[TheForge] Stick welding

Wed May 30 15:41:57 EDT 2007

Aubrey writes:
"Mikey, your comments about welding skill are interesting.  The auto darkening
hood did a lot to improve some of my stick welding problems; I start on target
and stick the rod less frequently.  But, I still make ugly welds with porosity
and slag inclusions.  Not blaming the tools, but would that improve some if I
had a DC welder (all else being equal)?  I know I need to improve my ability to
maintain a consistent arc length and travel speed."

A great deal of what people consider as 'facts' about welding are only what I
call limited truths. These 'facts' often have the same relation to reality as
the pronouncements of reporters after recycling what a doctor or some other
expert has stated on a subject they are covering. Most welding myths are spawned
in welding schools; not deliberately mind you, but rather as impressions formed
by students, who are given rigid procedural limits; these are necessary for
producing certified welders.

DC machines are a lot better than AC power sources for all stick welding, even
with AC rated filler rods. On the other hand, even before special AC welding
rods started being sold for low hydrogen (ex., 7018) welding applications, it
was possible to do excellent work with 7018 rod on an AC machine by tuning its
current setting to a "sweet spot" where the rod would run smoothly, and
accommodating travel speed to the amperage rather than adjusting both amperage
and speed to circumstances. The secret in doing so lies in "choking" the arc.
New dry low hydrogen rod can be welded (at ten to twenty amps higher than
standard recommendations) by actually touching the weld bead--not with the metal
filler rod itself--but rather with the rod's lime based covering flux. When
amperage and travel speed are right, the flux will melt away just before
breaking (it sort of half melts and half crumbles), so that even out of position
work can be successfully accomplished "breaking all the rules."

#6013 was originally created as a down-hand (more accurately down-slope) AC
sheet metal rod. Scathingly known as "mud rod", it is infamous for slag
inclusions and porosity. However, if the amperage is turned up sufficiently to
end up with red hot stubs (if stub isn't red hot amperage is too low, if the rod
melts in half amperage is too high), this undervalued rod can be used on a DC
machine to produce welds very similar to those of 7014. In fact I used such rod
to penetrate standing water, tar, and plastic based paint while welding deck
cleats on an old Navy barge that was being converted for use by the fishing
fleet in Alaskan waters. The welding proceeded without a hitch, and I never
heard any complaint about the cleats breaking afterward. Years later, the weld
store manager who told me about this trick flatly denied he'd ever said any such
thing :-)

So, perhaps someone might want to try the same trick with an AC machine.

The standard AC welding rod is #6011. Known as the fitter's friend, I have
worked in shipyards where this rod was not allowed through the gate because it
was so abused by armatures. However, by turning amperage up a little high and
choking the arc, it will give results similar (but not quite equal to) #6010. No
pipe welder leans how to run a successful root bead with #6010, unless he/she
has first learned how to choke the arc.

Does all this tell you something about whether you will do best holding long
arcs or short ones? If not, I could go on to discuss survival methods when you
are experiencing "blow-by." In other words, just like spending time learning to
"flip the hood" before trying to learn how to tap start a weld bead, learning to
habitually hold a short arc is often what separates the survivors from the guys
who "go down the road" when welding projects get tough.

If you want to quickly learn the differences between practical and certified
welding,
pick up a copy of the Forney Arc Welding Manual, which gives an excellent
overview of practical welding for farm tool repair. While you are practicing
what it teaches, pick up a copy of New Lessons in Welding from Lincoln Welding
Co., which gives the best advice for quickly learning certified welding
techniques.

It is a pity that welding schools cannot teach anything other than certified
welding methods, but this limit is also a practical reality. Just remember that
the people who wrote the rules where experimental welders in the first place.

Mikey

________________________________

From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net on behalf of Kathy
Sent: Sat 5/26/2007 12:39 PM
To: artgawk at thegrid.net; 'Sponsored by ABANA'
Subject: RE: [TheForge] Inverters & MIG Welders

Washington, Aubrey O. wrote:
> Thanks, Terry.  But, I need something easier to use than my AC tombstone, not
harder.  I'm not a great welder.

I have always had lousy "hand-eye" coordination, and vision problems to boot,
but I was Top Gun in my welding class. There is a popular saying: "It's a poor
workman who blames his tools." The truth of the matter is quite different; a
workman is no better than his tools--and his understanding of them. Being a top
flight welder is about knowledge, and not about being Superman. Anyone can be a
great welder if he or she is given proper directions. To get those directions,
we simply need to ask the right questions AND KEEP ON ASKING THEM UNTIL WE
RECEIVE AN H-O-N-E-S-T ANSWER instead of the standard self congratulating BS.
:-))) My personal favorite example of misdirection was a guy who tried to tell
me that I couldn't learn to weld because my eyes were green, and "everyone knows
that only brown eyes are dark enough to protect you from the glare," leaving no
question in my mind as to why his eyes were brown.  Welding is not rocket
science; it's more like ditch digging. Of course, after mastering it, we should
be sure to maintain the lies about "hand-eye" coordination, etc. when a boss is
trying to evaluate our worth.

For instance, what are the two first stumbling points a welding student
encounters?
(1) They don't take the mere ten minuets practice holding the rod 1/4" from a
target, while repeatedly flipping their hood down, which would insure that they
do well when they try actually tap starting the rod on a work piece. And so, all
further efforts are hampered. Even rods that are usually scratch started must be
tap started in some situations--ask any pipe welder just how important absolute
control when starting a weld is. Today, we have auto-darkening welding hoods,
which make knowing how to "flip the hood" unnecessary. However, if you use
auto-darkening welding hoods to replace that knowledge, you had better also
install an ADC (auto-darken cartridge) in your sock hood too.

(2) Novice welders have considerable trouble holding the rod steady while
building up endurance. However, most of their troubles come from the unconscious
habit of gripping the rod holder tighter in response to nervousness generated
during the learning curve. A heavy rubber band (the kind used as a marker on
your local welding supply dealer's gas cylinders, hint, hint), or the
installation of two snap buttons on the welding glove (try Harbor Freight for a
cheap set of installation tools), will help remind the student to grip the rod
holder lightly, using the wrist to control movement NOT THE FINGERS. This little
trick can take months off your learning curve. On the down side, you will not be
able to explode an egg all over the walls and ceiling when someone sets it in
you hand and says "squeeze it closed if you can" (your choice as to which is the
more important goal). As to building arm strength, professional welders use aids
like whips (light weight lengths of welding lead about 12 Ft. long with their
own rod holder and end connector) when doing lots of overhead or vertical work.
They also bend welding rods into an "S" shape, and suspend the last few feet of
lead from them, or if no better opportunity presents itself, the lead is draped
over a shoulder, so that only a small part of its weight must be born by the
crafty, lazy, welder type person :-)

Everything else about welding has an easy and a hard way, including how well you
can see what you're doing. This one is a real biggy, yet it seems to be almost
completely ignored by novice and professional alike.
Mikey   
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net on behalf of Terry
> Sent: Fri 5/25/2007 2:48 PM
> To: Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Inverters & MIG Welders
>
>
>
> And then there's a third option - buy another welder!  In this case,
> it would be the ReadyWelder.  It is designed to run off 1, 2, or 3
> batteries depending on the thickness of the metal.  It's popular with
> the off-road crowd.  And judging from the web site, it's used by NATO
> troops.  I've got one, and am still trying to get the hang of
> it.  (I'm running mine off a stick / TIG machine and the voltages are
> rather high.)
>
> Terry
>
> At 12:12 PM 5/25/2007, you wrote:
>> There are a couple routes to portable welding that are a lot less
>> likely to damage your vehicle. Buy a generator with the capacity to
>> run your welder would be my first choice. Second (by quite a ways)
>> is buy a welder alternator for the truck It's a replacement
>> alternator that will double as a welder. They're expensive to buy
>> and repair though.
>>
>> Come to think of it I'd rent a portable welder before having one of
>> the welder alternators installed.
>>
>> Frosty
>> -------------------------------
>> If it ain't forged
>> it ain't real.
>> Wrought iron is.
>> The FrostWorks
>>
>> Meadow Lakes, AK.
>
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