How to weld hydraulic cylinders?

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I got hired at a company where I'll mostly be producing hydraulic cylinders.  I'm curious, where would the welds be? In general.Anybody?
Reply:Originally Posted by Tat2dHandzI got hired at a company where I'll mostly be producing hydraulic cylinders.  I'm curious, where would the welds be? In general.Anybody?
Reply:Originally Posted by Gerry1964take a peek here
Reply:Originally Posted by forhireHey Gerry, any idea what kind of wheel he's using on the grinder between passes? It's white but I can't tell if it's a brush or what.
Reply:It's a flap disc, not ones from el-cheapo depoh but the real thing without the bevel worn into them.Like this one, it's a Sait 40grit.Last edited by WeldingMachine; 12-01-2012 at 06:32 AM.Reason: yo mamaBuy American, or don't whine when you end up on the bread line.
Reply:If you look at the 1:46 mark its a knotted wire wheelVantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Originally Posted by DualieIf you look at the 1:46 mark its a knotted wire wheel
Reply:Actually, I jumped the gun a bit, I haven't officially been hired yet. I'm scheduled for a weld test this Monday.I'm just trying to get as much information on welding cylinders before Monday, so I can have somewhat of an understanding of the process.  Wow, that guy has some serious skills, turning the table with one hand and welding with the other. He put down some really nice beads one handed.I'm sure they train you, but just doing some homework before my test.
Reply:Some cylinders have the butt end welded on, some the gland end is welded to the barrel, and some have tubing/pipe welded to ports in the barrel. The eye is also welded on the rod on alot of cylinders. Cross tubes or mounts are some times welded to the butt end of the cylinder.
Reply:Anybody have an idea of the heat setting/wire speed the guy is using in the video?
Reply:I weld hydraulic cylinders, and all their components, of all sizes. the barrel diameter/stroke lengths range from 2.5x20" to 24x160". if you have any questions relating to the processes feel free to message me. standing them on end is seldom an option. lots of practice welding round parts will go a long way, the welds are almost all multipass and quite large. we use mostly GMAW spray... and some stick for some of the smaller fittings. many require xray if spec'd.materials are mostly mild steel, although some compnents might be stainless, induction hardened or high carbon. turning your large parts by hand is the norm as ours arent mass produced. many of our cylinder designs, we might make only once a year for a specific customer if the demand is low.
Reply:I often have to weld/repair forklift tilt cylinders where I work.The cylinders develop a crack in the cylinder tube weld that joins the cylinder mounting eye to the tube.To make the grinding prep operation and the actual welding easier, I fabricated a rotor & spreader clamp to hold the cylinder from the inside surface of the tube. I used nothing but scrap material I scrounged from other projects and a junk pile to make it.The base fixture can be clamped onto our welding table (if the table is available) but I usually just clamp it onto the end of a forklift blade as we always have a forklift handy in our shop.The rotor/spreader slips over the long bar welded to the base fixture.  The rotor/spreader is free to turn on the base fixture bar.I made an adapter that bolts into the cylinder pin retainer bolt hole.This adapter features a receiver socket to accept the welder ground clamp. A pinch bolt locks the ground clamp in place so it can't slip or fall out of the receiver socket. The receiver socket is oriented so that the centerline of the ground cable matches the centerline of cylinder rotation so the entire assembly does not have a "heavy side" when you are turning it while welding.The adapter also features a welded nut to mount a handle for rotating the cylinder with my left hand while I weld right-handed.The picture I took shows the original shape of the handle as being a long, straight one.  I have since modified that so it now is shaped like a crank handle.  I found the first concept version was just too long and too close to where I would have my right hand.  Changing it to a crank shaped handle made it the right length and moved my left hand out of the way. Attached Images