[TheForge] Stick welding

[Jeffrey Polaski]

Even if it was written half a century ago it still has value, even if
you are learning on your own. I have certainly found it useful in
practice.

I'm certainly not a great welder, or an instructor, but I've welded a
fair amount in class, and still weld occasionally on my own. It's still
important to pay attention to the sound made while welding. It might not
be obvious that *this* particular sound is like bacon, *that* sound is
like air escaping... But that doesn't mean it's not valuable. After
enough time practicing people figure it out -- they have an Aha! moment:
"That's what they mean by bacon frying..."



Jeff Polaski

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Kathy
Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 7:51 AM
To: 'Sponsored by ABANA'
Subject: RE: [TheForge] Stick welding

Frosty,
When I was in welding school we were taught that 7018 sounded like
frying bacon
if the cable polarity was correct. After becoming used to the sounds of
7018 on
correct polarity versus wrong polarity, I noted the sound as barely
reminiscent
of frying bacon. Probably all such advice has some value in retrospect,
but not
as a guide during the learning curve. This kind of advice is given by
writers
and instructors who are parroting instructions written half a century
before, to
students with a different mind set, who could be easily coerced into
nodding
their assent (shutting their yaps) and privately doing their best to
conform.

This isn't WW2, and today's welding students are very different; welding
advice
should be updated to suit the time and place.
Mikey

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of Jerry Frost
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 12:57 PM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Stick welding

There've been a lot of good tips so far and listening 
to the arc is high on the list. The sound will depend 
on what you're doing though. DC should sound more like 
an air escaping hiss than frying bacon. AC should sound 
like gently frying bacon. Crackling in any case isn't 
good.

While you're practicing with pencil/pen and paper hold 
it with a pair of pliers for the full effect.

Frosty
-------------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.

http://www.artmetalradio.com/

From: "Jeffrey Polaski" <jeff.polaski at rgs.uci.edu>


Here are a couple of tips I picked up in welding 
class...

First, pay attention to the *sound* while you are 
welding... It's hard
to describe over email, but you want to get a sound 
like bacon frying.

Second, practice making the correct hand motions with a 
pen and paper.
The idea is to train your hand to make the right 
motions. If you are
using a crescent shape, just fill up a page or two with 
that shape using
a pen and paper. Lock your wrist and try to hold the 
pen like you would
an electrode. After doing that, switch to using the 
electrode without
any power. Just make the motions to get familiar with 
the feel of it.
The book "Modern Welding" does a good job explaining 
this

Third, try welding to failure... Be prepared to 
sacrifice some scrap and
dial it up a few notches *higher* than you should. See 
what happens when
you weld *through* your practice piece. It will give 
you a much better
idea of what the settings should be.

I don't weld much, but those tips helped out in class.

Jeff Polaski