Tube Notching

[turboglenn]

I agree with you and most others, grind it back. I think there's more people out there that either don't understand welding fully or just don't know the proper way to fit tubing, but when i do car and motorcycle suspension and frame work, i know that some one's life may depend on those welds so i take every step i can to ensure nice thick walls (the best i can anyway) and make sure that the fit-up is snug enough that i can't slide the filler rod into the gaps before welding. And i even pre-heat all my materials after fit-up and before welding for extra "good measure". Plus when you're dealing with some very out of position welds where you can't reach the foot pedal and must use lift-arc this keeps you from having to run a high enough amperage to start the puddle on cold metal which usually ends up being a tad too much heat towards the end of the bead forcing you to work faster, so preheating does make it easier as well in some instances.

[KC1]

always clean up the tubing after you have notched it. I have always cleaned the adjoining tube with a scotch brite pad to eliminate any contamination of the weld. Hope this helps.

[chrisgay@sbcglo]

I'm helping a friend out with his sailboat projects. We needed a good tubing notcher to complete the railings, and we decided on this one made by JMR. At first it seemed a bit pricey, but now that we've coped everything, I've forgotten about the price tag. Very nice... especially since we split the cost.

We used it with my Milwaukee 1/2" drill motor and the material notched was 1.25" x .083 wall 316 stainless steel tubing.

http://www.vansantent.com/tube_copin...nes/TN1000.htm

I chose this one because it 1) looked beefier than the other choices, 2) has a wider angle spectrum, and 3) can be clamped to the material (i.e. used in the field, if necessary, or on awkward, prebent sections.)

Worked like a champ.