Need help to avoid twisting when i start to weld ... my little mig will never weld these ch***is rails 2x4 11 gauge so i'll have to breaker out the Buzz box... ARC welder... Help how to do i weld without getting a twist ... I do not have a welding table.. any other options? I onviously have both right and left sides rails that i'll need to duplicate
Tack it together. Then, weld 1 to 2 inches at a time, alternating corners. Time consuming, but very little, if any warpage.
Personally I really dont think that you should build frame rails like that. Not hat I am saying that you can't. I would rather find some one that could roll the tube to that shape if it were me. I have a problem with that many welded joints and heat affected zones on a structural member that close together. Usually you can find a gate/railing shop near by that has a big tubing/bar roller that would be willing to roll up what you need. All I am saying is the less joints the better. Good luck and I do hope that it works out for you.
P.S. I don't think that it can't be done, it can. I just think that there are better ways to do it. I am not trying to be negative. Good luck.
There was a magazine article waaaaay back when Lil Jon ****era (sp?) built his turbo buick powered model A. Showed a great amount of his frame fabrication. Essentially what he did was have someone with a big sheet metal brake form some tapered channels, which he used heat to shrink and bend. Then boxed 'em. Super cool buildup; hopefully somebody will be able to tell you what magazine it was, since it looks like you're trying to go that basic direction with the swoopy, contoured frame rails. -bill
Forgive me, I'm a little slow but I can't figure out what you have going on? Are you trying to make a smooth, laminar curve out of square stock for a front or rear kick up? There is an excellent thread in the tech section that shows you step by step how to make a model A frame out of 2"X4" stock. Even shows you how to make the frame horns. If you need some dimensions I have a stock A frame sitting out in the shop. Sorry, not much help, but maybe that thread can point you in the right direction.
If you continue in the the manner shown in the pics, you're going to end up with two 2X4X11 ga. pretzels, but I think it can be saved. 1. grind off the existing tack welds 2. saw the other tube exactly as the one shown 3. clamp (and I do mean clamp) the two tubes together into the desired curve and tack together along the length top and bottom. 4. leave clamped and weld every other 2" cut top and bottom alternating end to middle, etc. etc. 5. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT! weld the 4" cuts at this time. 6. Seperate the tubes, and hopefully, there should be minimal twisting and the curve should be consistent between the two tubes. 7. whatever warpage there is, you should be able to tweek with a 5# sledge at this point. 8. all the rest of the welding should take place after the rails are braced and crossmembers are in place. I used early 30s Chevy rails for my T roadster which are straight, but after 70 yr. of laying around and being hacked on by others they were quite twisted and bowed. I used the above method to straighten and box them, and it worked great. Here's a couple of pics to give you a idea of how I did it. The one pic is of the cheap and easy "fixture" for keeping the frame level and sq. The red lines represent where I put cross bracing and the blue arrows are (unseen) leveling bolts.
We just bent some rails using this jig and some heat. The jig is just some 2x6 layed flat with some angle iron welded to it in the shape we wanted. Add about a 1/2" too your curve. That's about how much ours sprung back. We had to do 2 sets of rails. Clark
great feedback... Others with ideas that maybe have done the same thing or simliar... Does anyone else have experience with the structrual concerns???
The Jalopy Journal
