Have no idea what I'm doing, but want to learn!

When making parts that will are designed to be welded to something else it is best to include clearance for a good weld.

That's an interesting point I wasn't even aware of myself. Where would you put this clearance? Would this be in the form of chamfering the edges of the piece where it meets the pipe? If so, how would you determine how much chamfer is needed? I wouldn't have thought of that. I would have just slapped it on there and welded it as is. :grin: That's why I'm not a professional welder I guess.
 
Welcome to HM. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your dissertation to the end. One only needs to know enough to accomplish what
one needs to do the job. The rest can be found in Machinery's Handbook if needed. In general parts only need to be as accurate as
the application requires. The difficult part is that one needs a bit of tools to get started. Being a hands-on person helps too.
One very good way to get started would be to get to know a machinist or two or at least someone with a milling machine and
have them show you a few things. That's what I did years ago. I stopped by a machine shop with totally something else in
mind and ended up being tutored a bit and eventually buying several lathes and a mill and a lot of other accoutrements.
Anyway, it is a great hobby so if you delve into the abyss, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.:encourage:
 
A 45* chamfer on the part only where the welding will be. The width of the chamfer will be dictated by the thickness of the pipe. The weld can only be as strong as the weakest part.
 
A 45* chamfer on the part only where the welding will be. The width of the chamfer will be dictated by the thickness of the pipe. The weld can only be as strong as the weakest part.

Well, I'm certainly learning something in this thread. :grin:

Thanks.

So even the pipe wall thickness needs to be called out on the drawning. Either that, or the correct dimensions of the chamfer. It's more complicated than even I thought. Of course it all depends on the application too. If there's not going to be any stress on this part you could probably get by just welding it on without a chamfer. But if you're building something important that needs to stand up to maximum stress using the correct welding geometry is definitely the best way to go. This is why it's also important to know how the part will be used. If all the pressure will just be toward the pipe then all the weld needs to do is hold the part in place when it's not being used. When it's actually being used the weld isn't really doing much of anything. In that case it could just be tack welded on. So the application of use can make a world of difference in what's critical and what isn't.
 
i love it when someone tells me it can't be done :grin:
it really just adds fuel to the fire, for me.
to find another way of doing the exact same thing, and showing the end result, is better than most anything i could dream of.

i sense the force is strong in the newbie, welcome down the rabbit hole my friend.
there was times when everyone you encounter here was in a similar situation, not knowing anything about machining.

fear not, your knowledge grows in 2 ways.
first, you learn by watching/reading/listening/asking questions
second, by doing

if you were so inclined, you could reproduce the parts you wish to make with simple hand tools
a hacksaw, a triangular file, a round file, a bastard file, and a drill, is all you would need other than a work holding device.

if you wanted an excuse to buy a metal shaper, this would be the ultimate excuse. :grin:
the longitudinal grooves could easily be produced.
the forming of the concave relief could also be a rewarding experience too!

Use of a vertical or horizontal milling machine would be another way of doing the same things.

your desire will be the deciding factor
there is a will, and a couple ways :cool:
 
if you wanted an excuse to buy a metal shaper, this would be the ultimate excuse.

Living alone as a hermit I don't need to have excuses anymore. Even my cats have passed on, and I don't think my goldfish would even know that I bought one.

I'm actually looking at this one right now:

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Not having an excuse is not what's stopping me from getting it though.

Not having the cash to pay for it is my current problem. :grin:

And it was just marked down from $999 to $799.

Still a bit over my budget. I need to find one for something like $300. :grin:
 
I like your question. You need to decide what is important. This is an issue of tolerancing. I can post more later but you could do some reading on the issue.

Reading what?

If you'll forgive the flippant, intended-to-be-humourous response: I didn't know I could find that information in Readers' Digest! Wow!

A title of a text, or a link to a webpage might help, since clearly you know more about it than I do.

Thanks!
 
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