February 20, 2010 

The compression struts are coming along.  I have two finished with six that have one end welded.

 

The jig I used I made from some square stock steel I had from a trailer project.  Just about anything could be used.  I made sure the holes kept everything in alignment. 

I first rough cut the tubes to be close enough to check for alignment as I made the wood part of the jig.  This is just 3/4″ pine used to hold the tube centered on the strut ends.  Next I tack welded and finish welded one end on the eight tubes needed.


These are the single ends welded.


Next I fitted the tube back into the jig with a shim at one end to establish the correct finished length.  The first ones I welded were set at 30-1/4″. 


Once I had the lengths correct I put the wood blocks back onto the jig and tack welded the second end in place. 


Then, remove and finish weld.  Pretty easy compared to many of the other parts I have made.  The other struts will be different length but will use the same jig with different shims for correct length.


The test fit went well so on to finishing the other four at this length than finish the other lengths.

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