Triple Miter Corner Question

[sinthome]

Hi, I am building some tables, stands and work benches. Not on a production capacity, but I have several planned. Mostly the corners will be in 14ga 2x1 HSS. Previously, I have mitered a top frame and then butt welded the legs to that. I am curious about a 3-axis corner where each member is mitered twice (Looks like this). The main advantage I see is less welding and less grinding to prep the leg attachment. Main disadvantage is extra miter cuts and the finesse of clamping and tacking it all square, ideally in one go. I just got a "dry" chop saw and am excited that it might make miter cuts more accurate and less time-consuming. However, I don't have a 3-axis corner clamp (like this). I am going to try cutting the miters and just using 3-4 magnets to tack it together, but is there a design for a simple jig that I could make to ensure the welded corners stay square? Or do you recommend just sticking to what I know and continue cutting the legs square and welding flush to the frame?

[GWIZ]

Good question.

[digr]

Doable but why? All you will be adding is work and not strength. you could 45 the bottom corners.

[TEK]

Originally Posted by sinthome

. Is there a simple way to ensure the welded corners stay square without having the specialized clamp? Maybe a homemade jig? .

Tack weld them, at the desired angle of the dangle, to a piece of flat bar and close the vise on the flat bar to hold it..
Tack enough so if the blade catches it won't pull it off the flat bar...

[Lew Hartswick]

If it were me. :-) (I don't do any welding) but the design of and building a "clamp" to hold it in position for the weld would be a fun thing to do. That is the kind of challenge that keeps me going. :-)
...lew...

[TEK]

Originally Posted by Lew Hartswick

If it were me. :-) (I don't do any welding) but the design of and building a "clamp" to hold it in position for the weld would be a fun thing to do. That is the kind of challenge that keeps me going. :-)
...lew...

Welded, or glued and screwed, they need to be held. .I have seen some interesting clamping created. ..

You can tell some things about a person by how they work, and how they work. ...
Like firearm design, same task, many solutions. .

[sinthome]

Well, I am surprised this jig hasn't been made a hundred times already.

Two ideas:
The first is sheet steel, which is minimal but trickier to make square and maybe not as sturdy.
The second is 2x1 tubing set up for the same effect and easier to make, but trickier to keep the actual corner clear for welding.

Both designs, the corner is lined up with the jig and then clamped with three separate clamps.

Is this worth making?

[TEK]

Originally Posted by sinthome

Well, I am surprised this jig hasn't been made a hundred times already.

Is this worth making?

Only you can answer that ---

[LKeithR]

Originally Posted by digr

Doable but why? All you will be adding is work and not strength. you could 45 the bottom corners.

Yeah, I see no advantage at all to doing that. You're just adding a lot of work. Just mitre the two bottom pieces and cut the leg square; weld it on after you've welded and cleaned up the bottom. Sooo much simpler.

All you need for a jig is to tack some pieces to your welding table then you can make as many as you want...

[Walker]

The 4 seconds you save grinding will probably be over shadowed by the extra three hours in setup time, don't forget the extra expense from the mis metered tubes.