Welding on nuts without damaging them

[mikehaugen]

I am in 100% agreement. Now you need to come over here and talk to my wife, because I can't get here to agree, but while I am watching the kids it's "learn away".

It's funny because she thinks I am too strict when it comes to discipline and privileges, but I think she is too "cautious" when it comes to life experience and "learning".

 

[BlacknTan]

I've always stick welded common, garden variety nuts... Every other flat. Run a tap through just because, whether it needs it or not. Never had a problem.

 

[muddstopper]

I hate welding nuts. I usually will tighten the nut snuggly in place, not torqued. Using stick. I will start my arc on the metal piece and walk it into the nut enought to get a good spot weld. I do this on two side of the nut. If the bolt seizes or gets tight to thread, I run a tap thru it.

On learning, my dad would let me stick the bobbypin in the outlet and then when I got shocked he would say "hurts dont it, bet you wont do that again" I tried to recharge a flashlight battery by taking the bulb out of a lamp and inserting the battery in its place. It did hurt and I aint tried that again either. Bumps and bruises are part of growing up. They are what teaches us what not to do and why not to do it. I think we all do our best to protect our kids, but you cant keep them in a padded room and expect them to learn anything about the real world.

 

[dstig1]

I generally use most of the previous suggestions, plus I center the bolt in the hole and put another nut on the opposite side from the welded one BEFORE welding. That way the welded nut won't pull, and the bolt should stay perpendicular to the plate. This increases the "heat sink" mass - another plus.

I really like that suggestion of the extra nut tightened down. Where you can do it, that makes a ton of sense. :thumbsup:

 

[k0ua]

I really like that suggestion of the extra nut tightened down. Where you can do it, that makes a ton of sense. :thumbsup:

Yep I need to try to remember that trick.. sounds like it would work.

James K0UA

 

[muddstopper]

Looking back on this thread made me just remember that I made a serious mistake yesterday. I am building a 3pt hitch towbar for a buddy. I used the reese hitch off a pickup truck. Cut the tube down and added pins to each end. I drilled a piece of 1/2in plate, cut to fit the tube, drilled the holes and bolted on the pins before welding into the tubes. Where I screwed up is I forgot to weld the nuts on the backside of the plate. Now its either cut the end caps off to weld the nuts, or just weld the pins in place. Welding the pins is the easy route and since the hitch will only see occassional use, and I really dont want to cut and grind out the caps, I guess I will just weld the pins. $##@% &*&#@$

 

[CNC Dan]

you could drill for the outside diameter of the nuts and weld the nuts to a second plate and weld the second plate to the first.

 

[joshuabardwell]

you could drill for the outside diameter of the nuts and weld the nuts to a second plate and weld the second plate to the first.

Not sure I see the advantage, Dan. Won't I be in exactly the same situation with the second plate?

 

[CNC Dan]

this was for mudstopper:

i was offering a way to salvage the work already done, not a way to do it from the start.

I guess i wasn't very clear.

Rather than cut off the welded on plates, and relpace them with plates that have nuts welded on the inside, drill a hole in the welded on plate to clear the nut that is welded onto a second plate. You will now have the second plate with the nut welded to it, over the first plate. This gives you the back mounted nut you wanted in the first place, without having to cut off the first plate that was welded on without the nut welded to it.

If it was me, I would just cut the plate off and re-weld it after adding the nut. But then I have a lot of tools.

 

[joshuabardwell]

this was for mudstopper:

That clears it up. Thanks.