Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: "Jack Phillips (EUS)"
Subject: Pietenpol-List: Landing gear welding question>To the group,>I am building a split axle landing gear almost to the plans. After much>putzing, I got the angle just right so the hinges that attach to the>fuselage are the right distance. I then tack welded them to just the right>dimension. Then, you guessed it- when I did the final welding of the two>pieces of the legs together, the angle between them contracted to the point>where the hinges are 5/8 inch too close together.>>I put some threaded rod with nuts between the hinges to put some spreading>force between them. I then heated the joint as evenly as I could to just>between red and orange. Not enough to melt the weld, but to soften>slightly. Actually, I think most of the adjustment was in the "point" ofthe>joint, not in the crotch where most of the filler metal is. I then spread>the legs slowly to the correct point. It wasn't much of an adjustment in>the weld joint.>>My question- did I do a bad thing to the weld joint? My rationale was that>I wasn't doing anything different from when we stress relieve a cluster>joint. Is this correct?>>Thanks for the help.>>Al Swanson>Trying to get legs on this bird.>>________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: Earl Myers
To the group,I am building a split axle landing gear almost to the plans. After muchputzing, I got the angle just right so the hinges that attach to thefuselage are the right distance. I then tack welded them to just the rightdimension. Then, you guessed it- when I did the final welding of the twopieces of the legs together, the angle between them contracted to the pointwhere the hinges are 5/8 inch too close together.I put some threaded rod with nuts between the hinges to put some spreadingforce between them. I then heated the joint as evenly as I could to justbetween red and orange. Not enough to melt the weld, but to softenslightly. Actually, I think most of the adjustment was in the "point" of thejoint, not in the crotch where most of the filler metal is. I then spreadthe legs slowly to the correct point. It wasn't much of an adjustment inthe weld joint.My question- did I do a bad thing to the weld joint? My rationale was thatI wasn't doing anything different from when we stress relieve a clusterjoint. Is this correct?Thanks for the help.Al SwansonTrying to get legs on this bird.________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: Alan Swanson
As long as you let it cool slowly. No problem. It is very normal forweldments to change sape as the cool it is one of the more fustrating partsof tube fabrication.John Mc-----Original Message-----