Fixing a Metal Stool Pt. 4 (Welding The Stool Legs)

For my next post, I'll be continuing my work on the metal stool chair from last school year.

Question:  What do you have to finish working on since the last time you worked on the stool?

Kelly: I had to weld the two legs of the stool together without making a hole from the heat of the torch.

Question: Did you have to do anything different?

Kelly: Yes! I had to precisely measure the lengths of the chair in order to set them up to weld the legs equidistant from one another.

Reaction/Question: Once you had the legs placed evenly, what was the first thing you would have to do?

Kelly: Well, since I haven't been able to weld during the summer, I had to weld a few pieces of steel together to practice. I had to make sure I didn't lose my technique so I wouldn't mess up the welding on the stool.

Reaction/Question: What welding technique did you practice? Did you have to learn to weld with any new techniques?

Kelly: Of course I did! Since the legs of my chair are tubes, I had to learn how to weld two tubes together, one on top of the other. In order to give me a more leveled surface, I had to flatten the 1/16th inch thick tubes

Reaction/Question: Were there any techniques you’ve used before that you’ll have to use for this assignment? Did you have to use the a filler metal?

Kelly: Yes I had to use a filler. Except this time, I had to use a thicker piece of filler because the tubes had a gap that needed to be filled in before I tried to completely weld both of the pieces together.( If you don’t know what a filler metal is, please check out Part 3 of this project https://www.google.com/url?q=http://kellycocaengineering.blogspot.com/2016/06/learning-about-tig-welding.html&sa=D&ust=1481219121175000&usg=AFQjCNE253Qtcb-RS-5k9WTLYuX1j6kHCw )

Reaction/Question: Was it different than welding a lap joint? Was it hard to do?

Kelly: YES,  It definitely was! It wasn't easy because I had to weld more than one layer in order to stick the two pieces of tube together. I had to make one layer at a time at the bottom. That way, the two pieces would be at the same level and I won't have to struggle welding two things that are at different angles. It would be easier for me to bridge the gap.

Reaction/Question: After you leveled everything, what did you have to do next?

Kelly: I finally started to do some work on the chair. However, when I tried MIG welding on the legs of the stool last year, I ended up making bigger holes. This was because of the heat the MIG welder was giving off. The tubes were less than 1/16th of an inch. That's why this year I had to switch to the TIG welder.  It could be brought down to a much lower temperature and I won't accidentally melt holes on the chair.

Question: So did you have to fill it in to cover up the holes with the TIG welder?

Kelly: I didn't refill in the Holes because it was too thin and worn out. Instead, I made a rectangular cut on the top of the leg and decided to cut a piece of steel that would fit perfectly. I was a bit short but all I have to do was slowly bridge them together.

Question: Did you have to make any adjustments?

Kelly:Yes I did. The lengths of the touching pieces were on the side. Since I couldn’t see from the top view, I had to stand the legs on an angle.

Question: Did you have to prep the legs of the stool before you welded it?

Kelly: I had to clean out the legs with a sandblaster and clear out any dirt and rust that formed over time.

Reaction/Question: When you saw that everything was cleared off, what did you do next?

Kelly: I had to use the technique from practice runs I did with the two flattened pieces of tubes and apply it onto the stool. At first it was tricky because one tube is thinner than the other. So I had to be careful that I didn't make another hole.

Question: Did you have to weld the bottom? If so, how?

Kelly: Yes I wanted to weld the bottom part that way the stool will be more secure and stiff when a weight applies a downward force on the legs.

(To be continued...)