Fixing Welding Distortion and Warpage | JIMBO'S GARAGE

[@arustydodge2111]

Been using a “Blackhawk” Porta power for over 30 years. Have used this for this purpose, vehicle frame, and body work, machinery moving and just about anything you can think of; the accessories for these workhorses are endless! You can pull, push, spread, lift, jack, you name it a porta power will do it. An invaluable tool! Good luck JIMBO!

[@theessexhunter1305]

I made my first car "Dozer" in 1981, with a 15ton ram & pump, and a porto power kit, not sure what jimbo has been doing as we are both the same age lol

[@valleybarbell]

I was just going to say my dad was a body man for 50+years and he used a porta power a lot especially in the older cars before you replaced everything from a small wreck. He’s retired now and still has all his old tools, hammers… etc. great tool to own

[@TBJK07Jeep]

We use Porta-power to help pickup equipment. We also use it to stretch a rod to remove nut then an impeller. Ive also used to to straighten weldaments in the past as well.

[@olddawgdreaming5715]

Great addition to your arsenal Jim. Pretty cool tool. Fred.

[@johnhowell9869]

Hey Jimbo, I have had success heating the opposite side of the bend with a rosebud and then cooling with a wet towel to shrink it back to flat.

[@TTRVision]

as a hobby welder this is a big issue for me. I used various methods to mitigate this and I found (among other tricks) that hard clamping thick metal bars around the welding area joints and let it cool down will reduce the warping by a very significant amount. that been said this is a lot of time consuming and not very feasible production wise but for the hobby welder will do. thank you so much for all the content, I learn a lot from you. my very best wishes

[@royeasom432]

I've found a process that learned from a coworker. Hands down the best I've found. If done correctly, you will stay well within 1/16 tolerance. It's all about order and direction of your welds.

[@PranaTech]

I agree Roy! I learned the same and it has just about eliminated distortion in my square frame type projects. I weld outside corners first then sides from inside to out. I do this all the way around and then I weld the inside corners last because the cause the most distortion of all. Is this the way you do it?

[@ohhpaul7364]

I have only put a handful of videos on youtube. Oddly enough, the repair I did to my father's trailer last summer is one I put on here last week. I am doing exactly this in that video. I only put it up because I could not find a video of it when I was trying to do it last year. I claim nothing, my dad is the only person who has watched it so far, just odd how people can think the same thing at the same time. Thanks for the videos.

[@donsmith9081]

I usually tack Everything first. Then brace the sides by tacking oversized pcs of material in between frame to push it out before welding. You have to be careful applying pressure around a lockbox because they are usually lite gauge and will bend.

[@thebeardedstork432]

Nice Jimbo! I can see a lot of good uses for that jack!

[@SchysCraftCo.]

Very nice idea there Jimbo. Work smarter not harder my friend. Can't wait to see more videos soon. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Fab On. Weld On. Keep Making. God Bless.

[@willbraswell4906]

Learned a few things. thanks! You solved your “jib crane” (not sure what to call it) deflection issue by extending it all the way across the table but you could rotate the base plate 90° and add stiffeners so that the base plate will not deflect as much and probably not need to have span across the table with two supports.

[@marknormand8101]

Thanks for posting this, I am building my first gate and just ran into this problem. I came up with a similar fix but used a torch as well to heat up the steel before I bent it back. Hope I didn’t mess it up.

[@ferrywobma1836]

Hey Jimbo. Why not make a U-profile across the width of the welding table that can be secured in the holes on the sides. Then you use a fixed pin at the back of that U-profile and a pluggable pin at the front, where you weld. Then you don't have to use a bolt and nut! After all, the forces are going up. Regards Ferry from the Netherlands.

[@jusrobington]

Haven't had a Jimbo vid come up on my feed in a long time.

[@barnzYT]

One of the best tools in your arsenal for reversing distortion is your Oxy fuel burners. Warm up behind where you’ve welded and as it cools will shrink back

[@paulmorrey733]

Thanks Jim

[@lakebum6211]

In the aircraft industry, we call that "check and straighten". Something I might suggest if you don't already do this, is to weld your lock box separately and then weld the box into the frame or take it one step further and weld the frame to the lock box and then weld that assembly to the top and bottom bars of the gate. That will reduce the heat in the area and maybe lessen the warpage. Also, using "chill bars" to draw the heat out and more downward pressure may help. Our chill bars were made of brass I think but wet rags around the immediate area may do the trick. Anyway, just a few thoughts from a retired old aircraft mechanic/inspector that use to work in an aircraft weld shop. All of our parts were welded in weld jigs with chill bars at every weld location and clamped down everywhere but distortion still happens sometimes. Good luck! I really enjoy your videos.

[@jgren4048]

I think your weak point on that lift point is the attachment to the base. Making one to go across the table will help but I think will still need a little gusset to keep it stronger

[@Casey2]

Great tool to have, I use one in auto body work, but in your situation, something as simple as a ratchet strap around the welding table might have worked or or a welding dog and wedge

[@gussfoundry7600]

Also good is use a chain fixed at top and bottom of the frame, put the jack between the chain and lockbox. -very good in the field to

[@chrisose]

The first thing is to sequence your welds to introduce as little stress to the parts as possible. When issues do appear, a little flame straightening will typically do the trick. I just did a 20ft frame for a sign with 42 standoff tabs for the lettering. The welds for the tabs caused a 1-1/2 bow across the length of the piece. About an hour with a torch brought everything back to true.

[@verminatordorset4905]

Hey Jimbo, that’s a hydraulic bodywork dozer. Usually used for straightening vehicles and frames 👌🏼🤙🏼

[@hustlerkc11]

I typically use a whole bunch of clamps and clamp it to the table so it can't move. Usually works fairly well.

[@Keithskane]

I learnt how to flame straighten parts and frames using an oxy/acetylene torch. It gives you a better understanding of how metal moves and reacts to expansion and contraction.

[@madcapsportsgarage9761]

Porta powers are awesome. I bought one several years ago. 🙂

[@marvinschleicher5542]

If you use angle iron on the bottom plate and have it hang over the edge you could bolt or pin on the verticle side of angle iron to take pressure off the top of table

[@truthserum9157]

I’ve been doing this for years with a cheap porta power from harbor freight, the bottom of the bracket you made looks weak, I would have made it a tee shaped at the bottom and another 45 angle brace, in other words, the top is stronger then the bottom, oops, I commented before I got to the end, LOL never mind.

[@ocAToccd]

Nice bracket Jimbo. Indeed the U model will be more suitable to avoid bending itself... One quick taught thought: what about raising the door on its side (on some blocks to avoid the protruding part of the box), keeping it straight with mega/monster squares, blocking the top and bottom of the door with table dogs or some strong squares brackets, and then pushing with the cylinder laying flat on the table and fixed on the far side with some other square bracket... This would only work with the outside of the frame for the "out of plane" deformation but could also work to unbend "in plane" any part of the frame (even locally if you place the two back stops closer together) Beware that with your method to unbend the two sides, you could bend the center post if you force more on one side than the other... Anyway that "portable hydraulic press" looks like a very nice tool !!

[@RiggerBrew]

Great tip!

[@maggitmaster]

Try giving you self a gap on both ends of your material. Most of the distortion comes from the weld shrinking and pulling the material around itself, a gap allows the weld to pull the material together and gives full penetration with less heat input. My go to gap is a 1/16" to 3/32".

[@keithparnas1495]

Hey jimbo…. You should look into the fireball shims

[@costelvaradean4821]

Instead of that adition L support I use chain for the "reverse" action of straightening, work very well, but you need a good chain, may be dangerous if something slips off.

[@cantosoares]

Olá Jimbo. A sua ideia no final do vídeo é a melhor, mas tem um detalhe, a espessura do aço que você for usar tem que ser no mínimo o dobro da peça que você vai entortar pra ficar plano. Abraço

[@FrustratedBaboon]

Jim, I have a railing I welded about 3' by 8' using 1/2" tubing and 1" punched channel above and below. It turned out so bowed that you can shoot arrows with it. I want to see a video or even a mock-up of how does one go about straightening that railing, please? I cannot find anything on the net. I am thinking of using a laser level and a hydraulic jack under different spots to lift it back to being horizontally straight please help. I welded about 5 of these and need them to look professional please thank you.

[@pablorr1977]

Muy bueno 😃

[@Pleebian94]

Used to weld 304 and 316 Stainless Steel with a dual alloy wire and with a 90/10 Shielding Gas mix on Spray Transfer. I swear the amount of pre planning and creating anti warpage jigs needed so the material doesn't warp sideways was hair pulling due to the material saying "Nope" and warping anyway in the most awkward spot to rework it. lol

[@WelderB1Family]

Conan the barbarian with a sledge 😂

[@ralphkram4122]

ya its a porta potty used for body work

[@jon-with.no.h]

It may be extra but a truss design would best

[@FLCrackerVideo]

We always called them a Porta-Power

[@JohnFisher-w7z]

Had same problem with a pipe with brackets that welded to the pipe l had to go to a friend who has a pipe bender

[@ignoramustroglodyte3903]

If I knew you and lived close by, I would teach you how to use a cutting torch using heat as a finishing step to the welding process. It eliminates the need for a hydraulic ram or sledge hammer in less time. Warning, you must learn and play around with moving tube using heat before trying it out on a job or you could wind up building a couple gates or doors. It's easiest to learn on stretches of tubing as a beginner.

[@uncledave8857]

porta power

[@thematrix248]

Make a spine at the back 5mm sheet .

[@mikev.1034]

👍👍

[@patrickmckowen2999]

👍

[@qwksilver]

why not make a rail that goes in the table itself, then turn the gate up on end, use three of the big 90deg bolt downs you already have to hold the gate at two wide points, use blocking to get the latch sheild above the table and stand the gate vertically. then apply presure to the middle from the third bolt down item, now no new device and no building a top "beam". Optionally with your current design, turn the bottom bracket 90deg, and more to the back than the front, then install another gusset on the bottom and opposite side.

[@peetky8645]

two blocks of wood and some 1/2 inch all thread with a few nuts and washers would have been better and quicker

[@wierzbicki1]

I knew right away it wouldn't worka :(

[@joeport6823]

You shouldn't have to do this with everything you weld. You need to work on the order in which you lay down your welds and how much heat you put into an area all at once.

[@LemonySnicket-EUC]

I agree 💯% . I have also found that too much clamp pressure also introduces spring back or warping issues as well.

[@scottstandridge5978]

Rabbit tool.