Sheet Metal Welding

[aardvarkdw]

I thought that maybe automotive engineering might have the most experience with this. I have a sheet metal part that has some large bend relief holes in it. This part has to look good cosmeticly and so I need to fill the holes but then they need to be ground so that they can't be seen. Can anyone tell me how you would annotate this? I didn't think that a fillet weld would be appropriate but a plug weld doesn't seem to fit either. The holes are on a 90 deg corner with a Radius of .18. Also one of the surfaces is flat and the other one has two bends in it that would have to be matched in the weld/grind process. If this explaination is too vague I can send you a PDF.

 

[evelrod]

I have been on the receiving end of obscure welding symbols and I think the simplest are indicated...if the 'holes' are truly 'large' then a 'buttweld' or 'filletweld' with 'grind flush' or 'finish grind flush' would work and if it's a 'plug' just add the grind annotations. KISS has always worked for me even if it is not totally 'by the book'. You assume the contractor will read the notations or special instructions, even if they sometimes don't...you will know when you get the first RFI. ;-)

Rod

 

[aardvarkdw]

Thanks, that is pretty much my reasoning too I was just hoping that there was someone that had a perfect way of doing this that had been used before. Oh well, that's what I get for dreaming. Thank you again for confirming my own reasoning.

 

[ornerynorsk]

I have seen "fill-weld and grind flush", this seems to call it out so that everyone will understand it.

 

[Rob45]

Why not fill the holes with lead?

The amount of heat distortion of the final part might be less than if you fill it with weld metal, and lead as a filler is much easier to work (grind, smooth, polish, etc.) to the final finish.

 

[aardvarkdw]

Not to bash your suggestion, but that would be a disaster. These parts are going into medical grade machines and lead would be frowned upon I think.

 

[GregLocock]

Hmm. Patients eat your machines do they? Not really having a go, but the hysteria over metallic lead is a bit overdone in my opinion.

However, it is difficult to use lead filling in a modern fabrication plant as you get lead dust and lead vapour, neither of which are good things.

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.