Technical Stick welders, help me out please

I don’t arc weld that often and am not really good at it, but I need to do it tomorrow.
I can’t recall if 6011 or
6013 was an easier rod to start the arc?

I know one was, but 4/5 years later I don’t recall.
The only thing I do know for sure is how to weld it once it’s burning

 

It would have more to do with what you are wanting to weld.
6011 is a general purpose rod for mild steel.
Use 6013 if it is sheet metal.

 

AC or DC?

 

Twenty8 is correct.
When starting an arc, be sure you tuck your rod holding arm and elbow against your side and keep it there. it gives you steadiness when striking an arc and allows you to maintain it.

 

AC Miller. Will try to explain. 1 inch thick to 1 inch thick.
Part of a grader blade to arms from a Ridger. The arms will support the work the blade does. Ie “push it” as I’m pulling it.
I’ve used both rods in the past, just recall one was easier to start the arc easier than the other.
Figured I’d ask the general question instead of chipping off slag

 

6011 has deeper penetration but you don't get as pretty a bead as you do with 6013.
6011 for heavier metal, 6013 for lighter metal.

 

I find 6013 much easier to start. I find that you have to use a higher amperage setting with it, because it has less penetration than 6011. Then again, I don’t usually weld anything an inch thick.

 

In my younger day's I had a side job repairing heavy drill rig equipment and used mostly E7018. Low Hydrogen and higher strength. One inch thick material usually needs proper joint prep and multiple passes.

 

^^^^^This

 

"V" and fill.....

 

1” thick metal needs to be beveled.
Start with a root pass ie.. a thin bead to just fill the 1/8” gap needed at the root.
Then weld single beads without weaving.
Single beads won’t trap slag. Multi pass all beads until your bevel is full.
The best welder is a better grinder. Clean well between passes.
And above all… that thing is going to warp.
Weld supports to prevent warpage.
Ignore dimensions below.

 

I would use 6011 for the first pass grind smooth remove all slag and the another pass or two with 6011 then use 7018 ac rod to finish.
How many amps is your welder 1 inch of weld is a lot . If you could use 1/4 inch 6011 rod at around 250 amps and 3/16 inch 7018 ac rod at 250 or more amps This would help minimize the number of passes required. Reading your post not sure if you’re welding 0.1” to 1” or 1” to 1” if welding 0.1 to 1 inch you could use 1/8 rod with good results. Back to ease of starting arc 6013 is easy welding just not as deep penetrating or generally as strong of weld as 6011. 7018 is a higher tensile strength rod and makes a good looking bead. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

Yes good info. I forgot to mention the bevels and the gap for the root pass

 

6011 is what beginners will use , it is an easy rod to start with.
The best rod I used as a newbie was cronatron 333.

 

A good fast fill rod is Lincoln Jetweld 7024 makes a beautiful bead and builds fast

 

I think back to my mid teens on the farm and my dad got a new Forney welder. I practiced and practiced and got really good. Built my first few chassis with that stick welder. 60 years later before we moved from the farm I went out to the machine shed with some scrap, fired up the Forney and about all I could do was continuously stick the rod to the scrap. Decided I'd been Mig & Tig welding to long. Left the Forney behind when I moved.

 

1 inch sounds thick hope you have a good machine. Is this weld just to hold a replaceable blade?

 

The welder at the dairy I worked at years ago referred to 6011 as farmer rod. He used it for damn near everything.

 

For putting 2 pieces of 1 inch together V'd out 45 degrees on each plate and on a piece of heavy equipment like
that, I would use 1/4 inch 7024 rod and run it at about 250 to 300 amps.
The 7024 rod is an iron powder rod and will fill a lot faster than others. You can run it with a very short arc.

 

6011 will run good on your AC machine. 6013 is less penetrating and may run little smoother, but I would recommend the 6011 to help ensure better weld strength. On an AC machine you need 7018AC rod if you want to go with that, which is a great choice. Std 7018 rod will not keep the arc. The 7018AC rod has arc stabilizers that help since in AC the arc is going back and forth, at 60 cycles per second. Std 7018 just won't run on AC.

If you are really welding 1 inch thick material, do some preheating and it will help your weld penetration a lot. Hotter the better, but being 1 inch thick you will probably be limited in how hot you can get it.

 

https://www.wcwelding.com/support-files/arc-welding-rod-chart.pdf.

To answer your question, 6011 is a good AC welding rod for a AC machine and is easy to start without sticking the electrode.
I would use a DC machine if given the choice but 6011 will work with what you've got.

 

If you can turn your project so that all the welds are flat....

LynnW

 

Yes preheat before and during welding on that thick of material.

Prevention of warpage

 

Well. The Ridger holds two blades. (To make a levee ) I’m going to take the blades (basically disc blades) off and on the “arms” that held them weld the grader blade to it.
So realistically it gets it support from the arms behind the blade, the weld will hold the blade in place.
Was trying just to get my memory jogged on the rod.
I do have 7018 as well for an AC machine.
Thanks all.

Edit: my Miller on the high side is 200 as I recall. But that won’t be a concern for this.
Yes, the blade is 1 inch and the arms are 1x3. I’ll be welding to the narrow side on the arms, had planned to bevel them. But won’t do anything but grind the area to weld on the blade.
It will last longer than me, heck, if I could reach things with my wire welder, I’d use it without concern.

 

My weld will be similar to A that you posted, where the arrow on the left is pictured. Where it (arm) meets the blade, I’ll grind the edge of the arm.
Since this will be well off the ends of the blade, preheating would be fairly tough to do.

 

E-6011 and E-6013 have the same strength.

E stands for electrode

The first two numbers in stick electrode are the tensile strength 60 stands for 60,000 P.S.I.
70 would is 70,000 P.S.I.

The third number is weld position 1 is all position. 2 flat only

Last number Flux type, and current

 

Not trying to piss anyone off and I know this thread is about welding but...one inch thick material and on some industrial sounding machinery doesn’t really sound like HAMB material to me....

Carry on before it gets noticed by the MAN!

 

It’s all good! I didn’t want to really go in to what I was doing, it had been so long since I arc welded, I just wanted clarity on which rod started easier.

 

Not to piss anyone off, but sometimes when you need a correct answer fast, you go to the best source for getting that answer as fast as possible. The HAMB is one of those places.

Though the actual details are not HAMB specific (the thickness of the material) the information transfers across many HAMB friendly needs, and may provide needed info for someone on their HAMB related project.

We are just guys helping other guys. If the topic is not of interest to you, you don't have to read it past the point where you know it doesn't apply to your narrow interests.

 

Amen Gene!