Help needed here

[Ed Tipton]

I am new to welding. I have successfully stuck two pieces of A36 together, and thats about it. So far, they have held up satisfactorily.
I have two questions:
I need to weld some lathe tool bit steel onto a piece of A36 mild steel. I have a Miller 295 amp stick welder. I need to know what type of welding rod I need to use, and if there is any "special" expertise required to do this job. As mentioned, I am a raw beginner when it comes to welding, so please answer accordingly.
Also, in my brief experience at welding, I have had great difficulty in striking the initial ark, and I believe that one of the new instant helmets would help me greatly, since I am not very adept at placing the end of the rod where I want it. Any recommendations as to which are best suited for stick welding. I am not interested in becoming a journeyman welder....Just trying to get things stuck together. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

[Rich Hale]

ED I think we can agree you need some experience and I think the best way to get that is not to start with dissimiliar metals that if they break could causse a lathe to jam and or injury. Get 10 or 20 pounds of 7014 stick rod, either 1/8" or 3/32" and weld all kinds of joints. A reference book from the library will have pics that will show youhow to evaluate your welds by appearance. That will be a start. If by the end of the pice of rods you feel good you may try the joint you need. However lathe bits is a term that may describe several alloys of steel some of which may give you fits. I have done exactly what you describe, However I have welded with stick for over 50 years. And no I did not start out how I am suggesting. But if you do it may help speed things up a bit. Enjoy

[trying-it]

Ed,
Mapquest shows you are about 150 miles north of me; I'm north of Pinckneyville, IL. on State Rt 127. Be glad to give you a few hands-on lessons if you ever want to make the trip.

The tool steel bits can be welded on (I have many times here), but there is a good chance the tool steel will shear under heavy cuts. 2 better options are:

#1 braze the bits on

#2 make tool holders for the bits

As I said I will be happy to help you any way I can and I am not afraid to share a few shop tips & tricks used here.

[CurlyGeorge]

I weld for a living. If you are just going to do a little welding, once in awhile, get a cheap auto lens hood from Harbor Freight.

[LDW]

Until you get used to striking the tip of the rod to get it started you may need to slide it just a bit to get it burning. If it sticks and burns the flux on the end or breaks it away you will probably have to slide it until you get the bare rod back up to the flux. If your amperage is set too low it will stick a lot easier. Its all about the puddle after you get it to burning. I used a hood the other day that had a "cheater" in it. The hood was magnified like reading glasses. I am 46 years old and that hood was great, that was my first time to ever use one that had magnification.

[Ed Tipton]

My thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. Before I go any farther, I should clarify what I'm doing. I have built a guillotine tool to be used in blacksmithing. Initially, I made my cut-off tool using the A36, but even when cutting hot steel, the edge did not hold up. Following this attempt, I decided that some harder steel was needed for the cutting edge. I have a good supply of HSS tool steel, and thought that would be a good choice since by definition, it holds up well under heat. As mentioned, my welding skills are less than adequate, so I asked for the help since I didn't know about welding the tool steel to the A36. I am not concerned with the tool coming apart or fracturing during use since it is not going to be used on a lathe, but I'd rather it simply stay together after it is once welded. It will be subjected to impact, although I am hoping that even the hammering will not be too extreme. Cutting hot steel is not normally that difficult, but it is simply more than the A36 edge could take. I believe the tool steel will hold up just fine, and I think I'm going to give it a try and see what happens.

[brucegodlesky]

Ed , after the welding , yuo will want to anneal the weld area. I usually take the propane torch and heat to a blue color, back an inch or so from the weld.
As an example of what happens when you don't, ya ever weld bed frames??.....

[Rich Hale]

Hss steel is not designed for impact you will be better off with a steel that is designed to work well when hot and to work with impact. I would use S-7 for this, and you can weld it with 7014 rod to mild if you follow good welding practices, If you are interested I will write down how to do that.

[Hillbillysmith]

Do not use HSS (High Speed Steel) for ANY impact applications. Just make, design, forge, etc. your part and get some hardfacing rods. Lincoln makes some great High Impact/ High Wear-Resistance hardfacing rods. These will be awesome for a hot cutter and a guillotine tool. But just get a cheapo auto hood from harbor freight and practice, Practice, PRACTICE!! Get some E-6010, E-6013, E-7014, E-7018, and some E-7024. Just mess around with them and get a book of some type that will give you diagrams and weld until you can't weld no more.

I, too, weld for a living and let me tell you, you don't want to just "stick the pieces together". You want it to hold no matter what. If you just want a hot cutter, I have found that masonry chisels work wonders (as long as you don't harden it too bad).