My new chassis build

[Talonmotorsport]

When you come to putting your blocks on the table it is best to put them on both sides of the material so it clamps it in place. Material can be either HRS hollow rolled section also known as black, it has rounded corners and is covered in black scale plus side is it's cheap or ERW which comes clean and bright with sharper corners but is alittle more to buy.

[Northern Joy]

Originally Posted by Talonmotorsport

When you come to putting your blocks on the table it is best to put them on both sides of the material so it clamps it in place. Material can be either HRS hollow rolled section also known as black, it has rounded corners and is covered in black scale plus side is it's cheap or ERW which comes clean and bright with sharper corners but is alittle more to buy.

THAT is perfect, thanks Talon. The stuff I have been using is black and doesn't show the heat affected areas after welding. Is there any advantages to using the ERW stuff? Also as I'm a noobie at welding, is it exactly the same setup to weld both? sorry if this sounds stupid but as far as I'm concerned I want to cover every angle as the chassis is whats keeps me from scraping my ar*e on the road :P hehe and asking and learning from people like you guys who know way more than me is the best way to learn.

[Talonmotorsport]

I would say go for 2mm ERW as it's a nicer material to work with, just remember to grind a 1mm 'weld prep' (45' angle) around the edges. This will aid in the finish weld as it will give you a guide so you can see the joint,give better penetration in to the material and also means there will be some 'meat' left if you grind the weld nearly flush on the out side to fit the panels.

[Northern Joy]

Originally Posted by Talonmotorsport

I would say go for 2mm ERW as it's a nicer material to work with, just remember to grind a 1mm 'weld prep' (45' angle) around the edges. This will aid in the finish weld as it will give you a guide so you can see the joint,give better penetration in to the material and also means there will be some 'meat' left if you grind the weld nearly flush on the out side to fit the panels.

That is extremly helpful, thanks alot. I'll get on the blower. Not too worried about the extra wieght and the thicker stuff I would guess is abit easier to weld without blowing holes in it.

[shh120m]

hiya mate, the build table looks good and a lovely clean workshop you have there! Just one suggestion, it may be worthwhile to put some legs at the corners of your build table, mine was sat on an old desk which was fine at first but with the weight of the chassis steel, it warped from back to front, leaving my chassis bent by 10mm over its legnth from front to back . I only noticed it after fully welding the chassis. I was lucky that it was bent in a straight line and not twisted but all the same, i wouldnt want it to happen to anyone else

cheers nathan

[TheArf]

Welcome to the funny farm, hope you enjoy the build and as you can see you can get answers to most questions on here.

p.s. do you hire yourself out for workshop cleaning

arfon

[HandyAndy]

A warm welcome to the forum .

As you have already seen, lots of helpful friendly members on here,

wow...very tidy workshop indeed

I also noticed the back end of Motor X bike alongside your build table too

Best wishes for your build, any questions....have a play with the search facility on the forum or if you can,t find the relevant info just ask away.

cheers
andy

[Northern Joy]

Originally Posted by Talonmotorsport

I would say go for 2mm ERW as it's a nicer material to work with, just remember to grind a 1mm 'weld prep' (45' angle) around the edges. This will aid in the finish weld as it will give you a guide so you can see the joint,give better penetration in to the material and also means there will be some 'meat' left if you grind the weld nearly flush on the out side to fit the panels.

I phoned around all the steel suppliers I could up here but no one seems to stock ERW in anything bigger 12mm square so I ordered 7 lengths of Cold Formed SHS EN 10219:S235JRH. Excuse my complete naivety but is this still ok use as chassis material?

I understand that EN 10219 means its cold formed, S235 is strutural steel and yield but I think its the crappy stuff and the JRH is the fracture toughness of the steel. After reading some posts I'm a bit nervous now using this grade of steel in a car I have to (hopefully :P) drive when its built and is going to play havoc in the back of my mind. I spent £90 but if it's considered crap then I'll have no choice but to find somewhere that can deliver ERW further away. Damn impaitence, really need to stop it as I was hell bent on starting the chassis this weekend.

[Talonmotorsport]

There's nothing wrong with using hollow section or black it will be strong enough. Use a fibre/sanding disk in a grinder to remove the scale on the flat faces and put a 45' weld prep on the joints. Treat your self to a tub of Swarfega as you will get very grubby.

[Northern Joy]

Originally Posted by Talonmotorsport

There's nothing wrong with using hollow section or black it will be strong enough. Use a fibre/sanding disk in a grinder to remove the scale on the flat faces and put a 45' weld prep on the joints. Treat your self to a tub of Swarfega as you will get very grubby.

Thanks again Talon. Picked up all the steel at lunchtime so I'm ready to rock n roll, but I am traveling down to Edinburgh tomorrow and away most of the weekend so I'll have to wait til next week. Also is there a type of service a company can do to check my welding and test it as I have only been welding for a few months and even though they pass the hammer test and been cut in half (good pen) I would still like someone to varify the welds after the basic chassis has been completed to give me peace of mind. Or do you think I'm been waaaaay over paranoid?

Thanks again and sorry for all the silly questions.