Trial and error........

[Specklefield Farm]

I've been building a barrel evaporator over the past 2 weeks, and tonight after I finished welding the most beautiful bead of weld around the 8" exhaust port, I was pretty happily slapping my self on the back and high fiving myself. I came upstairs to eat dinner and went back down about 20 min later and the rear base lip had heaved almost 2". I spent the next couple of hours correcting my mistake. This trial and error thing....I certainly have the error part covered!!!!

[Haynes Forest Products]

Dont feel like the lone ranger on the welding and warping. I have learned to tack and let cool and counter weld so I dont get all the welds pulling in one direction. I have a trailer I built and when I put the heavy mesh deck on it I started in one corner and welded all the way around the perimeter and when I came back it took on the shape of a wheat thin cracker 2" out corner to corner. CLAMP TACK LET COOL AND WELD IN A PATTERN and I dont care what you do you cant stop the pull of a weld on sheet steel.