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Old 05-18-2010, 12:40 PM
CrazyTalkCustoms CrazyTalkCustoms is offline
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Default Fixing Slight Ripples?

Hello Everyone!

I'm new here and am in need of some suggestions. By the way, my name is Branden.

I'm making up some sheet metal rockers/ground effects. The material is 18ga cold rolled. The area that is giving me some trouble is the bottom seam. I might be being overly critical because it is the bottom and you don't really see it, but I would like to know how to fix what I'm seeing for future reference.

So here we go. This is the bottom seam fuzed with TIG. They are placed roughly every inch or so...probably plus or minus .25" (my eyes are crooked)



I've been seeing some posts about setting the machine to max amps based on tungsten diameter and kicking it down, welding in one continuous line, with no filler. I didn't have the guts to try this just yet so what I did end up doing was welding every 2 to 3 inches with filler rod, figuring I would worry about distortion later on.



I don't have pictures of the next couple of steps just yet, but I will soon. Hopefully they will show up on the camera because they are the areas of concern.
What I did next was hit the proud area of the weld with a cutoff wheel to knock it down. Then using a hammer and T dolly (that's all that really fits up inside) I hammered on the welded seam and haze area. With some file work and a little more hammer work, I got the welded area pretty satisfactory.

The problem that I'm having is further out in the flat portion. I've got ever so slight ripples. I don't really feel them when I run my hand over the panel, but if I hold it up and let the light hit it I can see what appears to be small/fairly consistent ripples.
I understand it's tough to say without photos, so I will do my best to capture what I see in the next day or so. I was just wondering if there was some fundamental step I'm missing in the process??? My gut tells me this is a combo of not having a slapper or a shrinking disk. Then again, maybe I'm being overly critical and heavy primer would smooth them.

Based on the limited information, what do you guys think?
Thanks ahead of time!
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  #2  
Old 05-18-2010, 01:50 PM
Overkill Overkill is offline
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Default Make them show

A way to make them show up better is to run a flat file over the top. This will identify the highs and lows, and let you better judge. One of the interesting problems is - are the problem areas high, or are they low, or is it a combo. Just helps in defining the problem.

John
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Old 05-18-2010, 02:38 PM
CrazyTalkCustoms CrazyTalkCustoms is offline
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I think a portion of my confusion comes from the consistency of the ripples. I don't have the piece in front of me at the moment so I'm going off of memory here, but from what I remember they seem to be pretty steady. It's this steadiness that has me questioning what is it supposed to be?
I guess from the standpoint of the welded area they would be lows. Then again, I may have over stretched the welded area, making it high and not knowing. The welded seam looks and feels smooth and the file did show me highs and lows in that working zone. Which I bumped to make smooth.
I probably should have been paying closer attention and not just running through the passes.

Tomorrow I'll try and snap some more photos and see if the camera can even pick up what I'm seeing.
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Old 05-18-2010, 03:25 PM
TheRodDoc TheRodDoc is offline
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Default

The ripples are from the weld shrinking shorter. like a draw string the length of the sheet.

All you have to do is stretch the weld. after grinding smooth you can wheel it length ways to fix it. Or just hammering on dollie the length of the weld. If it is a box and can't get inside then you might be able to slip a square tube inside for the dollie.
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Last edited by TheRodDoc; 05-18-2010 at 03:27 PM.
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Old 05-18-2010, 10:15 PM
Barry Barry is offline
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Were you able to get to the back side of the weld to grind that off too? One of the issues I've found in using filler-rod is that you your weld may be proud on the back too - hammering on that to stretch it may be giving you some issues, especially if it is inconsistent.
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Old 05-20-2010, 09:01 PM
Ron W Ron W is offline
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Brandon, Are the ripples where the weld started and stopped? Each weld produces a seperate pull. Like the guys have said, metal finishing should take care of it. Ron W
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Old 05-22-2010, 12:05 AM
CrazyTalkCustoms CrazyTalkCustoms is offline
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Thanks guys for the replies.

I did try some more hammer/dolly work to try and stretch the welded seam and haze out more. It worked in alot of areas, but I'm still having some difficulty in other areas. I tried to get some pictures, but the metal reflecting the light back at the camera made it so you couldn't see what I see. So I grabbed some rattle bomb, sprayed, and block sanded the worst area. Camera picked it up then. Here is what it looks like:



I tried to do more hammer stretching, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere. Not like in the other areas. So I don't know if I did a big "no no" or not, but I managed to get a small hammer inside and tried to bump out the lower areas. They bumped up fine, but then it made similar lows next to those areas that I just hit up. So am I over stretched now? I feel like I'm just chasing my own tail now.
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Old 05-22-2010, 03:02 AM
Michael Michael is offline
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Default yes

I want to do perfect metal finishing,but I think you are chasing your tail. Realize perfectionist's NEVER finish anything. settle for really good
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Old 05-22-2010, 07:50 AM
JimRussell JimRussell is offline
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Hi Brandon,

Try hammering (go easy now ) on dolly on those low spots. This should raise those spots level with the surrounding metal.
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