Technical How many people stick weld frames?

7024 is a Contact Rod. No need to try and maintain arc distance. Just drag and go.

 

Done properly, nothing wrong with MIG penetration.

These are 3/8", there are other tests for thicker material.


https://www.cwbgroup.org/association/how-it-works/what-are-welding-qualification-tests

 

yes-please enlighten us on this-never heard of it!

 

I guess that it would depend on the level of proficiency. In the early '80s, when MIG welders were still kind of exotic for the home garage, my then brother in law made a frame for an A coupe hot rod out of 2X3 rectangular tubing using the old Lincoln 225 arc welder. When he was done, all of the welds looked like pictures from a "How to Weld" book, and the frame was out of square by less than 1/4 of an inch.

 

Unkl Ian, those look like "test coupons" at least that is what they were called in the NYC certification test.

 

I was using the equipment that was in the shop, and NEVER GOT TO SEE the puddle while trying to MIG, can certified welders see the puddle? The "Orange County Choppers" closed eyes method of tack welding was always impressive.

 

for anything I wanna be dam sure doesn't crack, I use my home made welders...that includes sheetmetal, thick metal , aluminum, and stainless...

 

I like to read all the welding threads and those making their own headers,... but yet to read where anyone purges the inside of the tube....

 

Yes. I did my TIG tests with those, way back.
TIG root, with a 7018 cap. Yes, I passed.
And I used to machine them for the MIG tests at work.

 

That is why I specified "Done properly."

And NOTHING about OCC was done properly.

 

Isn't purging only required/expected when welding stainless steel? Without purging you get "sugaring" on the other side of the weld.

 

Tig is my thing!

 

correct, and with out it you get cracks...

 

That car that the young hippie type is leaning on, was all stick welded, ac buzzbox. I learned how to weld at 14, oxy-acetylene, then stick welding. Went to a welding school early 20s and relearned oxy-acetylene, stick, before moving on to mig, and a little bit of tig. Now, however, I predominantly use mig and tig, although my Lincoln machine is capable of stick. Last time I did, it was some rusty old steel that just needed to be stuck back together. Farmer's rod to the rescue...

 

Use which ever you are best at. If you are good it doesn't matter.

 

I learned to weld by gas welding. Then I graduated to stick and bought a brand new Lincoln tombstone arc welder. Welded the roll cages in our dirt track cars with that. When I opened my welding shop, I bought a new Miller mig. The old Lincoln tombstone is still around, I would get it out every so often to see if I still remembered how to weld with it, didn't take long to remember why I bought the mig. When time = money, arc is pretty slow compared to mig.

 

Unkl Ian, When you take the N.Y.C. welding certification they do not give you the test coupons back. I also passed, but swore that if I didn't pass I would never take the test again.

 

all i have at home is a miller thunder bolt buzz box. i found and use 7018 ac rods, they weld real nice like a dc rod.

 

It’s just a stock Model A frame that I’m working on. Changing the front crossmember, boxing and then whatever brackets I have to add, and probably build a crossmember for the rear radius rods.

I have the frame clamped to a square, level wood frame

 

How heavy is that wood frame? A model A frame could easily pull wood out of square.

 

1/8" and up I stick weld. Nothing more satisfying than seeing the slag peel back on its own.

 

2x6 with 2x4 joists 16” on center. I’ve checked the frame for level and square on it and it’s still nice. Racking the frame is something I’m worried about doing so I plan on quadruple checking and checking frequently… one of the local body shops has a frame table if something does happen though.

 

OP use the welder you make the best welds with in the position it will be in when you weld it .

If your good with a stick it will not make a lick of difference over a MIG .
a stick will have more splatter and need more clean up / slag removal .
I use 7018 on a stick on clean steel . keep it dry and warm once you open it .

I use a Miller 250 MIG most now on stuff like this .

Repairing a heavy car trailer last year I drug out the stick beacue it had long leads and I could reach in a few holes were a Tig nozzle would not and s stick works better in a area were there is wind blowing

 

I learned to weld with oxy/acetylene and then with stick. I have a mig now and use it for just about everything.

 

Oxy / acetylene is the best way to learn to weld. That’s what I did also, then stick. Finally tig specializing in s/ s sanitary pipe after five year apprenticeship.
Now I Tig everything!
MiG was just coming out when I retired. I hated it. I admit everything has its place.
Again I tig everything ! Well except some silver soldier torch work.

 

Same polarity, I cut and welded some spindle supports for my old shoebox and drove the thing for many years and never had issues with breaking apart. And when you live in the south the roads are horrible after the winter freezing and there’s potholes everywhere

 

Built my first 32 chassis in 1972 using an old Forney stick welder my father bought in the late 50's. I was fascinated with welding and welded every piece of scrap metal together I could find. All I had until the early 80's when I stated the chassis business. I bought a MIG about 1981 and did quite a few customer chassis with the MIG until the late 80's when I discovered TIG. I have never been able to TIG very good but was lucky to find a really good TIG man who welded all the Cornhusker chassis together after I fabed them for the next 40+ years. Still had the Forney but left it at the farm when we built the new house and shop near a larger town.

 

I learned to weld with oxy-acetylene and stick back in the '60's, then took a couple of welding classes as an apprentice millwright in the '70's. At that time all we used was stick; 6011, 6013, 7018, 11018, Jet Rod, and hard facing rod, whatever the job called for. Welded what seemed miles of furnace floors with Jet, then the rest of the structure with 7018, uphill and overhead. Toward the end, we were using Mig which sped up the process, but worked your ass off as you never had to stop to change a rod. Never used Tig at all.

I now have a Lincoln tombstone welder, a 110v. Mig and an older Lincoln Tig. On my cars I mostly use the MIG and Tig, though if I can't get the Mig gun or Tig torch into position I have no problem switching to stick to finish the job.

When I put the 9" rear end under my roadster I stick welded all the spring mounts, ladder bar brackets and shock mounts. That way I KNOW it's not going to fail...

If you're comfortable with stick welding do it.

 

Did production welding with one of these Lincoln rockets back in the day (late 60’s) after learning stick in college engineering class. These things would lay a beautiful bead with the right rod.


Had a Sears Craftsman buzz box at home for years and years, and used it on the HotrodA roadster. Looked like this


Bought my first Miller mig at Nats South in Knoxville in the 80’s and still have it.
Couple years later bought a Miller tig but don’t use it enough to be proficient. DUMB!

 

Built my first hot rod (my namesake: 38 Chevy with 454) using an AC buzzbox stick welder. I like to use 6011 rod for better penetration, or can use 7018AC rod. Regular 7018 the arc won't stay lit on AC. The 7018AC rod has stabilizers in the flux that help restart the arc, since on AC the arc is going back and forth (positive and negative) at 60 Hz. 6013 is nice for top pass on a multi-pass, but is less penetrating rod so be careful with thicker material. I prefer stick welding on thicker stuff, even though I now have a MIG and TIG. I need to practice on the TIG, I suck at it since I don't do it very often.

Just for info, official welding designation for stick welder is SMAW = shielded metal arc welding. MIG is GMAW = gas metal arc welding, and TIG is GTAW = gas tungsten arc welding. SMAW and GMAW have consumable electrode being the stick rod or spooled wire, respectively. If you use flux core wire in a MIG welder, that is FCAW = flux core arc welding. OK, so much for the welding technicality stuff. Any welding takes skill of the person doing the welding, and is likely the biggest variable in the process to make good quality welds.