Fabrication Tolerance

Xtreme Cartz

"Ahh close enough" works for carpenters, but what about weldor/fabricators and metal workers? I was wondering if in building is there a standard % tolerance people go by? Lets say for example a custom motorcycle frame. When they bend, notch, and weld do they always expect to be within 0.00000 of a degree and .000000" or is there a +/- .01 in there?

I like welding/fabricating because part of the fun in it for me is aiming for something to be perfect. Didn't know though if I should lose sleep over my stupid digital angle finder when it says 0.0 for five seconds and then flips to 0.1. How about chop saw wheels? Ever have one that wobbles and you end up 1/8" off?

BGW

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scottyb

Nobody is perfect. You refer poorly to carpenters. We framed houses to within a 1/4 of an inch and finish work to within the 16th & 32nd!... They are not all hacks where I came from Wehn I was an apprentice my boss would try to slip a dollar bill in in my woodworking joints. If he could I owed him the dollar! Fabricators are the same. Some are sloppy. SOme are good. It is okay to hold the short part 1/8" away and weld it on..... try that with a door casing
THe end result is what matters so tack that iece on and then check and adjust it before final welding.... I'm no expert but I have watched them work
Maybe roady will give you the real scoop on this?

DOOmsman

Wood putty on door casing and flat black paint on welds.

TheNewGuy

The tighter the fit the better and stronger it will be. I wouldn't bridge a 1/8 gap with weld for something structural.

Ron


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Xtreme Cartz

I was teasing about carpenters, they almost have it harder because they cant fill in their joints with weld.

Rodger's Rides

I work in a fab shop. We work with 3X5 box tubing, 1/2 plating, 1" round and square tubing and other assorted sizes. We have to hold some tight tolerances. For a one place desimal we usually are allowed +/-.030 inch, for two place +/- .015, and for three place +/- .005. This goes for welded parts as well as machined parts. Some of our machine parts have +/- .0005" for tolerance. And these are not aviation parts. Our tolerance on angles are .5 degree. So if you are holdin .1 degree off plumb, go with it. The educated train drivers all have formulas to work with for establishing tolerances. But you have look at what you are building to decide how tight of tolerance you want to hold. And if you are holding a five place desimal while welding, I got just one thing to say...Do you want a job! The closer to perfect the better. Good luck in your builds. When you coming this way?

scottyb