How can I improve my stick welding (inverter) technique? Some parts of some welds turn out ok but the main problem I have is slag getting in between the two “halves” of the weld. Picrel is a pair of welds that turned out pretty good but you can still see some slag in the lower half of the weld on the right.
Picrel is another weld that did not stick properly, the weld stuck to both pieces of metal but the space between the two parts of the weld just filled up with slag (since removed).
you and me both anon. I got that green harbor freight welder put it to use making storm shutter hinges. My welds look like Parkinsons and a hot glue gun but as long as they hold I guess I'm okay with it.
anons are saying to bake my rods but if i just stick them to the welding table for 10 seconds to heat up, does that do the same thing?
This is just you going too fast and not seeing what you're doing with the stick. Not seeing what you're doing is relatively normal for stick welding, that's the part you're supposed to learn to correct for, but there are a number of fixes:
>go slow (if the material is thin, you will blow through)
>stop weaving so much, or stop weaving at all (up and down, you can still weave back and forth)
>weave back and forth if you aren't doing it now
>if the material is very thin, just do multiple narrow passes even if the first one turns out to be shit
>ULTRA PRO MLG LEVEL: buy good electrodes
Some high quality electrodes have special slag that almost entirely burns off, which means that you can see exactly what the weld puddle is like. They cost 2-3x more than the cheapo shit, but it's totally worth it when you consider how much time you save and how much the welds don't fall apart anymore. The one specific brand I know is Oerlikon SPEZIAL 7016.
For your flat, don't be afraid to crank your heat. It looks like the steel is a good thickness. For a fillet like this it should be like day one rookie shit, if it's coming out looking like yours, either you're overthinking it or you have a setting completely ass-backwards. Without being there, here's what I can tell you.
>make sure that your whip is in the positive pole and your ground in the negative.
>run at about 125 amps for 7018 and like 105 for 6010.
>position your head so that you're welding AWAY from you, watching the puddle build. If you're right handed you should be to the left of the bar, if you're left handed stand on the right.
>support yourself wherever feels the most natural. I would think that putting your elbow on the top of the larger tube would be comfortable, but support yourself somehow.
>strike your arc like you are lighting a match, don't worry too much about accuracy. Once you've struck the arc you can quickly guide it to where you want the weld to begin. Pros will strike their arc a little bit forward to where they want to start the weld and then quickly walk it back to the start point to hide the arc strike, but nobody gives a shit about arc strikes outside of cranky pipe welders, high school teachers and inspectors on their period.
>point your rod right at the joint, at a 45 degree angle. I'd drag a little bit but don't overdo it, a small push or drag won't have a huge effect on a basic flat fillet with a slight flare groove.
>let the puddle build up a little bit before moving. If you've got your heat set properly and a good ground it should be a nice pleasant sounding crackly noise and the puddle should be very calm like a pond. It should be oval shaped.
>As you move, focus on keeping the puddle the same size, if it gets smaller or elongates, you're moving too quick, if it becomes circular and grows, you're too slow.
>Don't worry about terminating the weld. It should run off on its own when you get to the end of the joint.
The only thing I can conclude from these welds is that your machine sucks and is under powered for the diameter of your rod and for the thickness of material.
That or you have parkinsons/cerebra palsey.
Do you have difficulty establishing an arc? Or worse, re-establishing an arc? Both symptoms of an underpowered machine.
maintain a consistent distance from your rod and your work piece, aim your chipping hammer better?
flux core mig welding is a little easier if you want to do outdoor welding with no gas tank
>maintain a consistent distance from your rod and your work piece
This makes sense, generally the welds that are not sticking are in awkward angles or with left hand etc.
>aim your chipping hammer better
When I begin bridging 2 pieces only to have slag form in the middle, I can chip it out and weld on top of the good parts, but that’s what I’d like to understand more about how to avoid in the first place.
>flux core mig
Not able to buy a new machine at the moment unfortunately. I will keep this in mind though, thanks.
You'd have to be god-tier to get a decent vertical up with 6011, so I'm going to give you advice on the 7018 rods you should go out and buy. Obviously good rods will make your life easier, but you can pull this off with cheap Powerweld rods. Vertical flare groove welds are challenging but if you follow this advice you'll have 'em looking decent.
>clean the frick out of the joint
>clean the frick out of what you're grounding to
>do an uphill root in 6010 running like 65-70a. If you're good you can actually control your penetration level, but if you don't know what you're looking for, just run it medium-quick, a joint like that should use less than half an electrode. it's gonna look like ass but penetrate super deep and hold for ages.
>Do what you can to grind it smooth, I like to use a 1/16 combo disc (I'm a pipe welder that's our go to). Don't use a zip disc.
>Lay a downhand with your 7018 rod at around 95 amps - this is just to seal the weld and give you a good surface to work with.
>have a smoke or something and let everything cool down for maybe 5 min.
>Run as cold as you can get away with while still maintaining a consistent arc. For me that's 92 amps, you may be able to get away with less.
>do a fill pass, like an uphill weave motion and careful not to leave gaps. Lay down lots of metal, careful not to dribble or undercut.
From here it's open to interpretation. I'll tell you how I would do it, but there is no right answer. Every welder is gonna cap it a different way. Do the way you are comfortable with.
>2 stacked cap passes, first on the flatbar with a 30%-40% overlap with the fill, the second bridging the gap between the 1st cap and the pole itself.
>For both caps, a slight oscillation motion rotating in the direction of the flatbar.
shit advice from some kid who took a course in high school
good advice
moron advice, he's clearly running vert
decent advice
good advice
good advice
Seeing as its outside weld when there is the last wind possible to avoid blowing the shielding gases formed but the rod coating away too fast.
Bake your rods dry prior to use. There is plenty of info online about this and I've even read it on rod packets. I tried it was amazed what an improvement it made
>Bake your rods dry prior to use
Interesting tip, thanks. I will try this, there is a lot of humidity here. I noticed that the welder works way better once the rod is already hot but I thought this was due to high temperature and not humidity.
Does this apply to all rod types? From what I've heard it's basically mandatory to store 7018 in an oven, but 6010/6011 can be stored in ambient conditions with no problems.
Baking is only mandatory when welding to code with low- hydrogen rods but the warmer and drier the better. Many hobby welders use toaster ovens for convenient preheat.
Shops and pros have rod ovens they never turn off but that's a different world. Do some reading (Miller forums, Weldingweb, Miller, Lincoln, ESAB etc sites).
Many same number rods run very differently, for example ESAB Atom Arc is expensive but soooo sweet to weld with.
Not saying anyone is right or wrong but when I was In welding school we kept some of the rods in an oven. I took a couple of those rods and soaked them in water overnight. I welded with them the next day. Welded exactly like the ones in the oven. Ground open the welds and no porosity either. I showed the instructor and all he said was he couldn’t explain it.
I bake my rod dry everyday
Looks like you might be a bit cold. What size rod metal and how many amps?
>What size rod metal and how many amps?
6011 3/32” at around 80-90 amps. Much more than that and I start to make holes in the piece especially if it is a thinner steel.
>Get the grounding clamp closer to the piece, run an easy rod like 7018 thats fresh out the box, turn up the amperage
Ok will try these thanks. Almost everyone uses 6011 here.
>and watch your puddle control
Aka “git gud” , anything to add to this video I found? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wUQmylYpzNI
>and stickout
From what I saw this applies to mig/tig welding. What does this mean in the context of stick welding?
>The second picture has porosity all in it so you probably are welding in heavy wind, have some soaked rods, or arent pushing the rod and weaving it into the material. Maybe try a practice piece indoors and see if it turns out better. Are you dragging or pushing the rod?
Probably more of a dragging technique so far. I will try pushing and weaving next time. There was not much wind but still outside is outside.
>6011 3/32”
I was wrong about the measurement, I have been using 1/8” rod.
6011 is a deeper penetrating rod, it’ll punch through paint/rust/dirt and it solidifies quickly. You may not need that, and be better off with a different rod, especially if you take 2 min and grind/clean the area you’re about to weld. Shiny steel makes welding easier.
>git gud
I don’t mean to be an ass but unironically, yeah. Practice lots. I’m assuming you’ll watch a bunch of yt, and listen to the other anons here. You are putting down liquid metal. Understanding how it moves and flows, what causes it to stick or run, is what makes a good welder. I know that sounds like total bullshit, but consider trying to explain to someone how to reliably throw an object a specific distance at a target. You try it until you get a feel for it. Same with your welding, keep trying.
How much does soldering transfer into welding?
I deeply feel how copper and tin/lead interact.
If you enjoy torch soldering you'll enjoy torch brazing which can be quite rugged.
Get the grounding clamp closer to the piece, run an easy rod like 7018 thats fresh out the box, turn up the amperage and watch your puddle control and stickout. The second picture has porosity all in it so you probably are welding in heavy wind, have some soaked rods, or arent pushing the rod and weaving it into the material. Maybe try a practice piece indoors and see if it turns out better. Are you dragging or pushing the rod?
I started welding this weekend and bought 1 pack of 7018 Basic electrodes and pack of 7018 Rutile electrodes.
I started with the supposedly rutile ones but damn sure they dont feel like rutile. Hard arc strike, good penetration... Is there even such a thing as 7018 rutile ? Could it be the case it's rutile-basic ?
I've tried 6013 rutile and it felt completely different.
Bump for weld thread and question: What's the best way to weld small steel rods/wire together? Bike spoke thickness at a minimum up to say 8mm where it gets less tricky with just blowing it out. I'd like to make some garden growing frame/topiary type stuff and don't need the weight and expense of full rebar.
TIG, spot welding
Maybe brazing would suit your application
Soldering is more similar to brazing, it will wet out onto your surfaces and freezes almost instantly. Capillarity, liquid steel doesn't usually do that or at least not as much. And it freezes slower. The stickiness of liquid solder to your iron or whatever is probably more comparable, with say TIG filler rod and liquid aluminum in particular. If your weld surfaces are dirty or you don't have enough heat, then the weld filler will take more coaxing to stick the same way solder sometimes does. Other than that they're not really similar.
I know I late to party and I'll probably get some hate but if you're running stick on thinner material in the vertical, try running down instead of up. It's true you wont get as much pen, but you wont blow out the material as easily. Also try holding the stick at less than 90°, so slightly pointing up. That being said, I'm using a Miller Trailblazer so it's a good machine. good luck bud.
Just switch to flux core
It is so much easier
>its not 1880 anymore
Flux core is another popular way of producing shit. Stick isn't hard. Most people refuse to practice enough hours with any process. Don't blame the process, we had students doing quite reasonable 6010 verticals in days.
Never practice on your workpiece. Practice on similar material and the longer beads you run the smoother you'll get (with any process). Run five or six inch practice beads beginning with pad welding (which also gets the most out of your practice material.)
lots of people saying buy new rods but thats mega expensive. i assume your dragging but lower amps and go slow the gap in the middle is because of a lack of filler material go slower and maybe change to dcep. also to salvage that joint do picrel you can only grind so much
>but thats mega expensive.
In what impoverished universe? Good rods are a joy to use.