Stick welding— OJT begins

[Bkeepr]

Practiced a couple dozen or so beads on some old steel plate, changing stick sizes and two different types, as well as amps. Tried Red Dave’s brick method, and it does help with starting an arc.

My first project is one I would normally knock out with my wire feed, because it was thin—something like 22 or 24 gauge. But since 8 of the 10 original factory welds had completely failed, and the remaining 2 were cracking, I figured I couldn’t do worse.

It was the input chute for my old chipper, which will do 3” branches. I spent a lot of time on prep, cleaning clamping and grinding the old welds. Bottom line is 8 of my 10 are fully functional, if not pretty, and the other two are still better than the broken ones they replaced.

The project I bought the welder for is replacing the ends on the hydraulic lift arms on my Ferguson. 2” wide, 1/2” thick, and they have to carry a load. So I am not yet confident I can do that kind of thing yet, I really need a couple more practice jobs before I tackle the big one.

Anyway, thanks for the help and info y’all have given me. I am really enjoying this 80+ year old new toy!

[PHPaul]

As you no doubt know, prep is key.

When you get ready to do the lift arms, V them out VERY deeply >< and get a "full penetration" weld. Tack both sides and lay at least three beads on each side, alternating so they don't pull out of shape.

I'd also practice with some 7018 and use that for the welds, vice 6011. More tensile strength.

[Bkeepr]

Thanks, Paul. I was planning on 6011, but will spring for the 7018 for this job.

Holding it together at the right angle is one of my worries. The Ferguson ends are slightly bent inward, so I can’t just lay it out flat since I want to duplicate the original. Starting to think about buying a cheap welding table, but I can hear my Mrs rolling her eyes already!

[GeneMO]

Your welds will look better if you put on that funny looking cap. The thing with the dark tinted lens.

Gene

PS. I agree on grinding out a good "vee" on those lift arms. After getting it veed out, brushed off, and tacked in place, I would run one weld, then if you are not in a hurry, wait fifteen minutes ( let it cool some) and run another one. I don't think you could possibly take the temper out of those arms, but no sense pushing it. Good luck, Gene

[Jim_in_RP]

I was planning on 6011, but will spring for the 7018 for this job.
Starting to think about buying a cheap welding table, but I can hear my Mrs rolling her eyes already!

Not very long ago when I was still welding I had a very good roll-a-round welding table. You got a welder, so why don't build a welding table they're not that hard or expensive as long as you got scrap iron laying around. When I built mine, I had some pretty good size casters for the roll around part. I had to buy the angle, some 3/8 flat plate at the junkyard for the table top. I had a 5 inch bench vise left over when I tore the bench out of the garage. My roll-a-round welding table, not only holds my welder. It holds my oxygen acetylene tanks, welding gloves and helmets, two different sizes of 6011 and two different sizes of 7018. The welding table top, along with the vice was bolted down with a branch cable from the welder, so anything laid on the table top or put in the vice is already grounded to the welder. I put on a 8 foot power cord going to a 4 x 4 box that contains a light switch. That controls 1/2 of the double gang plug bolted to the side of the table. The welder is plugged into the switch controlled side of the double gang plug in the other side is wired in hot. The welder is plugged into the switch control side for easy access to turn the welder on/off without screwing with the welder's on off switch. That leaves one plug-in that can be used for drills, a hot air gun and ... The best part about the whole thing is that rolls around really easy. I can lay work on the table top and it's already grounded or you can put a piece in the vice and it's already grounded. My standby generator is big enough to handle the house and the welder at the same time. The power company here is extremely unreliable. The standby generator is almost a necessity for that reason. As long as you have a welder and a chopsaw. Any table design changes are easy to do.
My two centavos,

[Bkeepr]

Guys: thanks for the great suggestions, there’s some here that I did know, and some I suspected, but each of you also added something to my knowledge that will prove helpful…and I thank you for preparing me for it.

These couple of welding threads are perfect examples of what y’all bring to the site—useful help when someone needs it! Thanks again…and keep the hints coming, please!

[Red Dave]

I second the motion for 7018 rods. I think you will be pleased with how much smoother your welds will be with 7018 vs 6011.

I know I was.

[Bkeepr]

Thanks. I picked up the 7018 rods this morning. Now I just need to set aside some time to run some beads with them.

So far I've used 6011 and 6013...my welds look better with the 6013, but I get the feeling they're not as deep in thicker metal as the 6011. I knocked apart a couple of joints to see how they looked from the side. Doing that I also learned how important it is to chip off the slag between multiple passes...I could see porous welds in subsequent passes that I didn't see in the initial pass.

Lots of learning going on!

[Red Dave]

My understanding of things is that the 6011 has deeper penetration than 7018, but it spatters a LOT more and looks ugly. My experience is that at least the greater spatter is true, can't speak to the penetration angle. I use a needle gun on welds to get them clean of the slag.

Also, in my personal experience, 7018 makes a much nicer looking weld. No data comparison on strength or penetration.

If it was me, and this is just my idea, I'd make a deep Vee and run a couple passes of 6011 in the bottom, them finish with a layer of 7018.

Keep in mind that I have a degree in electronics, not welding. You may want to run that idea past a real welder before implementing.

[PHPaul]

What Red Dave said. I should have mentioned it.

6011 root passes with 7018 cover passes is a common welding practice. I watched a licensed pipefitter do that on a repair.

Also, using a needle gun to remove slag is good practice. Does a more complete job of removing slag AND peens the weld to relieve stresses. Wirebrush after needling and a blast of air to remove dust before the next pass.

I watch a couple of guys on YouTube that weld for a living and this is their practice.

Curtis at Cutting Edge Engineering - https://www.youtube.com/@CuttingEdgeEngineering

This guy in Texas - https://www.youtube.com/@ICWeld