Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello all,

I have a questions that I am unsure of. I decided to test my TIG weld with a bend test. I butt welded two pieces of 1/8" bar stock together and then put it in the press and bent it to a 90 degree. Then I used my vice and kept bending it. When I got close to a 180 bend, I noticed some cracking. THEN, when I tried bending it back (last picture), It broke. Below are the pictures. How much bending can a weld take?

If I just bend the base metal, this doesn't happen.

i can't tell, did you weld both sides?
did you grind a bevel on the edge?
craig

The bar stock is very different metal than the weld. It is rolled, compressed, and work hardened.
The weld is just deposited on the melted ends of the bar stock like cast steel.

motox wrote:i can't tell, did you weld both sides?
did you grind a bevel on the edge?
craig

Doesn't look like it from the first pictures.

If you welded both sides, or even just one. It’s possible that you got it too hot and cooked the steel. Even if you didn’t cook it it’s only 1/8 th steel you may not realize just how much force you actually applied to it in relation to it’s size. It’s also a very narrow cross section so any imperfections at the start stop points will be magnified due to there close proximity. Steel is designed to bend but even an unwelded section has its limits. Try bending a sample of the same steel the same width but unwelded to give yourself something to compare it to.