drilling and tapping a weld (1 Viewer)

[cavsfj40]

i am looking at wel\ding some holes in steel plate closed and redrilling them and tapping them the proper size. i know the weld willl be harder than the surrounding steel. is there anything i can do to sort of prevent the weld from hardening so much. Would it be like de-tempering a hardened tool by heat or something?

 

[Mace]

Arc, mig or tig?

There is not any reason that the weld will be significantly harder than the surrounding metal.
You can always varry the type of rod you are using to be softer than the surrounding metal..

 

[78 One owner]

Mace is exctly right. It depends on what you weld it up with.

 

[hammerhead]

If you are talking about a mild steel plate you want to use a like filler metal. For MIG I would use ER60S6 or even ER70S6 filler to ensure drillable results. The 70 would be the tougher of the two.

 

[tewlman]

as long as your welding mild steel and using a mild steel filler, it will not be hard. this is something i do quite a bit and never a problem. Just make sure your weld has good penetration , if you have an air pocket in the weld, it could cause the drill to walk when you start thru it.

Steve

 

[cavsfj40]

iit will be mig, and thanks for the tips.

 

[folsom50]

Use a soft filler though, I tried to salvage a calliper with a busted bleeder by drilling, welding, and redrilling. I wasted a whole day and found out the hard way.

 

[tewlman]

Folsom50,
the caliper is cast, you can't use a mild steel filler on it. the only thing you could have done is use the proper stick rod or brazed it.

 

[woody]

BTDT....when I built/drilled the winch plate for my new bumper, I mis-measured the holes at 11" wide, not 10". Took the mig to it, redrilled while still slightly warm, and no problems.

 

[3_puppies]

could you have used a helicoil?