Alum. project

[three turbos]

Ok guys, the father inlaw has made a smaller version radial engine all aluminum its a work of art to say the least. He made every single piece right down to the push rods and spark plugs. Anyway he has asked if I can make him a stand to display it at shows.
Basicaly he is looking for an L shaped type stand made from 1/4 " aluminum 12" wide 13 " tall 18 " for the base so this is his request. My question is this, I will be welding this with my diversion 180 ( Im aware it's maxed out at 3/16) but with a little pre heat I think I will be ok being that im not going to run a full bead on this this thing, probably a few 2" beads or so on both sides. should I taper the top piecs coming down to join the base for the ease of welding? thinking of clamping a piece of angle to help prevent things for moving around.If you guys got any input or ideas to help in this project please feel free to chime in thanks, Eric

[shovelon]

If you are able to pickup a small bottle of 75/25 argon helium mix, it would greatly increase the weldability of that angle. Along with preheat you are good to go.

Good Luck and have fun.

[three turbos]

I agree however all the lws around me are saying the helium is hard to come by these days. do ya think beveling the verticle pieces edge where it meets the base would help some? Im thinking warpage should not be a problem with the approach im takeing , no? Thanks for the help in advance, Eric

[go2building]

I would bevel both the base and the vertical peace 2" from each end. Clamp the angle in the middle, not Behind where you are welding, that way you don't draw the heat away from the joint.

[three turbos]

Thanks for the input fellas, probably going to get going on it in the next day or to after i finish current project, just figured would get some outside input before hand thanks again, Eric