Sooner or later, if you are a do-it-at-home, hands-on kind of fabricator you will be faced with fitting tubing together to form a clean joint. By clean we mean the gap between the tubes intended to be joined is uniform from start to finish. The reason uniformity is essential is because uneven gaps weaken the joint and greatly increase the odds of burning through while welding. The expression for what needs to take place in order to join tubes together whether they are square or round stock is called a notch. There are more than a few ways to notch tubing, ranging from the high-dollar approach with a Bridgeport type mill to primitive handheld grinding, or hole-saw methods that can prove to be time consuming and ultimately inaccurate.
The quickest, easiest, and most accurate way to notch tubing while keeping costs to a minimum is to get your hands on an HTP Quick Notch or HTP Quick Notch Jr. from HTP America Inc. Both versions are made in the USA and are designed to provide years of service. We chose the HTP Quick Notch Jr., part number 90251.
The Quick Notch Jr. can be...
The Quick Notch Jr. can be mounted in a vise or attached to a drill press. Our preference was to use a drill press, and the Quick Notch Jr. required the use of a drill press vice that is not included with purchase.
Either Quick Notch will notch...
Either Quick Notch will notch up to 2-inch tubing. We included HTP hole saws in our order and were pleasantly surprised to discover they worked like a champ.
To notch tubing of equal diameters...
To notch tubing of equal diameters we ensured the hole saw was of the same circumference as the tubing.
Here's a good example of the...
Here's a good example of the wrong way to join tubing without a notch. Do it this way and your welds will look like burnt Cheetos and the joint will be weak at best.
We found the easiest way to...
We found the easiest way to mount the Quick Notch onto our drill press was to leave all of the mounting bolts loose enough to adjust the Quick Notch into position.
As with all machining processes...
As with all machining processes it was a good idea to thoroughly lubricate the tooling and the area to be machined with a quality lubricant. We chose to use a spray can for ease of application.