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Old 08-03-2019, 05:54 PM
crystallographic crystallographic is offline
MetalShaper of the Month October '14 , April '16, July 2020, Jan 2023
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Western Sierra Nevadas, Badger Hill, CA
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Hi Neil,
You are getting good info and your work shows improvement.
Fits, tacks, amps, fusion, hammering to planish, filing to metal finish....
sanding, coloring, sanding, filing .... lots of steps.

If you really want an even weld then you have to have steady hands and good vision. You can correct both. Using a steady rest can be a big help. Body position helps. If that is already the best it can be then adding a steady rest can help some more. A broom stick or closet pole or length of tube can work, when added in the horizontal and parallel to the weld, allows your forearms to slide along while welding.
Since you are sailing along so well now, I might add that step one after welding would be to bump the weld to a good level. (Using a straight edge for panel alignment is "essential.") Step two would be knocking down knots of weld. Then planishing the weld end to end, checking for straight... step three. Check file the surface and planish more... four. File again for a good check-over... five. Nit pick and file one last time... six. Sanding for camouflage may help... seven.
This is simply a standard process used by senior craftsmen in many countries, and is not necessarily a rigid rule. But- leaving thin metal might not help your job, overall....
Filing and sanding with 180grit can remove .015" of your metal thickness and more, which can be nearly 50% of the original metal thickness.

Over time and with exposure to many hundreds of sq. yards of hand-built metal autos and airplanes, you do begin to see common results and the marks of those very successful senior men, over the decades.
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Kent

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"All it takes is a little practical experience to blow the he!! out of a perfectly good theory." --- Lloyd Rosenquist, charter member AWS, 1919.
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