Rollcage welds

[Speed Raycer]

In cruising another forum, I came across a couple of pics of a cage by a pretty well known cage builder that scared me a bit.

The first pic appears to show some stitch welding on some of the bars and possible the plates...
Any thoughts? and please correct me if I'm wrong

[dyn88]

page could not be found

[Speed Raycer]

Sorry... must've been cached on my computer... here are the images:
(edit: took the pics down... questions were answered Thanks)

[dandimand]

I have seen worse not sure its good business practice for you to post other ppls work makes you look needy in my opinion .If you do good work you will get business you dont have to put down others work .

[Engloid]

I don't know who did it, so there's no bias or anything held back here...

He's probably trying to copy what some people call "fishscale"... which is a terrible way to weld.

I would not pay money for one of those cages. Actually, I'd not even want it in my car. I see one "fisheye" after another...which is the place that cracks will be most likely to form. That weld would have absolutely no chance of passing a dye penetrant test.

The problem with welds like this is that they will hold up fine for normal usage, but the one time they actually are put to the test could result in a breakage that sends the open end of a pipe into somebody's chest.

This guy should have learned to weld before making something that can be of life/death importance.

That said, I'd have to agree with the other poster... to post pics of the competitors work is not a good thing to do. Those that throw poo wind up with dirty hands. Let your work speak for itself and theirs speak for them.

[Compchassis]

Welding the plates is always a problem. Trying to weld 1/8" plate to .020" or so to high tensile steel many times requires a lot of stitch welding. If you set the welder so you wont burn through the thin metal it wont penetrate the 1/8" plate.

The welds on the tubes themselves appear that the heat is set too low.

[Speed Raycer]

I agree completely which is why I didn't give any info other than being well known. I get a number of emails each week from people around the country looking for cage builders in their area. I want to be sure I pass along the right builders.

Just looking for confirmation about what I thought I was seeing from others on THE welding forum, not some tuner or model specific site.

Now that I've got it, I have no problem deleting the post.

[Engloid]

Welds like these may be pretty common in this industry. I'm not really well rehearsed with roll cages, design of them...nor do I often look at what's available or how the welding on them looks.

However, from what I've seen, these are average welds on roll cages.

I know I may get some bashing for this, but I have never understood why it is that so many people think that roll cages, especially for specs of a sanctioned racing organization, requires the utmost in welding abilities and skills. I have yet to see a roll cage that I think would pass an xray test...and xrays are a very common thing in the pipe welding industry. I think it takes a lot more skill and ability to work as a pipe welder than it does to do roll cages.

Being in the roll cage industry, do you agree? Don't take this to mean I'm implying that cage welders suck, as even the best welders in the world will make an ugly weld now and then, or may find themselves doing work that doesn't require them to use much of their abilities.

[Speed Raycer]

I know I may get some bashing for this, but I have never understood why it is that so many people think that roll cages, especially for specs of a sanctioned racing organization, requires the utmost in welding abilities and skills. I have yet to see a roll cage that I think would pass an xray test...and xrays are a very common thing in the pipe welding industry. I think it takes a lot more skill and ability to work as a pipe welder than it does to do roll cages.

Being in the roll cage industry, do you agree? Don't take this to mean I'm implying that cage welders suck, as even the best welders in the world will make an ugly weld now and then, or may find themselves doing work that doesn't require them to use much of their abilities.

Sorry for the late reply...

It's hard to say really. I've been in the industry a relatively short time. I've seen cage welds that looked like snot and seen them look like a machine laid them (Andy ) There's no "cage welder" test to pass, and to be honest, I doubt that most racers would pay the money to have a cage welded by a certified welder. If I've learned one thing in the past couple of years, it's that Racers tend to want the stack of dimes look at a JB Weld price.

Again, I was just looking for input to make my product, and my "recommendations" for other builders better... not to bring some other builder down.