The Chopper Compendium

I really want to do the welding myself.
And I REALLY don't want to die yet.
What type of company should I look for to send my weld samples to for distructive testing?
I could bang them about myself but I'm looking for an authoritative professional testing.

what you building there justin...a oil rig? I jest

a night class or a good friend to show you how might be a good place to start

up my way we use a company called Team (well the company i work for does anyway...i don't weld "yet" but plan to learn from one of the guys here who lives local to me). Anyway, these guys do all kinds of testing from "mag" which is a special spray they apply while using a magnet, thru to x-raying pipes. I'm sure there's something out your end but i'm pretty sure it wont be cheap either.

IMO, practice your welding and beat it do death with a hammer...look for where your weaknesses are (where you didn't get full penetration) and practice again until you know that your average welding style gives you exactly what you're looking for

There is a simple home test you can do that doesn't require banging and beating.
Unless you want to have every inch of your welds magna-fluxed, pt dye tested,
ultrasound of X-rayed you are going to, at some point, trust your welding skills.

1. do your welds look good? Shitty looking welds are more often than not, well, SHITTY!
2. are you taking your time and managing your heat input?

Here's a simple test. Weld a test joint. After it cools cut a cross section of the joint
and sand and polish the cross section. Take a Q-tip and dip it into some good old
lye based drain cleaner. Apply the drain cleaner to the weld area and keep rubbing
with the wet q-tip for a minute or two. This will etch the area and the weld nugget
will appear a different color than the base material. Now take the time to look at it CLOSELY!
Are you happy with the penetration? Is it "biting" into both members of the joint?
If you are happy with the outcome then continue to use settings as close to the ones you used for the
test as possible. Remember, thicker materials will require more current and thinner will require less.

In short, if you don't trust your abilities, hire it done. There's no shame in tacking your build up and
hiring a pro to weld it if you don't feel you are up to the task. The life you save may be your own.

Check out Jody's videos a www.weldingtipsandtricks.com
His videos are no nonsense tips to help you become a better welder.

The importance of using the right materials and also being able to weld.
This was a "homebuilt" frame .

the guy that rode that is a brave soul

Yeah, they look shitty welds (not 'melted' into the parent piece at all) but look where it snapped

ya bad brace design too

What's wrong with the Gusset?

it looks like the brace is what caused it to break where it did and looks too small . i know i read somewhere when i was first reading about building frames maybe in gary's writeup but not sure that ya gotta be careful with the front brace because it has lots of stress in that area

Yeah, something about NOT mounting gussetts on the tube center line.

Shaped more like this.

Mine is similar in size.It is mounted off center.I would guess a break like that could happen without much warning.

Ok, Jeff, lets cover the 2 basic issues with that design. First, the straight trailing edge. The stresses and energys are transferred directly from the lower tube to the upper in a straight line. The deep scallop in the trailing edge of the one from Hans redirects the stress/energy and spreads it across the far side along the line instead of a focal point. Second, the tube deflects energy when gussetted closer to the outer edge, again like hans, and its absorbed through the structure. With the centered gusset the force it absorbed across the tube instead of along it, the focused energy causes metal fatigue and the failure. The ends of the break are bound to be crystalized.

i knew someone could answer that better than me for some reason i cant see hans pic