Warpage control welding a SS brewstand ????

I am about to start putting together (welding) a brew stand made of 2x2x 11ga SS tubing.

I'm hearing horror stories from some people about issues with the frame warping while its being welded. Any tips for dealing with this issue ?

I'm a very experienced stick welder. I can use either a TIG or a MIG welder to put the stand together.

That's because people are making too large of welds, and in turn putting too much heat into the parts. The larger the weld, the more distortion you'll encounter.

Your material thickness is 11ga, therefore your welds need only be no more than 1/8".
Do you know how to measure the size of a weld?
If not, a fillet weld is sized from the root or corner of the joint of the weld to the edge of the weld on both sides, and shortest of the two is the measured size.

Here's an example.



Make the welds only as large as necessary, and use plenty of tack welds before starting to weld and you should not have to worry.

dmfa200 said:

That's because people are making too large of welds, and in turn putting too much heat into the parts.

Click to expand...

Large welds is part of the problem. LONG welds is also a common problem. (long welds have the same effect as large welds: too much heat).

First, tack weld your pieces in place, and verify that they are true. Then you can do localize stitch welding, and finish with a fill-in. Yes, it's more work, but unless you are using a jig, if you weld using long passes, the piece will warp.

MC

I suspected that these people were getting the material too hot, but didn't want to assume that. Thanks for the pointer.

Generally I'll be doing a butted corner weld of one piece of 2x2 to another.

Would you use MIG or TIG ?

For the smallest, quickest weld, I could just do a simple TIG fusion weld with very little filler. I could move the torch as fast as I could get the metal to puddle.

Misplaced_Canuck said:

Large welds is part of the problem. LONG welds is also a common problem. (long welds have the same effect as large welds: too much heat).


MC

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I wouldn't consider 2" welds long by any stretch. Remember it's 2" x 2".
Stitch welding would not be necessary.

For stainless TIG would be my choice.

Fusion welding will work fine as long as you feel comfortable that you can make sound welds.

Hmm that's big tubing and welds that are small relative to the material. I wouldn't think warping would be a problem. But if you are worried, tack it together first and make short sections of weld like and inch at time

There is no need to weld one inch at a time. Again, the tubing is only 2 x 2.
He will only be making 2 inches of weld on any particular joint.

Keep the welds the correct size and distortion will be minimal.

A general rule is... Your weld should be the size of the thinnest part. Anymore is overkill.
It doesn't make sense to put a 1/4" weld on material that is only 1/8" in thickness.