I got some iron bars today... spent 170€
one project is a leg for a kitchen table that a woodworker friend is making for a client. Thats what i am gonna show you today with a small welding tip.
its not easy to avoid welding distortion. i had to spot weld all sides.. while leaving some time for the metal to cool down. even on when spot welding. First of all you need a decent welding table to lay down the work piece.
Square it and then tight it down.
Weld the first side and wait at least 2 minutes to cool down.
Then grind the spot welds down. so if you turn it arround and weld from the other side. the spot welds wont keep a high spot.
Turn arround and spot weld again.
Grind again and while leaving it tight down for 2 minutes cool down.
Turn arround tight down... and weld the seam fully. and then give it 5 minutes cooldown.
Repeat on the other side.
The trick now is to weld on the same time and same side. the inner and the outer weld. By doing this you will create two equal forces. one trying to pull it inwards and the other outwards. So they will negate each other.
As for the flanges on the top. use a fat square tool to keep everything vertical.
So the general trick is to wait for cooldown WHILE its tight down on the table.
and the end product after drilling and grind will look like this.
