How do I fix or straighten this "Potato chip shaped Box"

[psacustomcreations]

I am making a stand for a bell. The top and bottom of the base is 17"x18" of 1/4" thick aluminum. I used my table saw to cut a bevel on the base. The sides are a piece of flat bar that is 1" tall by 3/16" thick. I did not bevel the side pieces. I tacked all pieces together then started welding. I stood it up on end and welded in one direction, then flipped it around and welded the other portion of that side so in effect I went in one direction then the other. I welded three out of the four sides that way. I plan on grinding the welds and blending the sides.

I did it this way so I can remove the side that is not welded, fill the base with lead or plates of steel to add weight, then weld that last side. I need this base to weigh about 35 pounds or more when I am done so it holds the bell safely.

The box is now bent kind of like a potato chip. When it is just sitting on the ground, it is as if corners 1 and 3 are in the air and 2 and 4 are on the ground. If I press it down so three corners are touching, the last corner goes up by about 3/16".

I have not cut the last side free yet and filled it with weight to see if that will straighten it.

[Jimmy_pop]

Welcome to mother nature. That is lots of heat within a tiny area. Better try a different approach. Call around to a burn table vendor and see if they have any drop pieces they can cut you a steel 17x18 from.

[psacustomcreations]

Welcome to mother nature. That is lots of heat within a tiny area. Better try a different approach. Call around to a burn table vendor and see if they have any drop pieces they can cut you a steel 17x18 from.

I was trying to avoid that. I want to just use aluminum since I still need to weld or attach the arc shaped holder to this base.
A steel plate would be plenty heavy enough

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[Mondo]

This will flatten it!
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?...&hsimp=yhs-001'

[Jimmy_pop]

Get your piece of steel cut. Drill and tap 4 holes in the steel, or more holes. Counter sink 4 holes in an aluminum plate and bolt the plate down to the steel. Decorative and also lets you weld to the aluminum.

[psacustomcreations]

Get your piece of steel cut. Drill and tap 4 holes in the steel, or more holes. Counter sink 4 holes in an aluminum plate and bolt the plate down to the steel. Decorative and also lets you weld to the aluminum.

The more I look at it, the more I think I am going to have to go that route.
I may just run the box through the table saw and remove the sides to see if I can salvage some of the top and bottom.

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[Gavo]

Put some material in center the height of material depends on how much you need to bend back use big bessy clamps to pull down over material be easy Bend it a little check it ect ect. Hope that makes sense

[abec]

How is it for square?

[psacustomcreations]

Well I filled it full of sand, lead shot and some lead weights. It now weighs about 60 pounds. I then pointed two heat guns at it for a while to warm it up. Once it got too hot to touch I welded the fourth side on it and clamped it to a flat table to cool down. That helped it out a bit.
I clamped it to a table and whacked it with a 3 pound hammer and it is much better.
Now I need to clean it up, weld it to the upright and put some anchor tabs on it.

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[Denis G]

Lincoln Electric has a good article on weld distortion:
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us...on-detail.aspx

I try to remember what I've read on it, but I still fight distortion on projects every so often.

Helps to slow down and check your work before you get to ruin things.

[psacustomcreations]

Lincoln Electric has a good article on weld distortion:
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us...on-detail.aspx

I try to remember what I've read on it, but I still fight distortion on projects every so often.

Helps to slow down and check your work before you get to ruin things.

Thanks for the link.
Patience is not one of my strong traits since I always seem to have a lot of things I am trying to get done. Welding is helping with that since a bit more time with material prep, fit up, and sequencing saves a lot of grinding and welding over again.

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