about straightening some big material.

Wes917 wrote:How thick of material are you referring to. It's to bad I'm not still on the rail I could have made a vid about straightening some big material.

I was doing some 3/16" plate, nothing too serious. But the same problems would apply to thicker stuff, just the thicker stuff you probably wouldn't be able to pound it back flat with a hammer.

We would typically do 1" up to 2 1/2". We had a 50, and 200 ton press and would work on some pretty large plates straightening after wrecks. Smaller a definately easier to maneuver around that's for sure. Some heat, a couple hammers, some vices, clamps etc and your good to go. With proper setup and jigs if starting from scratch shouldn't really need to do any of that.

There are a few videos on YouTube about "flame straightening". I managed to get myself out of a bind on a couple of jobs after watching the vids. Pretty much sucks to see a 20' stick of 2x2x1/4 start resembling a banana. A little heat and a spray bottle of water brought it back without much effort.

Years ago, when I worked a fab shop building commercial ironwork, I learned to "camber" beams with a rosebud and a spray-bottle of water. It was impressive how much curve you could put in a 14-110 I-beam across 40 feet with heat, water, and patience.

Steve S