Propper Material For Welding Jig

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I'm designing a jig for our welders and I want to know what material to put behind the welding areas to ensure proper heat sink and lack of sticking.  I've heard that Copper Berrylium is often used for this, but I can't find any documentation on it. Ideally I'd like a material that will take the wear and tear of welding, hammering, clamping etc.  Any suggestions on this / general direction on jigging is appreciated.
Reply:Will the joint to be welded be in direct contact with the fixture? You mentioned the heat sink aspect of a copper backing, just curious.How heavy/big is the part? What is it?If the joint is directly on the copper, the weld will not stick to it. But it is soft stuff, depending on how hard/often the fixture gets used the copper could get pretty beat up.What about regular cold rolled to hold the part and copper in areas where you need a heat sink that wont stick?Hard to say without knowing what you are making.Got any pictures?By the way, welcome to the forum, I moved your post to this section so that more people would see it.
Reply:Originally Posted by dictumI'm designing a jig for our welders and I want to know what material to put behind the welding areas to ensure proper heat sink and lack of sticking.  I've heard that Copper Berrylium is often used for this, but I can't find any documentation on it. Ideally I'd like a material that will take the wear and tear of welding, hammering, clamping etc.  Any suggestions on this / general direction on jigging is appreciated.
Reply:Red,Beryllium is not radioactive.  It's a common misconception.  Beryllium alone, if not handled correctly, when breathed into the lungs, causes berylliosis, akin to mesothelioma.  However, beryllium in solid solution with copper causes no health defects.  Consider that most high quality spot welding electrodes (that are filed and sanded regularly), are beryllium copper.Beryllium copper is harder than annealed copper, and can take the "wear and tear of welding, hammering, clamping etc."  Consider the specifcation that you are welding to.  Often, the specification requires that backing for the weld be the same material, so that there is no possibility of dilution of the backing material into the weld puddle.  If you have no such restriction, either electrolitic tough pitch (ETP) copper, or Be/Cu will work for you.Automatic seam welders as a rule use copper or beryllium copper as the backing bars for the welding.I r 2 a perfessional
Reply:Originally Posted by kbnitRed,Beryllium is not radioactive.  It's a common misconception.  Beryllium alone, if not handled correctly, when breathed into the lungs, causes berylliosis, akin to mesothelioma.  However, beryllium in solid solution with copper causes no health defects.  Consider that most high quality spot welding electrodes (that are filed and sanded regularly), are beryllium copper.Beryllium copper is harder than annealed copper, and can take the "wear and tear of welding, hammering, clamping etc."  Consider the specifcation that you are welding to.  Often, the specification requires that backing for the weld be the same material, so that there is no possibility of dilution of the backing material into the weld puddle.  If you have no such restriction, either electrolitic tough pitch (ETP) copper, or Be/Cu will work for you.Automatic seam welders as a rule use copper or beryllium copper as the backing bars for the welding.
Reply:When you become a welder you will hear many myths about all kinds of things.Just look them up one at a time and dispell the truth from the myths Don't be a sucker..Here is a common one....."Oh you weld stainless steel?"  "That is real hard to do isn't it."AWS certified welding inspectorAWS certified welder
Reply:Originally Posted by Donald BranscomWhen you become a welder you will hear many myths about all kinds of things.Just look them up one at a time and dispell the truth from the myths Don't be a sucker..Here is a common one....."Oh you weld stainless steel?"  "That is real hard to do isn't it."
Reply:Some information about precautions to be taken when working with Beryllium:http://weldingmag.com/ar/wdf_70318/Bob RosenbaumFormer PublisherPenton's WELDING Magazine
Reply:Do you want the material to pull heat away from the joint, or to minimize heat sink properties?  If you're looking to minimize heat sink properties, you can build the jig out whatever you want and face it off with ceramics.
Reply:"Computer, are there any Beryllium Spheres onboard?"[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTuJekum1gA[/ame]I was looking for a scene from "Galaxy Quest"! City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Non-sparking tools(including hammers and even chisels) for use in potentially explosive atmospheres are often made of Berrylium Copper because of it's hard and tough properties. It's interesting how a small amount of impurities dissolved in something can change its properties so much, for example just a half percent of carbon in iron, or a quarter percent alcohol in a human's blood!I'm still curious about seeing the parts and what kind of jig is needed.