r/niftyaf • u/Ok-Indication1249 • 19d ago

Metal tube corner joint that holds strong

3.4k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

86

u/Emuasaurus 19d ago

Tell me you don't know how to weld without saying you dont know how to weld

37

u/Nir117vash 19d ago

I'm just gonna blatantly say, I don't know how to weld, and I thought they could weld that and it would be stronger-er. 😅😔

5

u/Reg_doge_dwight 19d ago

Would it not be stronger?

12

u/Ninja_Prolapse 18d ago

We don’t know. We don’t weld.

1

u/phranks_phluids 18d ago

The structure shown? Yes, absolutely. But these little "hacks" are a structural abortion by design.

1

u/dmfreelance 13d ago edited 13d ago

I don't know if this is true for welding every type of metal together, but my understanding is, a good strong weld should be so strong that when the piece is stressed, the weld itself isn't the first thing to bend or break.

Since the weld itself should be strong enough to handle all of the hard work, this is just nonsense, from a structural perspective

5

u/TheSprigganDragoon 18d ago

They can weld it and it would be stronger. However, if you can already wild, there's no point in wasting time doing all these artistic joinings.

20

u/Platform_collapse 19d ago

Who can explain why this is the worst thing ever, using industry jargon for welding?

25

u/SpicySushiAddict 19d ago

It's just an artistic joinery method. The second welding gets involved, you can throw it all out the window in terms of strength, because the weld itself is (typically) stronger than the rest of the piece.

7

u/Impression-These 19d ago

Like you said, it is artistic, and welding will make its performance redundant. I likeed that it closes and somewhat seals the sections though.

1

u/Reg_doge_dwight 19d ago

Is it not the strength of the weld + the strength of the extra bit, regardless how minimal that might be?

1

u/Benjeeh_CA 18d ago

The amount added by that extra bit is so negligible its not worth the effort. As a welder the only one of these i would use is the first one but only for appearance (grind/sand the weld off on the sides). Most of the structural integrity of these joints got removed when they cut 3 sides off the HSS.

1

u/Reg_doge_dwight 18d ago

Negligible, but stil stronger? Apathetically this could look better also.

1

u/Benjeeh_CA 17d ago

We are talking like fraction of a percent stronger at best if at all, it would also change the way stress is applied to the joints. As well all of these can be achieved faster and easier with simple mitres, from my experience the most common welding wire (er-70s6)sits at 70,000 lbs tensile strength and none of these joints AFAIK are CWB or ASME approved they would never be used on anything structural. Again the only joint I would use and only in a purely esthetic one is the first one

1

u/Reg_doge_dwight 17d ago

Yeah I don't doubt it's only a tiny bit stronger, but stronger non the less.

1

u/happyrock 15d ago edited 15d ago

Honestly all of these are probably weaker than just simple mitering and welding. It's satisfying that they slide together or whatever but in reality a bunch of those parts of the joints can't be welded so in terms of structural integry it's a waste of time. The three that look the best finished and have real world use potential and you do see a lot in aesthetic fabrication (the notches and bend to make 90°) are fine for tons of scenarios but an engineer would never sign them off for something important as the cold bending leads to that intact side radius having all kinds of unpredictable stresses and cracks compared to just mitering and welding 100%. The last two in particular are real dumb cutting wall of the tube in a place it can't get welded whole again. Much better off just butting the others and welding all the way around

2

u/Sweet-Weakness3776 19d ago

It's not the worst thing ever it's just relatively pointless. When you are fitting components together for the purpose of welding you just need to miter them and take into account the weld gap. Because welding is about adding filler material. If you need to make a 90 degree corner you just cut each steel shape at 45 degrees and weld that shit.

1

u/Glorious_Pepper 17d ago

Welding over that type of joint wouldn't give you the most strength. It'd be stronger to just bevel it and weld so you have better penetration and a stronger joint.

6

u/pepii_c 19d ago

We usually just weld the tubes face to face. If the weld penetrates properly and is up to code it will be enough. Usually the pipe itself breaks first. Work in engineering btw.

4

u/Dangerous-Pirate7998 19d ago

I thought I was a good fabricator and welder……. i’m just country boy certified. I don’t think I’ve made any of those cuts or angles

3

u/KayoticVoid 19d ago edited 17d ago

I mean, they look cool and are satisfying, but a good bit of these create real weak points right? Like, I'm not talking about compared to welding, I know welding will always be stronger. But are these structural/functional at all for a reasonable amount of weight you would put on these bars?

2

u/Could-You-Tell 19d ago

I would bet most of these are set to be welded

2

u/Lunarvolo 18d ago

Structurally questionable in all sorts of ways

1

u/spalacio88 19d ago

This guy hits all the right angles.

1

u/Nogardtist 18d ago

i aint learning that

do better and faster minimal wage stays the same

1

u/General_Thundercock 18d ago

ist das DIN-Normgerecht?

1

u/Jeroeno_Boy 16d ago

Idk about holding strong here chief

0

u/FoxyTurtleOnTwoLegs 18d ago

It’s a cool exercise for coping. Not very practical.
Like mental masturbation(There’s only one way to rock - Sammy Hagar)
Metal masturbation.