It didn't go as quickly as I had expected but the welding jig is now complete. A picture of it, holding the metal pieces to be welded, may be seen below.
(Finished Welding Jig)
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The jig has guides to hold the two longest pieces of angle iron. The short end pieces are held in place with slight pressure to assure the frame is square.
Four adjusting nuts, one on each corner of the upright supports, allows adjustment for the upright perforated tubing to be perpendicular, in two directions. Each corner has a compression spring under it and the assembly can be tilted depending on how the corner nuts are tightened.
(Welding Jig Right)
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I used some small springs, with tiny screw eyes, to provide pressure on the end pieces to keep them square. They provide the right amount of pressure and are safe out of the way inside the hole. A last minute wooden strap holds the center slider on each end from coming out.
(Welding Jig Right Closer)
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As the final assembly of the jig progressed, I needed the metal parts which would go into the jig to build the jig around. To cut the pieces, I used what is called a cutoff saw. It has an abrasive wheel that is used to cut the metal. It makes lots of sparks.
(Cutting 45 Degree Miter)
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The pieces were cut and the ends of the uprights were shaped using a hand tool with a smaller abrasive wheel to sculpt the necessary edge to fit the angle iron.
(Metal Pieces Cut)
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The trickiest part of the jig was the need for the upright support arms to slide between two parallel pieces of wood. This allows the arms to retract after the frame is tack welded, allowing easy removal of the now solid frame.
A sandwich of clamps is shown below, as the upright stabilizer for one side was glued and screwed together. The two outside pieces are glued and screwed to a small bottom board. The center piece is not glued. It has to slide. As shown, the center stabilizer arm has one piece of typing paper for spacing and one layer of Saran Wrap wrapped around it to keep the glue off of it. Sort of awkward.
(Clamping 1)
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With the jig finished, I'll be meeting with the welder this week. I'm anxious to get the new experimental frame done so I can test it out.
John