i want to learn to weld...

[GHarman]

GHarman, would the stingers also have to be hooked to the workpiece in addition to the grounds?

You pull off the stinger holder and replace it with a ground clamp so both cables are attached to complete the circut. GregH

 

[GHarman]

Wow... sweet! I forgot to ask how thick the metal is in the region you're welding.



You should get someone to take an "action" shot of you running a bead...



Ryan

The main body of the bucket is 1/2" plate. The cutting edge is about 1" thick or more. The wear bars are 1/2" thick.

Got some pictures but they arent sized correctly. They just show an old fart burning rod! N. B. D. Now I got to recuperate for a day! :-laf. GregH

 

[DJW]

GHarman, yes I'm acquainted with a fair amount of rod, having welded on submarines, certified for California schools, bridges, re-bar, atomic energy commission , public buildings and a few other things, granted I do not regard myself as a weldor, as for choice, lay-out, fitting etc. but when it's hard to certify many working weldors, one has to step into the breach. (gottar get the job out) I find welding very boring and tedious, I started at 15 years of age, employed of course, using a hand held shield, no two hands on the stinger, really gets your hand under control, welding overhead in those conditions can be trying, no resting arms or body. Have fun. I was welding on a certified job and was using Lincoln rod, I started to weld and the rod was finger nailing, I got some fresh rod out of the oven, the same again, I turned to a close by weldor and I said this rod is finger nailing, he replied that he had been on the job for 3 weeks, and I was the only one with guts to say it. I went to the foreman and he was aware of it, and said the last tins were OK. In fact Lincoln is the most crappyest rod I ever had the displeasure to use. (very few will agree with me I know)

 

[Coalsmoke]

Looking good Greg, but why all the build-up? Are you just restoring the base material before putting in new wear bars and wear strips? Generally I find it faster and more cost effective to just cut out the old and weld in the new, but I like to see how different guys go about getting it done.



To the gent who asked about pre-heat, for buckets and other larger items, I carry a Tiger torch rated at one-half million BTUs for that purpose works well and will keep a 70+ inch wide bucket plenty warm even in winter, which seems to be when stuff ends up needing more fixing, got to be the cold and muddy time of the year



DJW, every person is entitled to their own opinion. I have a sweet spot for Lincoln Excalibur rods, they just gel nicely with the pure DC of the Lincoln Pipeliner, and they work fine on the Miller inverter too, but I didn't like them as much as some others on my Miller engine drive. Different rods, different jobs, different machines, different preferences, and different strokes for different folks



Greg, I don't want to hi-jack your thread, would you mind if I posted some more photos too or would you like me to go get my own thread

 

[GHarman]

Coalsmoke, Have at it bud, This is everybodys thread!!! I am retired and on my way out. You youngins' need to bring your expertise to the table for the benefit of the newbies. I dont know everything, nor will I tell you everything I know:-laf. The best teacher is more than one of us and more than one level of experience. I am just playing now. You that are working in this trade with new developements need to speak up also. THenningsen started this thread and many good people have chimed it. This is what I believe he wanted.



We did not have access to an air arc, thats why we just built up and cleaned of existing material and added new strips. My Friend digs alot of very rocky soil. At my rate, he can afford to do thisOo.



With respect to you all, GregH

 

[Coalsmoke]

Ok, thanks Greg, I just didn't want to be stepping on anyone's toes. I like the tone of this thread, it's a good one. I'll dig up some photos later tonight.

 

[GHarman]

Ok, thanks Greg, I just didn't want to be stepping on anyone's toes. I like the tone of this thread, it's a good one. I'll dig up some photos later tonight.

Thats the way it should be. Its about, " here is a (different, better, or alternative) way to accomplish this task". Not, I am better than you or my experience is better than yours. The Student Benefits greatly by having the opportunity to compare methods and develope their own experiences within the confines of Code welding, maintainence welding or just home repair and fabrication projects. Part of welding is Science and the rest is art. The art form; hand/ eye coordination manifests itself in Manual welding processes and is gained by (Ryan) "Practice ,Practice ,Practice". The Science out weighs the art form in automated welding processes. I have done both and have learned a great deal. However, I am not the ultimate authority on any process. There was only one Perfect TEACHER Oo.



I am confident that anyone who looks at this thread will pick up an idea to try, especially if others , like yourself, Coalsmoke, Chime in with their experiences. Thats why this thread was elevated to a "Sticky". GregH

 

[rbattelle]

The main body of the bucket is 1/2" plate. The cutting edge is about 1" thick or more. The wear bars are 1/2" thick.

The last big welding project I did I was running 1/8" 7018 Excalibur on 0. 120" thick mild steel tube at - get this - 120-130 amp! I had a feeling it was way too much current, but I was striving for deeper penetration.



One of the (million) things I struggle with is how much penetration is "correct". It always seems too shallow to me.



Ryan

 

[GHarman]

The last big welding project I did I was running 1/8" 7018 Excalibur on 0. 120" thick mild steel tube at - get this - 120-130 amp! I had a feeling it was way too much current, but I was striving for deeper penetration.



One of the (million) things I struggle with is how much penetration is "correct". It always seems too shallow to me.



Ryan

Ryan, Experience takes time, unless you have a procedure in front of you to follow, it is experimentation. Personally, I would have used 3/32" 7018 and beveled the joint for more controlled penetration at less amperage (80A, plus-minus) and less distortion. This would have been a 100% penetration weld and the bead would have been narrow. The 1/8" 7018 runs at ~100A plus-minus. If you run to hot, the slag wont release and the Heat Affected Zone is to wide, hence more distortion. It always pays to set up coupons that mimic your weld joint geometry on a smaller scale so you can inspect the result and work toward the desired level of perfaction. GregH

 

[Coalsmoke]

Greg put it right, experience does take time, no way around it, but having a good mentor or two can help make the most of that time. I've been in it for 8 years now. Lot's of mistakes / "learning opportunities" along the way.



Greg, did you mention earlier that you guys will be bending the wear strips along the bucket? I'd be interested to see what you have rigged up to do the bending. When I do a complete re and re on a bucket I farm out the press braking of the strips, bucket heel, etc. Even on smaller buckets like the one in the photo I'll attach, 5/8" AR400 is pretty tough stuff to bend, at least more so than I'm equipped for. I've found that simply running in small straight sections, even though it is a bit angular works well and saves the customer time and money. After a few weeks the high spots are worn down and it looks good as OEM replacement and the Oregon Steel AR its tougher to boot over some of the funny over-sea stuff showing up on buckets now.

 

[GHarman]

Coalsmoke

Nice setup bud! Yes that AR would be very hard to bend. You are doing the very best thing by getting that material pre-bent. Saves time and your back/health. We are using A-36 and will be applying hard stuff on top. The 6" wide is very tough so we used a loader to work it down as I tacked along the curvature . The tight curve, we used a rose bud. The narrow center pieces, we will attach a lever and use the rose bud to heat and then hang one of our fat bodies on the lever and bend it around as I tack. A little club work will be ncessary, I am sure:-laf. It is a low budget job, just trying to get it done without anyone getting hurt. There are a few wildmen in that shop. GregH

 

[rbattelle]

Hey Coalsmoke, is the base of that umbrella an old torque converter?!

How many feet of welding cable do you have on that truck? What kind of welder is that? And what kind of electrode canister is that - looks like a nice metal one.

Ryan

 

[Coalsmoke]

Thanks Greg. Farming out the specialty braking and cutting stuff just makes life so much easier, plus, I still make my 20% on it, so I'm not really losing much money on the larger orders so long as I have enough work to keep me going steady, I'm just increasing efficiency. I hear you on the shop wild-men, always got to be your own warranty station in more ways than one.



Ryan, close. They're a pair of 95 dodge ram brake rotors 1 rotor for normal days and windy days get 2:-laf



In total I have around 300 feet of cable on it, most of it is 2/0, so I have a comfortable 125' working radius from the truck. The welder is a coveted Redface Lincoln SA-200. It's basically a pure DC pipeliner, and IMHO, is the best stick welder I've run. The rod oven is Phoenix DryRod. Good, simple, works month after month.

 

[GHarman]

SA-200 Lincoln Pipeliner

Coalsmoke, You brought back memories in your picture. I cut my teeth on a Pipeliner, back in the 70's for the local gas company. We installed new gas piping, maintainence and repair. I built a modification to a regulator/metering station piping system on one particular job and had to run a boom truck, fit and weld. That welder ran for many years without much maintainence, other than oil and filter changes and blowing the dirt out of the armature! It had a Continental Gasoline (oops:-laf) engine and never failed to start.

My present portable is a Miller Trailblazer with modified rectifier/inverter technology. I does run DC very well, however the Lincoln does bring back Memories, And the smell of 5P in yer nostrils. GregH

 

[GHarman]

Stoody hard surfacing rod

Ryan, That bucket I was working on weighed 1320# according to the nomenclature plate and we added about 120# of A-36 strips that will be hard surfaced.

Coalsmoke , You are right about that hard surface rod. Stoody is the hard surface material we used, and the FUMES!!!! I ran about 5 rods and shut the job down to emphasize the absolute necessity of doing this outside! There is no way I will do this inside! We even had the door open and I got a little "woosey".

The Stoody rod, is a tube filled with proprietary metallurgical additives and has a coating on the outside that fluxes the weld puddle. This "rod" was the same diameter as the 1/8" 7018 but our final Amperage for the Stoody was 12% higher on the dial than the 7018. It ran nice. GregH

 

[GHarman]

Bending A-36

Here is the method we settled upon and it worked great. We started at the bottom and tacked the strip onto the bucket and applied pressure to the lever as we walked around the shallow curve, using no heat. As the curve got tighter we applied heat with a rosebud carefully, so as not to create any hot spots that would bend prematurely, all the while someone was hanging on the lever. The final 1" of strip required the careful application of a 2# hammer. On the Final 6" strip, we used the same sequence 'cept a bigger hammer more often. GregH

My Friend with the rose bud, the lever and the finished strips.

 

[THenningsen]

I know that DC looks nicer and that's what i've been practicing with, but since the rods at Home Depot and Lowe's are AC and easy to get in small quantities, is that okay to be practicing with? What kind of tips do you all have for running AC? Or would you advise just to stick with DC?

 

[GHarman]

Ac Vs Dc

THenningsen, You run what you have. Practice with AC is better than none at all. However, there is no comparison. DC runs so much better. GregH

 

[GHarman]

Coalsmoke ??

Hey Bud, Got a question fer ya. Do you recommend completely welding those wear strips all the way around ? Or is a skip weld adequate? We seal welded the outside edges of the outboard wear strips but not the inside strips or the inside edges. What is your expert opinion? GregH

 

[Coalsmoke]

Coalsmoke, You brought back memories in your picture. I cut my teeth on a Pipeliner, back in the 70's for the local gas company. We installed new gas piping, maintainence and repair. I built a modification to a regulator/metering station piping system on one particular job and had to run a boom truck, fit and weld. That welder ran for many years without much maintainence, other than oil and filter changes and blowing the dirt out of the armature! It had a Continental Gasoline (oops:-laf) engine and never failed to start.
My present portable is a Miller Trailblazer with modified rectifier/inverter technology. I does run DC very well, however the Lincoln does bring back Memories, And the smell of 5P in yer nostrils. GregH

Greg, these memories I've made with this machine will be with me for the rest of my life. It is a very sweet machine. I started out with a trailblazer 302, and while it was talented at doing many different things, it wasn't for me. I have had zero regrets selling the TB302 and going to the old-school pipeliner. You've been there, you know exactly what I mean, I knew it the second I read you talk about memories and the smell of 5P+, all-in-all my welding life has been full of happy times.

THenningsen, You run what you have. Practice with AC is better than none at all. However, there is no comparison. DC runs so much better. GregH

Nailed it, I agree that AC will work, and it will work fairly well with the right rods, but its no comparison to DC.

Hey Bud, Got a question fer ya. Do you recommend completely welding those wear strips all the way around ? Or is a skip weld adequate? We seal welded the outside edges of the outboard wear strips but not the inside strips or the inside edges. What is your expert opinion? GregH

That is exactly as I do it. I will completely seal weld the outside edges and everything else get 4-6" of bead and then 4-6" of space staggered, depending on the size of the bucket. Since wear bars and wear strips are consumable items on a bucket, over welding them will only mean more prep work when it comes time to redo them. Nice pictures by the way.

I haven't seen Ryan post anything in this thread for a bit now, maybe the poor fellow had a heart attack after he read in a different thread that I'm closing up shop and getting out of the welding business. He seemed really quite shocked by it all