August 25, 200916 yr Is it possible to weld (using oxy-acetylene) a C clamp to a piece of mild steel plate? Or, would brazing be better? I want to fix the top of the C to the plate to make a moveable base for a tool I'm putting together.
August 25, 200916 yr Depending on the clamp...the really cheap ones I doubt you can weld/braze with anything to make them hold. The good clamps are forged steel, (drop forged). We weld them with E7018 all the time with no problem.
August 26, 200916 yr What Thomas said. however what do you have to loose. Try it and let us know. Ken
August 26, 200916 yr Look for the forged C clamps at you local flea market. My experience is that they weld fine. The photgraph shows an older C clamp welded to mild-steel using 6011 rod. Also, for clamping pipe clamps work well for making fixtures. You weld a length of black pipe into position and then screw on the working end of a pipe clamp.
September 2, 200916 yr Cut a scrap of plate or flat bar into an L. Weld one end to your base so it stands upside-down and weld a nut to the other end; add some threaded rod and you have a clamp. It's cheap and you're not dealing with mystery metal. Depending on a few things, you might end up shrinking the nut a bit; I've run into this but it was nothing a quick pass with a tap or homemade thread-chaser(much cheaper than a tap if it's a monster nut) couldn't fix.
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