Welding Chill Plates

A chill plate can used to welding to prevent “burn through” in certain situations. Typically for thin pieces when full penetration is desired or in some heavy duty industrial welding applications. The chill place can be removed or left in place. You can read more about here, “https://amarineblog.com/2020/12/19/w...e-in-welding/“.

I have a lot of 1/16 x 1 x 1” angle iron. (1.7 x 27 x 27 mm) This material is from shipping crates I get from behind the Tractor Supply Company store. I pick them up anytime there is one out when I drive by.

This material is perfect for the frame of a project I am making. My only welder is an antique Lincoln 220 Amp AC "buz box". Even at the lowest 40 Amp setting it is very easy, for me anyway, to burn through the thin material. Like this one only his great great grandson, maybe with a 3rd great.
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The use of a chill plate seemed like a possibility. Some small pieces of 1/4 t0 3/8” steel plates in my recycle bin are perfect and serve a dual purpose. They are nice and flat providing a perfect surface for clamping parts in place. There is a danger however of welding the frame to the plate.

Some chill plates are made of thick copper. Copper conducts heat away from the weld quickly. I do not have any thick copper plates laying around. I do have a lot of of copper plumbing pipe in my recycling collection.

I selected some short pieces,
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cleaned them up,
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slit the sides with a hacksaw,
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annealed them by heating with a propane torch and drop into cold water
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bent them open,
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flattened with my grandpa’s old hammer and anvil and a flat steel plate,
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Finally, clean again.
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The copper can then be clamped between the parts to be welded with a steel backing plate to hold parts in alignment while welding.

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Backside
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It helps me make better welds in thin material.

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Thanks hemmjo! We've added your Welding Chill Plates to our Welding category,
as well as to your builder page: hemmjo's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

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I buy those shipping crates at auctions for far less than what the material is worth but had no idea that places like TSC just give them away. Good to know. That size angle is very useful for a lot of things.

The point of your post wasn't missed. That version of chill blocks is pretty clever.

Not all TSC locations are the same. I live equal distance between two. I asked both managers about the "stuff piled out back". One said if it is out there you can have it. The other seemed upset that I had looked behind his store. Maybe the manager from the one store takes his steel to your auction?

If I am heading to TSC, the bed of my truck is always empty, just in case. I also drive a little out of my way to drive by anytime I am to in my truck.

The chill plates have actually made me a much better welder.

Thank you hemmjo. The flattened copper pipe is really useful. If you don't have copper you can get a similar effect using thick aluminium sheet, which sounds odd as you'd expect it to melt at steel welding temperatures. As long as it's thick enough / has some free area for cooling it conducts the heat away before it will melt. On a side note, backing of welds using copper / aluminium isn't allowed in some industries, but I find it's very helpful to improve my amateur welding!