[TheForge] Arc welding trick

[Mike Spencer]

This is probably old news to anybody who does a lot of fab or welding
but a nifty discovery for me:

Had to butt weld two pieces of 1-1/4" round.  PITA.  Align, clamp,
weld, re-clamp, weld, straighten zetc. etc. So after pointing the two
pieces and tacking them in alignment, I coupled them to my 6 RPM
gearbox -- the one I used to lap in my big hammer anvil -- with a
piece of PVC pipe, laid the tacked pieces in a piece of channel
grounded to the welder.  Turn on the motor and just hold the arc
steady, welding around and around in a helix until the rod is gone.
Chip as it turns and repeat.  If it gets a bit out of true, you can
see it as it turns and, when the weld is real hot at the end of a rod,
you can straighten it with a bash of a gloved hand.

Okay, not a cert weld but plenty good enough for my purpose.

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                 						   /V\ 
mspencer@tallships.ca            						  /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/						  ^^-^^

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