Advice on Welding/Warping of this Assembly

[downsizingnow48]

I am welding 5 brackets and gussets equally spaced along a 5 ft piece of square tubing (2x2x1/4).

One of the brackets will be right in the middle, two at each end, and then two equally spaced in between.

The brackets and gussets are 3/16 material. I took a photo below of how the finished assembly will go together.

There will be welds along three sides of the bracket, to the square tubing. And more welds along all of the places where the gusset meets with the square tubing and the bracket.

So this will be a lot of welding, in five locations, all on one side of the 5 ft piece of square tubing. The assembly has to end up straight, no warping.

I am thinking I might need to weld the 2x2x1/4 tube to something heavy to prevent warping. I have a long piece of 3x3x1/4 tube and another long piece of 4x4x3/16 tube.

But my question is, is this necessary. The 2x2x1/4 tube is pretty darn stiff. If I can get by without welding it to something else to prevent warp, that will make the job that much easier.

Any advice will be much appreciated, this is outside my range of experience.

 

[General Lee]

Yes, I would clamp the tube down very well or fasten or clamp it to another tube as you suggested. Don't remove your means of support until the steel has cooled.

 

[stuckmotor]

I'm interested to see what all the pros say. After watching several youtube videos on warp prevention, some more than once, I don't think I could keep that piece perfectly straight after making all of those welds on the same side.

 

[aarolar]

I'm just guessing here but does a shaft need to go through all those holes in the end?

 

[Shield Arc]

Square tubing is very reactive to heat! I would take your torch and heat the opposite side of the tube where the brackets go, before welding. Or put a plate under the tube in the center, and clamp the ends of the tube down to your welding table before welding the brackets on.

 

[aarolar]

Square tubing is very reactive to heat! I would take your torch and heat the opposite side of the tube where the brackets go, before welding. Or put a plate under the tube in the center, and clamp the ends of the tube down to your welding table before welding the brackets on.

How hot would you try and get it before you start welding?

 

[Shield Arc]

Knowing where to put the heat is easy. The trick is how much heat to apply! You just have to judge how much heat the welding will be. And try to guess that amount of heat with your torch.
I've had good success with post welding heat shrinking.

 

[aarolar]

Knowing where to put the heat is easy. The trick is how much heat to apply! You just have to judge how much heat the welding will be. And try to guess that amount of heat with your torch.
I've had good success with post welding heat shrinking.

So basically equal amounts of heat for both.

I never have had much luck with drawing stuff back with a torch that's something I would really like an "old timer" to show me sometime.

One other thing to consider downsizingnow48 is your weld size, put the minimum amount needed and it'll help minimize draw.

 

[Shield Arc]

Who you calling an "old timer"?
I've straightened W-shapes up to 36" X 300-pounds.

 

[aarolar]

Who you calling an "old timer"?
I've straightened W-shapes up to 36" X 300-pounds.

Mostly work with stainless myself and I've had a few instances where I needed to straighten pipe with weldlets or something else welded to one side. I always ended up making it look like a snake.