Originally Posted by
peteeng
Hi Pippin and others - Mild Steel will not change shape over time unless some other factor is brought into play (red heat, more machining, considerable harmonic vibration, sand blasting, mechanical overloads ). The welded structures internal stresses change with change in geometry (machining) with a bit of luck and slowly working each side it may come into tolerance. Or it may not. JIC and others, there is no reason to 100% weld the bits together in a machine part application. So stitching it together is a much better strategy to minimise distortion if stress relief is not available. Hard soldering or brazing are much better alternatives if thermal SR is not available. Peter