Arc (Stick) Welding Tips

[rbattelle]

I'm in the process of teaching myself arc welding. I'm sort of stuck on step 1: striking the arc. :-laf My electrode keeps sticking. I'm using a 70-amp AC welder and 1/8" mild steel electrode. I'm thinking maybe 1/8" is too big for just a 70-amp welder?



At this point I'm meerly trying to practice striking an arc and making an even bead. I'm not concerned with penetration yet, and I'm not actually welding anything to anything; I'm just trying to make beads along a flat steel plate (1/4" thick). Is it foolish to try to make beads on a 1/4" steel plate at low amperage, in an attempt to just deposit a bead on the surface? Would I be better served by a much thinner piece of metal to practice on?



Any tips would be much appreciated. I did learn a bit brazing and wire-feed welding some years back, so I'm not a complete infant to the world of welding.



-Ryan

 

[Turbo1Ton]

I haven't done a whole lot of arc welding but that sounds like pretty low on the amperage. I think I have typically been at about 120 amps or so when welding with 1/8" 7018? rod (can't remember exactly, not my setup, my brother in law's place. )



Edit - that was on 1/4" + steel. We were building a bale spike at that time. That was the last time I used a buzz box.

 

[Hoefler]

90 amps is low for the experienced welder using 1/8" rod. For sheet metal use 3/32" rod. With that rod and the steel you are using, you should be around 115-120 amps. Which rod are you using?? A good all around rod to use is 6011, you can weld right through a grease puddle with it. I prefer 7014 or 7018. The 18 is low hydrogen and the surface needs to be clean. I like the 14 for welding upside down, it doesn't spatter as bad as the 11, but if you are a little dirty, scalley, or a little oily, the 11 is the best for the job. Incedentaly, the 60 or 70 stand for the weld strength and the 11, 14, and 18 are the flux coating desegnations

 

[Paychk]

Rule of thumb for amps; 1 amp for ever . 001" so a 1/8" rod equals 125 amps. 3/32" = 90-95 amps

 

[rbattelle]

Great advice! Thanks, guys. Unfortunately, my el-cheapo junker arc welder has a maximum amperage of 70. By Paychk's rule, then, I need to go with 1/16" rod and crank the machine almost all the way up.



Hoefler, the rods I was using were 6013's, which happens to be the only type made as small as 1/16".



This is what you get when you use garbage equipment.



-Ryan

 

[nickleinonen]

buy a small pack of 3/32" rods and try them out [can be cheaper than 1/16" or 5/64"]... your little buzzbox should get it to work, but you will not get very much penitration. i've welded pretty decent welds with 1/8" @ 90a, but very little penitration [but a pretty weld though] most of the time i use about 90-100a with 3/32" and 100-130 with 1/8" [7018 rod 90% of the time]. the thinnest i usually have to weld with a stick is 1/2" sch 80 pipe, which is about 1/8" thick. the thickest i have welded recently is 1" plate with 1/8" rod making many passes to fill in the V of the joint...

Incedentaly, the 60 or 70 stand for the weld strength and the 11, 14, and 18 are the flux coating desegnations

partly right... with mild steel rods, the first 2 [or 3 with over 100,000psi rods] is the rod strength in psi. the second last number is the position of the rod [1=all position, 2=flat/horozontal, 3=vertical] and the last number is the flux coating/classification [0,1,2,3,4,7,8]



mcmaster has a pretty good list of the different rods and their properties

 

[DValentine]

nick is on track. Ryan, 3/32 7018 is about all you can run with your welder. 1/8 rod is running to cold at that amperage, and its a wonder you got any rods to light up. When starting out, practicing starts, its easier to run the machine a little hotter.



Thermal Dynamics makes a neat little welder called the dragser 85..... it runs on 110 volts and will burn 3/32 7018 very well. It weighs less than a case of beer and I think it sells for under 350 dollars. Miller makes a compariable machine for a couple hundred more.



good luck



Dave

 

[wolfman00hd]

In regards to one of your first questions, when I was being taught back in the day there are two easy ways to strike that arc, once you get the correct electrode and amperage. You can do a quick "tap" on your welding surface to get the arc started, being careful once it arcs, not to pull your rod too far off the surface and extinguish the arc. The second that I always use is the "drag" method. I usually place my electrodes in the stinger in the 45 degree position. I just drag the electrode along the surface starting before where I want to start the bead/puddle. By the time I get there, the arc is going and I'm not risking having the tip too far off the metal for it to go out.



Just my . 02

 

[rbattelle]

Success!! Thanks to you guys, I've achieved success at striking an arc and making the world's ugliest beads!



TSC stocked 1/16" 6013 and 6011 rods, and I picked up some 3/32 6011 too. The 1/16 I've had success striking at close to 70 amp. Now I just need to practice consistent striking - definetly a fine art. Once I can get consistent strikes, I'll move on to improving my bead.



When those little 1/16" rods stick at 70 amp they light up like a lightbulb filament! Kind of scarry, actually.



-Ryan

 

[DValentine]

70 amps is too hot for your 1/16 rod... ... you'll have good luck striking up... . but your puddle will be hard to control and the bead will be messy..... try 40-50 amps



be patient..... save your first attemps so you can mark your improvement... . ask more questions when you get stuck.



dave

 

[rbattelle]

70 amps is too hot for your 1/16 rod... ... you'll have good luck striking up... . but your puddle will be hard to control and the bead will be messy..... try 40-50 amps

And that's precisely where I am at this point. The high amperage makes striking easy, but I'm still only about 40% success rate at getting an arc started without sticking. If I reduce the amperage it'll be that much harder to strike.



Gonna take a lot of practice! I do enjoy it, though!



-Ryan

 

[Devan Manis]

yeah arch welding is pretty fun, even better if you have a decent machine, but make do with what you have. Two things for when you start to make beads, the farther away the arch from the metal the hotter it is, but you get more spatter, the closer the colder, less spatter. Those are two little ways you can control heat with the arch length. I don't remember what rod angles do what for sure, but i usually use a drag hand method and pull the rod instead of pushing, pushing the rod also does something with heat, i don't remember it all. There are a ton of little tricks you can do to improve your welds.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

Sounds like you're getting it figured out there Ryan. Check this out for an easy quick reference guide if you get stuck.



http://www.hobartwelders.com/techtips.html



I'm sure Lincoln and Miller's websites also have such things if you wanted to look around on their sites.



Jeff

 

[GTop]

A 5-15 degree drag travel angle is ideal when welding flat. Never push the rod when stick welding. You will get slag inclusions.

 

[chi440]

RBattelle - for one of those 'lil' machines try 3/32 'Lincoln Fleetweld 180' - it is an e-6011 designation - all posistion - ac/dc rod and will work great for you in the 50-70 amp range - the 'fleetweld 180' contains a small percentage of iron powder in the flux and starts and runs considerably smoother on an a/c machine and the flux is not 'flooding' the weld area like the 6013/14 series. I use it mostly @ 60amp on the buzz box I have. .



I guess all dem years of ed-ju-ma-cation dun sum good affer all. . :-laf

 

[WDixon27]

my welding teacher called that bird ***** :-laf it doesn't take long to get the timing and motion down to make stacked dime looking beads, when i was in practice i could do those in all positions with the big rods that almost have some flux on them. one of the things we did was to make a box out of diamond plate squares and before sealing it fill with water to see if we actually knew what we were doing

Success!! Thanks to you guys, I've achieved success at striking an arc and making the world's ugliest beads!

 

[rbattelle]

Still having a great deal of difficulty making good strikes, having dropped my current down to 45-55 amp and working on a 1/16" piece of steel. It seems like the instant I get a spark, the electrode sticks like glue to the workpiece. I haven't found the "trick" yet to keep the electrode from sticking.



I've tried the dragging method and the tapping method, and am equally poor at both. I've also tried the 45 degree and 90 degree positions for the rod. Once I get a good strike, my beads are getting slowly better.



I'll pick up some of that Fleetweld...



-Ryan

 

[sstefanini]

Try striking the rod while holding it between your index and middle finger on your left hand with your right hand holding the stinger. Similar positioning to the way most people hold a cigarette. If you plant the side of your left palm on the workpiece and hold the electrode this way with about 3" sticking out between your fingers you will be able to get a more accurate and controlled strike. Once it arcs place your left hand back on the stinger with your right to help guide everything. Anything you can do to prop your body will help to stabilize the arc. Its hard to explain and it does take alot of practice. Their are very few good welders born overnight and stick welding takes the most skill to master but after that all the other processes are cake in comparison.

 

[rbattelle]

Try striking the rod while holding it between your index and middle finger on your left hand with your right hand holding the stinger. Similar positioning to the way most people hold a cigarette.

I didn't think this would be safe, although I didn't have a good reason for thinking it would be "unsafe". I'll give it a try.



-Ryan

 

[DValentine]

pick up a pen or pencil and draw a line from left to right... . see the angle of the pen?



Try replicating that with the rod... ... Keep the machine up on the hot side for now... just get comfortable with striking the rod. A new rod had a perfect end on it. When you stick it and break it off the plate, the flux gets broken off the end of the rod. A bare rod is hard to get going again. You are going to waste rod at this point... . but throw it away and get a new stick... . I know its a waste. Some times if you let the rod cool before you yank it off the plate you will break off less of the flux. I've seen guys trying to relight a rod with over 1/2 in of flux missing... . it will just make you mad.

Don't worry about other postions of welding right now.

Are you running 1/16 in rod? I can't remember what you ended up with.



Pm me, if you want and I'll call you.



Dave