On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:01:42 -0700 (PDT), Jman
wrote:

Great Suggestions on how to keep things in place while welding them...

I used a 45 degree magnet and similar stuff to hold a number of pieces
together but I did notice that the magnet will certainly melt with any
substantial heat from either the torch or the MIG. I'm going to try a
few things and see if I can't come up with some kind of 'Third Hand
System" to assist with that...

One thing that drives me nuts is that I always seem to have a problem
getting metal pieces at the proper angles ('straight up and down or
across').... An example of this would be tacking and subsequently
welding 4 - 36" angle iron pieces to plate steel to be used as legs
on a table. I can never seem to get the SOB's perfectly (or near
perfectly..) straight ! Is there a trick to welding legs onto plate
or other angle while keeping them really straight ?

Cheers,

/Jman...

Jig things so the legs are square in two dimensions.
Tack weld.
Correct out-of-square condition with taps and bumps.
Finish weld.
Correct out-of-square condition with large hammer and/or hydraulics.