The welding process is pretty cut and dry when you break it down. You heat metal up to the point of becoming molten and melt it together; sometimes adding filler material to the seam. Because metal needs to get so hot to join it together the molecular make up is changed and the metal may actually move or shift when welding. If you don’t believe us take a brand new piece of flat plate and weld a few hot beads across the face of the plate. Let it cool and look at the plate. We would bet money that flat plate is now warped. This process can be changed only controlled. One way you can control warping of work piece is to fixture or clamp it in place so that it can’t move around as much when welding. That way as it goes from a molten stage and back to a solid the shape will fall back into place. The problem comes when you’re welding something that is odd shaped or can’t be clamped or fixtured. Sheet metal on a car is a good example of a welding project that can be hard to control when welding and you may get warping, popping, or twisted parts from heat soak that got out of control.
A welders saving grace for keeping heat soak to a minimum is using Eastwood Ant-Heat Compound to keep the heat from filtering out into a panel. The Anti-Heat compound shields against heat up to 3000 degrees F and is pliable enough it can conform to most any work surface. The other great thing is that is reusable can be peeled off the part and stored in its container for many many projects. Our preferred method for installing is
to spread it on with a putty knife to a 3/8″ thickness as close to the weld or solder area as possible. This confines the heat to the open area. Great for applications close to windows and rubber/plastic seals. Non-toxic, harmless to skin, asbestos-free, this is about as easy to use as possible. We like to keep a tub of Anti-Heat Compound on the welding cart and on the welding table to never be without! To get your own Anti-Heat Compound and see all of our other favorite Welding Accessories visit our welding accessories page HERE.