Lets Talk Welding Rods

[glfredrick]

In the old days, we'd just use an old box of some sort with a light bulb burning in it to drive out the humidity.

 

[manaen]

so how did the welding project go over the weekend?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Welding project is next weekend. I will take and post pictures, good or bad.

 

[rinnels69]

Make sure you get that machine set on the same thickness material before ya start burning rods. Good Luck!

 

[Desert Explorer]

Keep in mind that with 7018 (1/8'') you will need about 125 amps or so for it to burn correctly.

Welding is all about puddle manipulation and heat control. The best tips that I can offer is practice and when welding, steady yourself. Ideally, you should never free hand when stick welding. Just get comfortable.

 

[Exploderpilot]

I'm a welding inspector by trade now, and all those low hydrogen electrodes are supposed to be kept in an oven at 250 degrees. and if they get wet, at all, thrown away.

 

[mynameisaric]

6013 is less picky and you can make good stack of dime welds with it like you said. 7018 lays nice flat smooth beads... but they need the whole oven treatment deal. I used to hate 6013 when my teacher made us use it, but now i love it. It starts right up and once you have the hang of the puddle manipulation, it is easy. 7018 on the other hand is hard to start but once it gets going, its toooo easy. just drag the electrode right along, you really don't have to do too much except not go too fast or undercut the weld.

over on PBB, PAM is real big with those guys for antispatter spray. never tried it myself, but alot of guys swear by it over there. and yes, that is pam the cooking spray. Some guys say the generic pam is 1/3 the cost and works even better. so if you are laying some practice beads down you might want to try it.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Thanks for the input guys. This is all good info for others to reference.

My project is temporarly on hold- I intended to do the SOA tomorrow, but my perches aren't here and I have to work. The good news is its all time x 1.5

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Perches welded on:

I used 7018 rods that I baked in the oven, welder ended up being set at ~140 amps to get good penetration.

They look pretty good, the pictures I took didn't turn out very well at all.

 

[manaen]

looks good, but you need to brush that thing clean so we can see your handy work !!

It's hard to tell with that picture if you got good burn in on both surfaces, but it looks like a very steady handed weld

 

[mynameisaric]

140 amps with 7018... way more than enough. I'm sure the penetration was there. bet those welds went down quick too!

 

[MountaineerGreen]

The pictures don't do it justice, the welds look good. My ole digital camera is ~4 years old, not taking good pictures these days.

 

[Exploderpilot]

yeah that looks like a solid weld. i wouldn't worry too much about penetration on a piece of plate at 140 amps!

 

[dkchrist]

i have been told that DC will also make a cleaner weld. Is this true or what?

 

[manaen]

i have been told that DC will also make a cleaner weld. Is this true or what?

depends on the material and the rod. In some cases DC reverse polarity is required.

 

[manaen]

I came across this series on youtube for SMAW. It is an instructional series on stick welding for anyone interested in starting out with a stick welder.

I was searching on thermite welding when I stumbled across it.

See the series here

 

[sn0border88]

looks pretty good, the one thing that had me hung up on 7018 welding was I kept the rod to far away. Once day the boss told my just to push it in as close as possible and my welds got 110% better

 

[manaen]

looks pretty good, the one thing that had me hung up on 7018 welding was I kept the rod to far away. Once day the boss told my just to push it in as close as possible and my welds got 110% better

yeah, 7018's can be deceptive because the shield doesn't burn off the rod the same way a 60xx rod does so it looks like your closer than you are.

 

[mynameisaric]

isn't 7018 a rod you CAN drag? whereas the 60XX you have to hold an arc length

 

[manaen]

isn't 7018 a rod you CAN drag? whereas the 60XX you have to hold an arc length

well your not really dragging the rod, in most cases the sheild is sticking to the rod so even though you think your dragging the 7018 rod you're actually not. if the rod were in contact with the material you would lose your arc.