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Re: getting things "square"

To: epetrevich@relavis.com
Subject: Re: getting things "square"
From: Eric Murray <ericm@lne.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 08:17:11 -0800
On Tue, Nov 14, 2000 at 11:00:23AM -0500, epetrevich@relavis.com wrote:
> 
> OK, I'm mostly a woodworker that is getting into metal work now and  I have
> a question that may seem simple.  Sorry in advance if it is.
> 
> I was building a server cabinet and fish tank stand this weekend and I was
> having a hell of a time getting/keeping things square.  I have a level
> table to work on, but once I got to adding legs and such in the 3rd
> dimension, I was having a hell of a time.  I can't measure cross corners
> because the other corner isn't build yet.
> I have those "welding magnets" that are suppose to hold the work together
> and square (it holds the work, but you need to adjust square.
> So, what are some tricks?  I was trying T-squares, levels, clamps.  In
> woodworking, if you are off a "little" you can correct it easy, but once a
> leg is welded, it's not moving.

Last thing I welded was a stand to hold a stainless steel sink
(which was used to mount a new garbage disposal to grind apples
for making hard cider).

I used one of those corner magnets to hold my 1' square tubing in
place, and I also noticed that it had a pretty liberal idea of
"square".  So after the first few I figured out that I should
check them with a real square (a 2'x2' carpenter square),
tack them into place, and then check again after doing the tack
weld to be sure that I hadn't moved the work during welding.
I had a couple joints that were too far out of square or poorly
aligned, so I beat on 'em to break the tack weld and did 'em
over.

Once I had it all tacked together with square-enough joints
I checked the fit of the sink and welded it all up.


-- 
  Eric Murray           Consulting Security Architect         SecureDesign LLC
  http://www.securedesignllc.com                            PGP keyid:E03F65E5

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