welding positioner

[aametalmaster]

Hey guys, new to the forum, but not to welding. I would like to build something like this but for welding machined fittings on both ends of pipe. are 4 inch dia. They are about 20 inches long. I would like to lay these pieces downinto a fixture that turns it automatically.[ATTACH]31215[/ATTACH]

You just need a gearbox/motor with something to grip the pipe like a lathe chuck on the gearbox just like burnt hands posted. look on Ebay for a cheap gearbox. Mine is 60:1 and runs pretty slow, perfect for me...Bob

[Gingerboy]

Looks great bud!

[bababouy]

I think I'm hijacking this thread.... I am thinking about having the machine shop that machines the flanges, machine me two sets of rollers with akles. I was thinking about 2" dia rollers with a 1" dia hole to accomodate a 1" dia axle. I was looking at sewing machine motors on ebay and it looks like they come with a foot pedal to variate the speed and they plug right into the wall. I would attach the rollers to a plate and get the grounding through my bench. I could use a rubber belt to spin the actual piece some how. I'm still working on the details.

[Burnt hands]

Gingerboy,

Here is a 1 1/2" half coupling welded to a 316 stainless flange. .
The motorized turntable makes this type of work almost fun to do.

bababouy,

Your project is simpler than mine as you just need a set of turning rolls.
Since your diameters are small, you could almost use a set of old steel skates as the starting point.

Most of the commercially manufactured rolls I have seen
are made for really large pipe and tanks so the rollers are far apart.

Another possibility might be to use 4 casters turned over and bolted to a plate.

The challenge is to motorize the assembly and keep the ground connected as it turns.
I decided to use a clamp connected to the flat plate my 3 jaw chuck was mounted on.
As all I needed was 360 or so degrees of rotation, I just left enough slack in the ground cable.
I found that when the motor was turned on, I lost my ground connection thru the
gear reducer as the oil coated the internal gears.
Plus I didn't want to possibly have the bearings arcing inside the case.

[bababouy]

Hey guys, new to the forum, but not to welding. I would like to build something like this but for welding machined fittings on both ends of pipe. I have a customer that makes valves and flanges and they make what they call a bonnet, that connects the valve body to a flange. there are three different sized pieces. some are 2inch dia, some are 3 inch dia, and some are 4 inch dia. They are about 20 inches long. I would like to lay these pieces downinto a fixture that turns it automatically.

[Gingerboy]

Any pics of welds with it

[Richard]

More photos of new version

Thats nice, one day I hope to have one of those

[Burnt hands]

More photos of new version

[Burnt hands]

regal2800,

Here is what I came up with using a gear reducer.

Old design worked for awhile but it was a bit of work as the motor was 12 volts DC so I rigged up a speed control and ran it off a 12 volt car battery.

New design uses a close coupled 90 volt DC motor and a KB electronics speed control and works much better.

My gear reduction unit is 1725 to 1 so the motor is not running at a slow speed and I have lots of control.

Hardest part is using the right foot on the tig foot control and the left foot on the motor speed control.

[ctinberg]

positioner

you would really be better off getting a lathe chuck because no matter what you use you will have to adapt some sort of gear box and electric motor to turn while you are welding and you will end up cutting this thing apart and you have no way of hanging on to anything, those t-slots are good for clamping while machining but 4in. seems awfully small unless you are doing very small parts keep in mind you will need table size bigger than your part in order to clamp the part down to hold it in place . some lathe chucks usually have a bolt circle on the back of them to mount an adapter plate to a lathe which makes it very easy to make a plate to mount to anything .if you haven't been on weldingweb.com go there and do a search on welding positioners you will get allot of input and good ideas on them from guys that build and use them . i wish i had the need for one i would build one "**** that's the fun part" good luck let us know what you figure out ! chris

[willy]

Looking to fab up a simple welding positioned. I have found some cheap 4-6" rotary tables which are traditionally used in CNC/mill work. is there any reason i can't use that as my base and simply attach an electric step motor with speed control? It will be able to work in horizontal and vertical positions.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-ROTARY-TAB...item35bae234cd

At first glance I wouldn't see why not. Cheap easy solution. I do, however, remember my Dad telling me to be careful where you attach your ground as he has seen the current flowing weld bearings and gears etc together. Just a thought....

[regal2800]

Looking to fab up a simple welding positioned. I have found some cheap 4-6" rotary tables which are traditionally used in CNC/mill work. is there any reason i can't use that as my base and simply attach an electric step motor with speed control? It will be able to work in horizontal and vertical positions.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-ROTARY-TABLE-NEW-3-28-12-/230768653517?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35bae234cd