Technical Stick welders, help me out please

Boy, that seems like overkill, but I’m not near the size of a wart on a stick guys ***.
Do shops have an oven going 24/7?

 

Yep welding up hill probably produces the best weld with 7018 ,7024 has to be welded flat or slightly down hill. As far as ac stick welders being junk I disagree ,while an ac/dc unit is definitely the best many can’t afford or don’t use a stick welder enough to justify the cost With practice and the correct rods an ac unit will produce acceptable welds Many farms ,ranch’s , small businesses have depended on ac welders for repairs for decades My failed downhill welds with 6013 was early in my career and I could make downhill welds look good I was more worried about looks than strength.
Merry Christmas all and happy welding, lots of good advice here
Dan

 

This is why, for me, it is better to figure out what rods I need for a particular project and then buy what I need at the local welding supply store. I have found that those blue plastic tubes with the screw on top with the neato rubber gasket don't keep the rods much better than storing them in a cabinet.. I also try not to buy rods from anyplace that doesn't move a lot of them (the local hardware store). Sure, I keep some miscellaneous stuff around for emergencies, but I like fresh rods for a "real" project.

 

Top of the picture toward the corner. Big round green thing. My rod oven holds 6 different kinds of rod, over 200 pounds, at 250 degrees. The small yellow can under the drill press is also a rod oven that holds 10 pounds. I carry it with me when I'm welding out in the weather. May be overkill, but I'm not introducing any hydrogen into a weld. Hydrogen from a moist welding rod will make a weld brittle.

 

Hey I like the project , what is the grille

 

Buy enough new rod for the job.
Aren't the 70 series rod low hydrogen rods and need to be treated as so in humid places?
My brother went through are local fitters union school and did that job for a bit, then he found his *** setting on the bench a lot of time and moved on to a different job of interest. I do remember him using some 70?? rod welding the rear end brackets on my 72 C10. He made me do a bunch of cleaning.
Man that was a long time ago.

 

Well I never said I wasn’t interested in the subject and I do agree that learning new skills via the HAMB is probably the most expedient way to do it. I was merely pointing out that some threads that don’t meet the HAMB requirements “disappear”.

Perhaps a re-read of my post is in order...

 

Chill out partner. I never claimed the be the best welder in the world, or even on my block. I was just hoping that sharing my experience might help someone a little. Thanks for letting me know my AC arc welder is a piece of junk. I will throw it into the trash immediately because of your advise. I bet you are a lot of fun at parties.

 

Not all arc welding rod welds the same. Go to Harbor Freight and get some 6011 and 7018 and compare it to an American brand at twice the cost and you will immediately notice the difference.

 

I got turned onto 7018 by a guy who re-tubed big industrial boilers. I never acted on it until I couldn't get the 6013 I had used forever. Building stock cars, it was 6013 almost all the way. My partner used 6011 when he really wanted to do some what he called serious "cooking".

 

Building race cars, we would go through a 5-lb package of rods fairly quickly. I could sometimes get the maintenance welder at work to give me a few sticks of jet wire, we used that right away. Now I use it right away, I get the smallest amount possible. My last was at HF, it came in a small tube. I might have used 4 sticks of it. In the past we would bake out old rods with mixed results.

 

I've been welding for 40 years now, and I've made some beautiful & strong welds. But, even today, I'm very capable of producing some God-awful stuff that makes me bust out the grinder and rip it all off! I have been around these guys that can weld water together and make it look like it belongs in the Louvre, but that ain't me! And, I'm no fun at parties, but 2 weeks ago I got paid a pile of dough to weld with someone else's AC stick welder, so that makes me a professional welder, right? Merry Christmas all you HAMBer's!

 

I was taught early on that welding is 2 things: Practice and being comfortable when welding. I have done some real textbook welds when it wasn't required. I did a rear bumper extension on a landscape truck that was incredible. I took a picture of it, who knows where that is?

The last I did was motor mounts on my Ford. Those came out great, but it was done with the parts held in a bench vise, in best conditions. With the stock cars, they had to p*** tech inspection, so we took care with those. Yet I still saw more than a few cars with gum-ball welds and some with bolts laid into them to cover gaps and blow-throughs.

 

Large shops do have rod ovens going 24-7 but 95% of shop welding is Mig, with Tig for the appearance welds.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2855582895...1291&msclkid=e109be420e21108551f1dbcb73c34e84

 

Get some help throwing it in the trash, wouldn't want to hurt your back

 

How about some pictures of those money-making welds as inspiration for the rest of us.

 

I will add if you use 7018 rod it only starts easy the first strike. After that I use a file and clean the flux off each start, or you can hit it hard to start it. But I have no training for welding, self taught. So I might be doing it all wrong Lol

 

Boys be nice it’s Christmas Not everyone can afford top shelf stuff so some of us have ac stick welders and mid grade migs when I was working we had the top line Lincoln tig/stick and Miller top MiG with spool gun in our shop made welding easier, did some beautiful stuff on aluminum with the Lincoln.Hey if you haven’t made an owl **** weld how would you ever learn to grind ?

 

My problem with welding is that I had 2 good friends who were excellent welders so I always defaulted to them for any serious welding. Unfortunately Ron p***ed and Rog moved out of state. That leaves me to bubble gum stuff that isn't structural or safety related. As the saying goes "just because you have a welder doesn't make you a welder" And yes, I have a Lincoln buzz box and Mig as well.

 

I have not done much stick welding in the last 30 years, but I sure burned a lot of rod the 10 years before that. I had one of the old Lincoln tombstone welders. Towards the end of that time frame, I burned a lot of 7018, but I started out with 6013. When I opened my own welding shop I bought a new Miller 251 (or was it a 250? I'd have to look at it again...) Mig. When you can watch (through the helmet) the flux roll off the stick weld bead behind you as you are welding, its a good weld.

Built a lot of dirt track roll cages (many field tested hard) with that old tombstone welder. About 5 years ago I gifted the old tombstone welder to my grandson.

 

Most handrails are pretty light material. If your machine is set hot enough, and you move fast enough, you can get away with it. I've welded a few miles of handrail using 3/32 7018 uphill. Tight arc, constant speed, constant motion.

 

Practice, practice, practice. It's the only way you get better. It's about hand/eye coordination and muscle memory.

 

Stick welding is the perfect name for it...strike an arc and the rod STICKS...try again and the ****ing rod STICKS again.
Me and my old Miller buzz-box have a love/hate relationship.
Thank God for MIG.

 

I'm a 6010 guy! I ran almost nothing but 6010 5P for pipeline repair work. I found it super easy to use, works great with light dirt/debris. I love me some red rod!

 

My most important welding tool is my angle grinder!

I’m getting better, but suspect the clock will run out before I can match some of the shots you guys are showing.

 

It's the strike and then lift just a little bit to the arc distance that takes practice. Once you get the tap and lift worked out it starts working way better. If sticking too much, maybe you need to bump the power up just a tad. After mastering the art of striking and maintaining the arc you can move on to watching and working the puddle.

 

I had a neighbor years ago that built a utility trailer. I drove up and he was standing with his buddies, admiring his work. The welds looked cold, he was using the Lincoln tombstone welder, same as what I use.

I asked him what he was using for amps, he said 100. I suggested cranking it up to 130 or 140. They just about fell on the ground laughing. I said, got any s****? Clamp 2 parts together and stand back. So he does and I forget if it was at 130 or 140, but I was able to show them what a weld should look like. No more laughing from the peanut gallery.

 

I ask the rookie that was helping me, to go get a couple boxes of 6011,, he came back much later, said there's no 6011 >>> but an awful lot of 1109......

 

i have a old miller thunder bolt ac machine. a long time ago i got away from and dropped all the different welding rods but the 3/32" & 1/8" 7018 ac rods and have never looked back, but i have weld for over 40 years.