Been welding up my sierra diff mounts today. Been welding 4.6mm steel on full power (150amp) and i've got a little distortion - but not enough to cause me a problem
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Basically where the weld has cooled its done the usual trick of pulling the metal.


It got me thinking, whats the best way to stop / minimise distortion in future. I was intending welding 1" welds either side of the joint today but got lazy and did two or three 1" welds then changed sides.

If i'd stuck to 1" welds either side do you think it would have not distorted?

Would securely supporting the work have stopped distortion or just introduced large stresses?

you should have stuck with your original plan, distortion results from too much heat in one place, alternating between sides would reduce distortion...

Weld a bit and walk away until cold.

I welded my servo bracket to the bulk head (both 2mm plate) and it warped, when i welded the other side i clamped it down and done it bit by bit and it didnt warp so much and straightened the other warp out.

or heat everything up with a big blow torch, weld then let it cool down slowly

You have to plan it out -- balance the forces of contraction by doing diagonally opposite welds.

This was a 12" bit of steel. I would have thought diagonally opposite wouldn't have had much effect - i would have been better doing either side together. That way they're both heated up and cool together.

Got to weld up my de-dion axle brackets soon. They are two L shaped brackets (ie l_ _l with weld to go in the gap). Was wondering if i made a jig to hold them correctly apart via the trailing arm holes - whats the chance of the two long bits of the L trying to bend in once the steel has cooled? (ie i've loaded them with stress).