When you are making say a bumper how do you get an accurate angle when welding to pieces of sheet metal together? (assuming your not using a bender)

 

Make a jig?

 

So a jig would be like welding metal studs on to sheet metal forming the angle you want, Right? I am a noob sorry for the stupid questions.

 

bump.

 

A jig is anything that will hold what you are welding (or cutting, for that matter) at the angle you want it. You could use metal studs and sheetmetal, - that would work. If you are making and right angle welds, you can get the 90 degree angle magnets, they work great. Good luck....

 

If you're talking about a plate style bumper, I'd say most fabricators mock it up in cardboard and then use the cardboard as a template.

 

No stupid questions! Well, a few but..

Anyway- As stated by Tacoclimber, a jig is anything that holds your weldment in position while you tack it together. So you can make a jig using the surface of your welding table by welding pins to it to hold the weldment in place, or you could use a piece of sheetgoods (Plywood, OSB, masonite) with bolts or pins carefully placed that hold things in place while you tack. I made a jig of two 4x8' OSB panels to help put together a 16' long railing that held everything in place. could not have acheived the right alignment of rail pieces without the jig acting as extra hands.

Jigs are often built to lend repeatability to the build process. If you have an operation to do over and over (weld two of these pieces together in exactly the same manner, a hundred times) the jig hcan help you get consistent set up of the repeated positioning. A very helpful tool.