just a quick question.

[scotty]

i was just wondering how many centers actually do weld the old parts to save money by the way dutch i was reading the welding the pinion to the clutch plate comment you had mentioned warping the plate you can avoid this by using a gas or mig welder but keep most of the heat on the pinion not the plate also do not dunk it in water it weekens the metal and your weld.

scotty

[TheGMan143]

Re: just a quick question.

I will weld any of the parts that are fairly easy to repair, expensive to replace, or worth welding to save some $. Things like cushion tubewelds, plows, etc... definitely, easy welds & worth the time to do it. The clutch plate/pinions are a quick job, and the cost of replacement vs. the time it takes to get a year or two more out of them is worth it.

Certain things I won't even attempt... welding cast aluminum parts is one of them... for one, I don't have a TIG torch, and aluminum is a pain to weld even when it's very high-grade and completely clean. An old cast kicker 'saddle' or ball exit ring just isn't worth it. X-frames aren't worth it, because of the time and effort required to get them in and out of the machine... trusting all that work to a weld that may crack again just doesn't make good sense. Luckily, I've never had to try my hand at welding a cracked table. A few others in the 'not worth it' category are things like bin stringers, bounceplate brackets, and cushion block boxes.

We have the back rollers rewelded once in a while if the shafts get beat up... I don't do them, though... I don't have the equipment to re-turn or 'true' a shaft. I send them over to a friend of mine that owns a machine shop with the right tools to do it correctly.

[scotty]

Re: just a quick question.

i was just wondering i do all of the welding for the center i work at and i do weld things like the cushions and other more expensive parts i took a year long course in welding and then another in the navy but i have yet to use a tig welder they look like the way to go for pot metals and aluminum though [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif[/img] . i still use a gas welder ti do all of that. i apreciate the info G-man

scotty

[BowlEquip]

Re: just a quick question.

Brazing is good for small repairs on most parts. TIG/MIG is the way to go to avoid heat damage.
For table yokes, the break must be clean, That is, if the parts go back together tight, then I consider welding. But first I check to see if the yoke is twisted or bent. If it is, that plus the break warrants a new yoke in my book. I don't weld myself, but have a friend who owns a shop . He and his partner and son are great craftsmen, especially with aluminum and magnesium.

I always avoid tubeweldments. Since large plows now cost over $300, I'l get them and small plows welded ONLY ONCE. Second time, they're in the dumpster or donated to another house.

[8270king]

Re: just a quick question.

Fork welding....I am too busy.

Well actually I am scared of welding.

JK

[TheLegend]

Re: just a quick question.

Originally posted by BowlEquip:
Brazing is good for small repairs on most parts. TIG/MIG is the way to go to avoid heat damage.
For table yokes, the break must be clean, That is, if the parts go back together tight, then I consider welding. But first I check to see if the yoke is twisted or bent. If it is, that plus the break warrants a new yoke in my book. I don't weld myself, but have a friend who owns a shop . He and his partner and son are great craftsmen, especially with aluminum and magnesium.

I always avoid tubeweldments. Since large plows now cost over $300, I'l get them and small plows welded ONLY ONCE. Second time, they're in the dumpster or donated to another house.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I agree with only welding once. Any more than that and they just don't last.

But I've repaired dozens of tube weldments. I'd cut up broken bounce plate channels and use the material to reinforce the breaks on the flanges. On the tubes I would use either flat stock or angle iron from Home Depot.

For plows I reinforced all breaks with flat stock on the back side. On the small plow (at the bottom tip) I'd cut a piece of 1" wide flat stock to fit along the bottom edge about 4" long to prevent it from ever getting beat up again. If the lower side flange had a worn hole (and they always wear if the bolts are loose) I cut a patch to over over the hole and redrill the hole.

I had a couple of small plows where the lower flange was completely gone. I ended up making a new one using two strips of 1" wide flat stock bent and mounted like a 'V'. It took some time to do (helps to have another spare as a measuring guide) but when your budget is tight, it's worth it.

[TheLegend]

Re: just a quick question.

Originally posted by 82/70 king:
Fork welding....I am too busy.

Well actually I am scared of welding.

JK

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I was like that at first. Especially with stick welders, but after taking a class at a junior college and got over the initial shock of it, I found it to be a lot of fun.

[DetroitSignal]

Re: just a quick question.

My boss welds the stuff worth welding.

He also used to do brazing on our dist tracks, but now we just order new ones.

[Gadget]

Re: just a quick question.

well spares aint too cheap or plentiful these days so we weld whatever we can. Just got our MIG welder going as we were using the Arc before which was a pain in the ass.

Just don't weld anything in situe,

dust/grease and flying sparks = fire hazard

couple hundred amps = screwed scoring system/chassis.

kev

[TheGMan143]

Re: just a quick question.

I didn't mention the details, but we also reinforced the 'problem areas' of the plows with 1/8" strap iron. Breakage went down by 90%. I'll still reweld them if they crack... MIG is a good weld, and we haven't had any problems with 'weakening' so far.

Cushion tubes are good for at least 2-3 welds before they're junk. Actually, we have been reinforcing the weak spots on the new ones before they even go into the machine. I noticed a lot of problems with poor penetration and weak welds on the arms where they meet the tube... almost every one of them breaks right around the weld. Reinforcing the weld has taken care of a lot of that.

I will weld on the machine if needed. the U-brackets that hold the ball lift and tensioner shafts break occasionally, or a nut on the cushion box mounting will strip. The occasional spot/respot spring plate will break and be rewelded, too. We use towels or (in the case of front-end work) old sheets that have been dampened in a little water to catch any 'redbugs' that spatter off the weld, before they can cause any problems. We also made it a habit to weld first thing in the morning, so there are people in the building for at least another 12 hours, in case anything should decide to 'light up' after the fact... there would be someone there to notice it.

As for electronic problems with welding, none so far... the biggest thing is to make sure that the machines are grounded to a heavy wire that returns to the 'earth' ground at the panel, and to make sure that the ground clamp on the welder is attached to CLEAN, bare metal within 6" of the area you are welding. Pulling the chassis plugs is a good precaution, too.

[Rep]

Re: just a quick question.

Only thing that we really weld ourselves are the large plows (I don't personally do it, I know nothing about welding nor do I want to lol) one of the other mechanics does that. If a small plow goes we just buy a new one. We do send out broken sweep rocker arms (torque tubes) and have them welded, wish we didn't, they seem to hold up ok for us but going thru all that I'd much rather have a brand new one in it.

[Dan_Hart]

Re: just a quick question.

I hated welding, never was good at it, so i sent it out to a professional. Usually sent everything metal out, and he told us what he couldnt fix.
I think it's a good idea if the welds hold. Our guy was retired military, and rarely sent anything back still broken. Next day service also.

[cobow]

Re: just a quick question.

we weld all parts except aluminum, which we send out to be done. aliminum parts don't break often on our 30s, except mabee the sweep hangar brackets and in that case we just make some new ones. [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

cobow [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

[scotty]

Re: just a quick question.

thanks for all the insight guys i think yall have coverd my question more than thoughrowly thanks again

scotty