Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi Guys:

I'm putting some of the finishing touches on my welding table. I ran angle lengthwise mid way down the legs on the long side, and then thought I would cope 2 pieces to brace the short side and this would make a nice lip for a plywood shelf. Never coped before and actually did a beautiful job of it. I'm using 3/16" angle...where the short angle overlapped the leg, I needed to do vertical welds. I was thinking that I should start the weld on the overlapped (short piece) because there is more metal there and it would flow onto the leg. Instead, it kept blowing away the edge of the overlapping piece. In hindsight, I'm thinking I should have started the weld on the leg so that the overlapped edge flowed onto the leg.

Hope I'm making sense...thanks,

Alex

You are gona half to post a pic of this one. Most welders will bee half drunk or half sober today.

Hi:

Thanks for the reply. If you look at the back corner left hand side of the picture where the short cross piece spans between the legs, after coping the short piece, there is the tab of steel left above the coping notch that overlaps the back leg. I chose not to go right into the corner...left a gap. So I needed to do a vertical weld there. I started the weld from the short piece instead of starting the weld on the leg and letting the overlap melt.

The fact that you are coincidering where to start one weld in relation to a future weld is commendable. Experienc will dictate what you do next. A weld cart or table is a great place to learn.