Welding

[Hillbillysmith]

What rod/wire does everyone here use to weld with?? I am currently going to school for the great welding trade and know all about the different type of rods/wires and how to use them. I was just wondering what the average, "backyard" welder (no offense) uses. And if you use mig, what wire type/size do you use in addition to what gas or mixture of gasses? I would assume alot of people will stick with E7018 electrodes, but why do you choose that rod? If you're looking for a maximum tensile strength, why not use E11018 (110,000 psi tensile instead of 70,000psi)? If you want maximum penetration, why not use E6010/E6011? Or, if you are looking for both penetration and tensile rating, use E9010? And with mig ER70S-6 with CO2, Argon, or Argon/CO2 mix would most likely be used. Oh, and what polarity do you use with stick (eg; AC, DC+,DC-)?

Like I stated before, I mean no offense with the term "Backyard Welder". I just merely mean that not everyone is an expert or works for the Ironworker's/boilermakers/pipe fitters. If I offend anybody, please accept my deepest apologies.

Any insight on what welding type/process you use and why will be greatly appreciated.


MARRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!! AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! :)

[skunkriv]

No offense here. My stick welder is in an old electrical vault box and it, along with my big layout table live outside in front of the shop. Guess that makes me a driveway welder
I use 6011 on most of my stuff. Good penetration. works well on poor fitups, rusty, dirty, greasy, painted stock. If I need a prettier weld with less spatter I will use 6013 (with sometimes a root pass(es) of 6011). Don't use much 7018. Don't want to go to the trouble of keeping it dry or cooking it in the oven when I need some. Before the advent of low hydrogen rods most welds of dissimilar/hi alloy/tool steels were done with stainless rod. I use stainless for welding some tooling, making up hammer dies with 5160, 4140 etc. Works for me. Is expensive but is great to weld with, flows like buttah Usually leave my old Forney on DC-

The mig welder gets to live inside the shop. ER70S-6 with "Stargon" gas. 90%AR, 8%CO2, and 2%O2.

[Thomas Dean]

This question is as broad as the east is from the west. Type of steel to be welded? Thickness? Position? New material or old & rusty? SMAW, GTAW, GMAW, FCAW, OXY/GAS? Your ability/capability?

Not to be a smarty or snobby about this at all. For most of the guys/gals out there I would recommend e6011 as most everyone has a buzz boz machine and not an AC/DC machine. If welding thin gauge material e6013 is the rod, (SMAW), it was designed for thin work. Leaves a smooth bead with easy clean up. e7018 is fairly difficult for the "backyard welder". The 11018's and the 9018's are overkill, and expensive. er70s-6 is the better wire for mig (GMAW) with a 75/25 gas mix, either .023, .030, or .035 wire depending on thickness of base metal. TIG (GTAW) the er70s-3 has less silicon and easier to weld with. Fluxcore (FCAW) same gas as GTAW, either .035 or .045 wire. I use Frontiarc-711 .045. The polarity depends on the process used and the rod/wire use. Also, and very important, any low-hydrogen rod (the 7018,8018,9018 etc) should be stored at 250*F. All other rods in a dry and warm container, a light bulb will give off enough heat for this.

There are a 'ka-billion' (Gerald Franklin quote ) different rods/wire out there. The best advise would be to find a GOOD, KNOWLEDGABLE welding supply store and ask what rod/process to use with the job you plan to do.

You are going about it right by taking a class. But, as in most all cases, you won't learn it all in school. Good luck and 'keep our hood down' ;)

[Blacksmith Jim]

I have a Lincoln AC/DC tombstone. I run it in DC all the time. I keep 6011 and 6013 on hand in various sizes. If I am worried about not getting too much penetration (thin stock) then I use 6013. Other wise I use 6011. I'll toggle between electrode negative or positive depending on if I want more or less penetration as well.

[whitebear]

i knew an old boy once who had an oxy/gas outfit and he used old (uncoated) coat hangers as a filler rod. it gave some pretty strong welds and they looked nice too

Son

[Don A]

I'm a self-taught (well, in the process anyway) stick weldor, and I have had the best luck so far with the 7018's. This is with my Lincoln 225AC.

I try to keep the steel very clean where the joint will be... I usually hit it with the grinder/sander before I start welding.

I have also tried 6011's, but I find that the arc is rather aggressive and I have a harder time laying a good bead.

On the 7018's, I find myself "riding the flux", i.e. actually letting the flux touch the work ahead of the puddle as opposed to maintaining a gap. I'm able to get good penetration, and some decent looking beads most of the time. I still lay down some rough looking stuff from time to time. I find that the neater the bead is, the less problem I have with cleaning up the slag/scale/flux.

Again, this is offered as the recent experience of a backyard novice weldor. I have a lot to learn.

Don

[jayco]

Most of what I know about welding came from that little booklet that came with the Lincoln 225 AC years ago. (Alll the basics packed into a few short pages).

Guys would come around my shop and say "You need a cast iron rod" or "you need a nickel rod for that." Being as I hadn't been welding all that long, I believed them.

That way, if a weld didn't come out well, I could always blame the rod.

I do use nickel and hard surfacing rods once in a while......but mainly I use 6011 or 6013.

I learned that there was no 'magic ' rod.........I just needed more practice!

[gerald]

The majority of the stuff that I weld for the ranch (gates, hinges, etc) I weld with 6011. I use a lot of used oil field pipe that is pretty yucky and I get better penetration thru the rust with the 6011. As SKUNKRIV said, if I want a prettier weld, I'll use 6013. I occaisionally use 7018 if I am welding up tooling for the shop. I am not an authority, of course, but these rods work for me. Occaisionally, a weld breaks, but hey, I have a couple of welders on the place, so I just re-weld it :)

[skunkriv]

Don A-sounds like you are using 7014 not 7018. A good rod to learn on (I did). Has its limitations.

[Glenn]

BP0052 AWS Welding Rod Classification

6011 Welding Electrodes
An all-purpose stick electrode for use in all positions on carbon and galvanized steel. 60,000 PSI tensile strength. Deep penetrating, ideal for welding through light to medium amounts of dirty, rusty or painted materials. Runs on AC or DCEP (reverse) polarity.

6013
A light to medium penetrating all-purpose stick electrode for use in all positions, on carbon steel. Runs on AC or DCEP (reverse) polarity or DCEN (straight) polarity. 60,000 PSI tensile strength. Good for general, all-purpose applications and joints with poor fit-up.

7014
For high-deposition requirements, this stick electrode is ideal for applications requiring light penetration and faster travel speeds. It runs in all positions on AC or DCEN (straight) or DCEP (reverse) polarity. 70,000 PSI tensile strength.

7018
A low-hydrogen electrode for use in all positions on low, medium and high-carbon steels. 70,000 PSI tensile strength. Ideal for out-of-position welding and tacking. Runs on AC or DCEP (reverse) polarity. Not recommended for low-voltage AC welders.

[easilyconfused]

Another self taught ranch/farm welder with a lincoln AC tombstone here. I usually use 6011, 6013 and 7014 for their ease of use and not having to maintain special environments. Contrary to others, I've found that the thinnest 6011 (can't remember the 32th it is off the top of my head right now) allows a lower amp and I've successfully welded up the old trailer siding where it had rusted out. The 6013 seemes to freeze up on me at the lower amps I was using.

[Mills]

I had a bunch of scrap rod given to me by a weldor whos brain I would pick. Never knew what rod was what, I sorted them out by color or other Identifying marks and started running beads on drums. I decided to make a pontoon raft. When it was all over I was able to run 1/8th 6011 low and cold to join sheetmetal together. 6013 gave me fits until I found that it was an AC rod! quite an improvement. I found after the fact that some of the scrap was a nickel rod. wish I hadn't used it up.

now almost 10 years later I keep a little 6011, 6013, 7018 and some nickel rod on hand but predominately use e70s in MIG. I Don't use flux core at all. biggest lesson I have learned is to have an air gap and make sure that you weld the pieces together. No matter what rod you use. Rod selection is important, welding technique is more so I think.

[Glenn]

A caution about welding on drums. The heat of the welding can vaporize the contents of the drum, and if you break through the metal (blow a hole in the metal) it can ignite the vapors. Boom is not a nice noise.

[Timekiller]

I like my TIG machine the best, but when I use my wire feed, I use .035 flux core. And when I started welding with stick, I belive I used 6011's

[Hillbillysmith]

I guess there are people who use E6011, E6013, and E7014. I just figured that everyone would use E7018 because of it being so popular. Thanks for all of the feed back everyone. But please, by all means, keep this thread going! I think that everyone could benefit from this because welding is a very common practice in our field and since nobody knows everything, we can all give each other insight and pointers on what to do when any of us need it.

[Ten Hammers]

I use E70-S6 ( wire ) and gas weld with the same in rods. I need to buy either a power source for tig or just get another stick ac/dc machine and run a scratcher on it. I'm happy with what I have now but tig would expand my horizons.

[Sam Salvati]

I can stick together anything (anything made from mild steel) with the mild steel wired MIG Miller machine at my job:D.

[Dale Peters]

I use 7018AC most of the time with my old Lincoln Idealarc 250. I use it because it's been the easiest for me to get a good bead with. For my Hobart 185, I use .030 flux core. I bought it new and it can be set up for mig, but I never bothered to get the gas for it. So far, flux core has been all I've needed.

I've been thinking about taking an evening college class for welding. I think my welding skills are decent for being self-taught, but I think I could learn a lot from a class.

[tbrforge]

Stick all depends on the material and weld requirements. Mostly I use MIG .035 wire w/gold gas (argon/cos mix)over stick. Most of my welding is TIG, yes even black steel, I clean my electrodes alot but can't beat the cosmetics. Gas weld aluminum when I will need soft weld joints. TIG aluminum racing heads. There just isn't one answer.

[ralphy]

I got about a 30 year old a/c welder, and burn 6011, 6013. and a few 7018's
I run .030 gassless wire in a 110 volt sears wire welder. It doesn't weld as
good as a shielded gas welder, but it gets the job done on light steel
I don't know a lot about fancy welding, I just done a lot on construction job sites.
I do a little oxy/fuel welding ( coat hanger! ) , and want to try TIG, smoeday.
Good luck to you and your studies!
Ralphy.

[forgeman]

I use e7018 most of the time however I also use 6010 on dirty metal . I have repaired a few anvils with 12018 and have used 11018 also . 7018 is a dc rod but they do make an ac 7018 but it does not run as well . Forgeman

[HWooldridge]

I use ER70S6 in the Mig with 75/25 CO2/Ar. I was told it would spatter less than straight CO2 but I don't really notice much difference - might just be "marketing".

For stick, I use 6011 for almost everything but I run it on DC if the job is near my big machine. It also works OK with the Lincoln buzzbox, but I think most rods run smoother on DCRP. An exception is when you want to crank up the amps, then 7014 works pretty well on AC. I never liked 6013 because I frequently got slag inclusions but that's probably just me.

I once worked as a pipefitter and for steam pipe, we did 6011 in the root and 7018 on the cover pass.

[Frosty]

I typically run 7018 and 6011 for "field" welds on cruddy steels or when I need a fast freeze for filling holes. I run stick and flux core wire with my Lincoln Ranger 9 portable.

I run whatever the mild steel wire they had on the shelf in my Hobart 120 Handler with 75/25.

And lastly I run whatever the book or guys at the welding supply recommend for the more oddball things I run into on occasion.

Frosty

[Ten Hammers]

Hollis, 95/5 ( argon oxygen ) runs really nice and of course nozzle placement makes the difference on splatter. This is on new unground steel ( mostly tubing ) and sometimes through a fair bit of cutting fluid and saw plummies. I run 75/25 at home through gas, coal and charcoal scale unground. Juniors suggestion on Hobart wire was well taken and I plan to run it exclusively at home.

[Black Ink]

Hillbilly I'm a level 2 xray teck and I can tell you from expierience Ironworkers,fitters,and boilerrats'all though they'll tell you they are the best you ever met.Are not all pros.SOme just got lucky.Please believe me when I tell you.If I was you I'd practice mirror welding on 2'' pipe every chance I got.I was looking at job the otherday 30hr for mirror welders.An ASME9 welding test in the 6g position will get you in the door, but with a mirror will get you paid.$$$$$$$$