Technical How many people stick weld frames?

Absolutely.
When we were doing welding tests at work, everyone had the same big $$$ Miller welders,
the same filler wire, and the same gas. Most people passed on the first or second try.
There were 2 guys, who failed 5 or 6 times in a row. When I machined the backer off their test pieces,
the cracks in the root pass were obvious to the naked eye. These pieces would not bend, they snapped.
100% the fault of the operator. Eventually, they were fired.
Yes, the place was a joke.

 

Almost anyone who doesn't weld professionally will try to weld with not enough amperage. Turn the heat up and move faster. Constant speed and constant motion.

 

I bought this Forney from a Trucking company in the early 90's and with the right rod it will handle any serious welding you need to do.

If your shop electrical system can handle the amps it can weld about anything with the right guy using it. How clean and nice the welds are all depend on the skill of the guy using it.
Under 1/8=3/16 I'll use the mig as it is easier to dial it in to weld right than it is with the Forney. Over that it sometimes depends on if there is a breeze blowing because the mig is useless with a breeze going on.
If you are over 60 you probably only saw a mig welder in AG shop in high school up into the 90's. Even then it may have been a three phase unit. You still learned with a stick and graduated to mig.
The big thing with stick that some of the younger guys can't seem to handle is that you have to chip the slag away every once in a while if you don't get the machine dialed in so the slag will actually curl up behind the weld.

 

I TIG weld my frame with a stick machine. Does that count?

 

Did plenty of stick 6010 first two passes , cap was 7018. I get calls all the time “can you stop by and weld something for me ? “ My question is what type of machine do you own ? AC stick has welded many of projects together , nothing wrong with it , if that is what you have . My go to today is a 250 amp Lincoln wire machine , aluminum and steel , 200 amp tig Miller . The tig requires a lot of concentration and coordination it’s by far the best welds one can make . My tig is ok for short run thin material , long thick material not so much , I have no cooler on the torch . Preparation of the surface to be welded is your best friend . DO NOT ever clean the surface with Brake Clean and try to weld it . Research this process , it’s a long warning , that one should decide for themselves as to use it or not . Always wear the best protection possible , including top of your head . Cancer is a killer and usually this type will not let you know it has arrived until it’s too late to recover .

 

Yes I know about phosgene poisoning from the brake cleaner. The machine I have now is a DC inverter. It’ll run 6011 but not 6010. I learned on an old AC tombstone

 

My Grand father & father could
Gas & stick weld bean cans ,
But both could not , Mig or Tig.

Me I can /do Tig , Mig & Braze ,

I can Not Stick weld @ all , I can barely get a tac weld ,, I Do not get it !

Must be true , Milk man kid !!

 

try again... drag to start, the good thing about stick is you can burry the rod deep in the crack...penetration is what gets the job done...rub your rod softy across the crack and then stuff it... it'll fall right in

 

years ago I used to stick weld with a rod and coat hangers on sheet metal.... now I just use my homemade welders...life is but a dream...

 

As a teen in the '60s with limited tools I made a frame for my roadster by drilling holes along the cut line on a Shopsmith, then enlarging the holes until the tube broke apart, then grinding the edge on a bench grinder and welding it all together with an AC buzz box. Seemed to hold up OK. Its still on the road. 131 mph in the quarter too.

 

Looks like I’m going to stick weld it and I’ll run some test welds on scrap so that I can make sure it’s all running right before I touch the frame.

 

Before stick , oxy acetylene torch was the only way for home welding , mostly farm machinery

 

Lot less clean up with Mig than with stick. I boxed and Z'd a frame recently and did a lot of bracing on the inside of the frame. First time I used a stick weld in many years. It was handy for getting inside the frame to attach some of the bracing..........then I used my Mig for the outside welds. Both will work for you, its more about which you prefer.


Note: The decision to Z the frame was made quite a while after the frame was boxed, so internal bracing was put inside to insure strength even tho it was boxed. Overkill most likely, but wanted to be sure it was very strong.

 

When I was a kid, I watched Dad weld on the frame of his 33 tudor with a buzzbox like the Sears unit above. The body work was all done with oxy-acetylene.

When I was about ten he taught me how to weld with the torch. But I have never used a stick welder to this day. At twelve my Dad bought a MIG and that was used on most everything after that.

About twenty years ago Dad bought a TIG and I tried it out. I’ve never looked back. In fact I never even owned my own MIG until two years ago when I bought one just for the ease of one-handed tacking. Or when I need to weld up some rusty junk. But still no stick welding.

 

I’m a better grinder than a welder

 

Anti Spatter Spray is your friend.
Plan B = Liquid soap. Works better, but takes more effort to wash off.

Summer of '88, my first job after I got my Tool & Die license:
They had a machine that broke every month like clock work. EVERY month.
Maintenance Dept would take it apart, weld it back together, and it was "good" for another month.

My boss gives me the job. The piece that kept breaking was a custom weldment, that was repaired poorly.
It needed a male thread, so they had used a large bolt, with the necessary pieces added.
By now the thread was pretty ugly because of all the arc welding spatter.

I cut the piece apart, throw away most of it. Found a new bolt, machined up the rest of the pieces.
Arc welding was the only option, but I was working on my TIG Pipe ticket in night school, so no problem.
I used liquid soap on the threads, to protect from spatter.

Since I was still new there, I felt a little pressure to prove myself.
Everyone was watching.
Took me a little longer than the usual "repairs" to do it properly.
The part looked beautiful, and it never broke again.

 

Just a suggestion. You don't mention if your new crossmembers are round or square. Either way, after you get it all tacked up, start on either the front or back side of the crossmember. Make matching welds on both sides, then move to the opposite side of the crossmember and do the same. If you do that, you limit the amount that the frame moves.

 

it’s one of the So cal speed shop/ Roadster supply rivet in crossmembers. I don’t think the rivet holes line up with an A frame so I figured I’d measure it out. Tack it and then weld the rivet holes as a plug weld doing one side than the other, and then I could finish all the rest in the same manor.

 

Distortion can also be influenced, by how well your parts fit together.
The bigger the gaps, the bigger the chance of distortion.

Needed to make a subassembly for a machine, top and bottom had to be perfectly parallel when complete.
Machined all the pieces, clamped it together, and gave it to our welder.
He knew his stuff, certified all position and High Pressure.
The plan was to finish machine the assembly after welding.
It took less than .005" to clean it up.

 

Very true and I should have mentioned it. When we were building trailers, we bought enough material for several units and had the tubing manufacturer cut all the parts to our specs. That way, we knew we were going to end with a squared product. With the exception of my son's trailer, of course.

 

I learned to weld in JC in 1969. Learned classic stick and Oxy/acetylene welding. I now have a 110A wire feed welder and classic Lincoln 220A buzz box. My wire feed won't penetrate enuf to go over about 1/8" so I stick weld everything over that. Unless you have a big wire feed, stick is the only way to go for reliable welds in anything thicker than 1/8". I still do a lot of gas too; headers, brazing, etc.

 

That's exactly why Non-chlorinated brake cleaner exists. It's all you'll find in my shop.

 

Beveling and pre heat can help.
But never risk more than you can afford to lose.

 

When I was young, everything was stick welded. If you are capable, that is satisfactory. I have seen way more bad welds with mig than anything else. My choice is tig and that's almost all I use. I used to use a torch for sheet alum but haven't needed to do that in 30 years. Trying to tell someone with a stick welded that they aren't good enough yet isn't easy. Not everyone intends to improve their skills.

 

Everything I weld gets stick welded. Only for exhaust and sheetmetal below 1/8 does the wire welder begrudgingly get turned on.

As long as you do a good job it doesn't really matter what process you use. A tiny little 120v HF wire welder would do the job but you'd go mad from all the beveling and grinding and multi-passing you'd have to do.

 

So true. Practice and more practice will produce positive results. At 80, I am blessed with good eyesight, muscle memory and function. When any one of them goes away, I'll know it's time to stop. I won't like it, but I'll do it.

 

How many pieces of Ag equipment go more than 15 mph? Been to lots of farm auctions, seen really good & real shitty welds

 

That's what she said! ..and it's a great technique for welding also

 

With a string to the carb my fathers Farmal A would clear 15 mph, not even a sweat on a bicycle. Boy did I catch hell from my brother. Hooked up a 200 amp aircraft generator to the A's pto and went to town DC stick welding stuff. I was about 13 and had just learned how [AC Tombstone] in HS metal shop by an older kid. Went to town in metal shop welding anything for anybody. Eventually I could weld in any direction with my Tombstone at home. I learned TIG at work and later so I could weld Aluminum at home I added High Frequency and Argon gas to my Tombstone, worked pretty darn good. I bought a AC/DC Tig/Stick in 1996. Some where around 2010 I bought a Mig, harder for me to learn than stick! . A few years ago I built a car port, used both the stick and mig. It had been so long since I stick welded anything I had to practice as the welds were horizontal and overhead. I did vertical with the Mig using Argon/Co2 mix. Somewhere in the long time ago I got oxy/acet and brazed alot of cast iron, got pretty good at deep sump oil pans.. Pizza is here

 

November 1955 HRM cover.