I'm gonna weld 2mm plates over the ends of open chassis tubes, but can anyone recomend a good way of clamping them before tacking? Don't fancy getting my fingers in the way.

Use friends fingers

Adam

P.S. I am not a friend

i got a pair of welding gloves, that can take some incredible heat for short periods of times. they do get very hot eventually though. With these you can easily hold it whilst you tack it in place, then let go (or adjust with the hammer) before fully welding it. failing that, tack the square to a small bar, then snap and grind?

i must say though, plastic caps and silicone seem better looking back.

[Edited on 20/8/04 by JoelP]

I'm now onto my second pair of welders gauntlets and you're right about the heat they can stand. Suppose if someone else's done it before and lived I may as well risk my fingers. they'll grow back anyway.

Can you suggest a plastic cap supplier? That would be far easier and less time consuming.

i never did this one myself, but there was a thread maybe 6 months ago where someone was saying they were gonna use them. Someone will come along soon who knows!

or a square of wood and silione. If you have a tube of silicone it makes sense! bloody good stuff. I got loads in the van for work...

You have to cut them any way so i did mine slightly larger and tapped them in with a hammer.Works perfectly

For plastic end caps I found this company very good. They seemed a little expensive, but they will do any size order and were very quick.
http://www.abacus-furniture.co.uk/welcome.htm

James.

[Edited on 20/8/04 by j_davis]

Ive been using a vice grip to hold one side to the frame, tack it in place, and bend it down, then weld the rest of it on.

I got strips of steel just wide enough to fit inside the end of the tube and then cut lengths off to make little squares that would fit in the end of the tube. Much less cutting.

I used a magnetic welding clamp to hold them in place while tacking.

A little speaker magnet holds them while you tack a corner. I used a strip cut off the 16g steel for the floor panel then cut it into squares after. Cut it a bit smaller one way and it wedges inside to make it even easier.

Capping ends with 1.6mm sheet pieces, using a TIG torch is one of the more satisfying jobs in welding.

Cut slightly oversize, tacked by holding with a gloved hand and then sealed all around by simply melting over the edges - very theraputic and a great finish. No filler rod required.

JohnN

I have a MIG and Stick welder. Can someone explain the principles of TIG please?

what i did was to cut pieces of 20mm 20mm long and then split them in half so i had two u shaped pieces which then fit nicely INSIDE the tube to be capped weld and tidy up with the grinder = perfect job
Best wishes
Iain

I just held the plate in place with the wooden handle of a hammer, tacked 2 opposing corners and removed the hammer.

I found that metal supermarkets sold the plastic end caps, but I think 'real' caps are better anyway.

i used a tapered slither of steel tacked to the centre of the square and the held this piece to hold the square in the correct postion.

Hope that made sense.

ATB Dan.

I seem to remember someone doing a bit of analysis and saying that welded end caps to tubes made an important contribution to stiffness, and 3mm plate was reccomended to make them out of.. if I remember correctly.

good idea there, Syd.

i might add, all my 'structural' tubes have welded caps, the remaining few are not structural and will get plugged with whatever is closest to hand.

[Edited on 21/8/04 by JoelP]

I cut most of the tubes 50mm longer, then cut out most of the spare tube leaving a 25mm long flap of metal at each end. Bend it down and weld around three sides, job done.

I just use a bit of masking tape to hold the small bits on whilst tacking.
It holds it long enough to do the job and burns off when finishing off the weld.
Either that or the end of the hammer, or whatever comes to hand with a long enough reach to keep my fingers out of the way.

Terry

Fingers worked fine for me!

Although, obviously, as a responsible welder I would recommend anyone else away from using fingers!

James