What is a good way to test my practice welds without fancy equipment?
I have a floor jack.

(Short of beating it with a hammer)?

On Apr 22, 9:11*am, stryped wrote:
What is a good way to test my practice welds without fancy equipment?
I have a floor jack.

(Short of beating it with a hammer)?

Can't you think of some simple welded structure that the jack can rip
apart?
The idea is to see if it can be permanently bent out of shape before
any weld breaks. The welds should be at areas of highest stress
concentration.
Just be careful it can't do damage if it slips off the jack or snaps
and sharp pieces fly.

i am not going to be any more specific. This is info you should learn
first-hand from an experienced weldor, as I did, or at least from a
good manual.

Jim Wilkins

stryped wrote in news:10e92a1e-0ffb-4ab5-bbbe-
:

What is a good way to test my practice welds without fancy equipment?
I have a floor jack.

(Short of beating it with a hammer)?


If your "floor jack" isn't a bottle jack:

If the pieces are long enough to extend 2"-4" beyond the width of the jack
_and_ you have a tow chain, make a closed loop of the chain that wraps
tightly over each end of the piece as it rests on the lifting point and
under the jack - then operate the jack.

If the jack breaks and the weld doesn't, you just got a good excuse to get
a better jack. grin

If the piece bends without breaking the weld, the weld was good and your
jack was strong enough.

On Apr 22, 12:23*pm, Eregon wrote:
stryped wrote in news:10e92a1e-0ffb-4ab5-bbbe-
:

What is a good way to test my practice welds without fancy equipment?
I have a floor jack.

(Short of beating it with a hammer)?

If your "floor jack" isn't a bottle jack:

If the pieces are long enough to extend 2"-4" beyond the width of the jack
_and_ you have a tow chain, make a closed loop of the chain that wraps
tightly over each end of the piece as it rests on the lifting point and
under the jack - then operate the jack.

If the jack breaks and the weld doesn't, you just got a good excuse to get
a better jack. grin

If the piece bends without breaking the weld, the weld was good and your
jack was strong enough.

Thanks. That is a very good idea.

"stryped" wrote in message
...
What is a good way to test my practice welds without fancy equipment?
I have a floor jack.

(Short of beating it with a hammer)?

Beating with a hammer is a pretty good way to test for cracks in a butt weld
or a lap joint (with one part clamped in a vice).