RCM only


On Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:11:39 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm,
Ignoramus12236 quickly quoth:

In reference to my early post, about a HF crane that I wanted to
install, and having a 12x13", 5/8" thick plate.

I have procured another, similar size plate. If I weld them together,
I will get an approximately 13x24" plate, which I feel will be more or
less enough for the crane. I would place it to the right rear end of
the truck bed, and will use through bolts and angle for backing
underneath.

I agree with your "less enough for the crane" theory rather than "more
than enough." As I said, I'd go with C-channel across the two legs of
frame, with another going forward from the rear up the right leg. The
stresses are too great for a truck bed to handle. I'll bet that a 500
lb load at half extension of the crane would bend the bed bottom along
the 24" direction. Additionally, c-channel distributes the weight to
the frame instead of concentrating it in the corner of the bed box as
in your scheme. Do think about it.


The question is how to weld them together, using stick welding. They
probably need to be beveled. I have two ways of doing it: 1) with a
Bridgeport mill and a 45 degree end mill, or with a Hypertherm
powermax and a special gouging consumable.

My own thinking is that the Bridgeport approach is more
straightforward and will give me a much more uniform bevel.

Any other ideas? How deep should I bevel? Would I need a root pass
with 6011, to weld over with 7018? This will be a relatively low
stress connection, just holding a HF crane, but I feel like doing it
more thoroughly leaves me with a little more room for error.

Now is the time you should be preparing your Neander skills, Ig. Learn
to file the bevels manually. You can use it later in learning scraping
and filing of ways. Oops, that's not "easiest", is it?

--
Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization.
-- Charles Lindbergh