First try at stick welding

[Xaiver]

I got a couple barrels at the low price of free. I needed them for water and oil for quenching. Asked my father in law how best to get the top off... He suggested a hammer and chisel.... 

Did that, then thetops wouldn't fit... Oops. 

So iI took some 1/8 inch flat stock and made braces and cold bent some handles. 

My first ever attempt at stick welding in my 31 years of life. 

What do you think? Go easy on me. 

[DSW]

Stupid forbidden...

 

Was this your text book for learning to weld? 

 

 

One suggestion is to concentrate the heat on teh thicker piece and "wash " the weld over onto the thinner one. That's easier to do though if the thicker piece is on the bottom vs the way you have it. One option would be to stand the top up vertical and do the welds horizontally. That way you have an 1/8" "shelf" to work with that can take more heat and wash the weld up against the thin top easier. If doing that, I could probably get away with running 3/32" 7014 at minimal amps. I like 7014 for thin stuff, but it can be tough to locate in smaller sizes

 

Edited September 6, 2015 by DSW

[arkie]

I would recommend finding someone experienced in welding to show you how.  Person, class, videos (Jody over on weldingtipsandtricks.com)

[Steve Sells]

ummmmm Sorry to tell you this, Since I am sure if you had already known you would not have posted those photos, but that is not welding

[Charles R. Stevens]

I was alwase told the difference between a good weld and a bad one was a grinder...

not by any extent a pro, i weld things to gether and I trust them with my life but no one elses. Nothing beats a pro looking over your shoulder to get you started. But the basic skill is only 1/2 the battle, all the proces information and rod choises...

if the welds hold its goodenugh, but it dose look like bird dropings. 

Burn up moor rod, lots of rod...

[ThomasPowers]

I had a pro show me the basics and then tell me that I'd need to burn my weight in rods before I'd be a welder 

[KYBOY]

Practice on some joints friend..V joints and flat joints..What rod you burn'n there 7018?

[Frosty]

Next time cut the drum head at least 1" in from the rim. Then cut the other drum's head just inside the rim. File ALL the cut sheet steel edges smooth unless you LIKE blood in your quench oil. Pop rivet or sheet metal screw: handles, etc. on the larger dia. piece. You now have a barrel with a removable lid and another open ended drum to: put, burn, trash, or whatever, stuff in.

My quench oil container is a 15gl. grease drum with a removable lid that just snaps on. I keep it inside a cut down 55gl. drum to contain a fire if something goes really wrong in the quench. I get my quench oil from the local supermarket's kitchen I was hoping for canola oil from the doughnut fryer but my shop smells like egg rolls, chicken nuggets and . . . ? When I quench.

Until you takes some classes and practice you really need to avoid welding anything a failure could hurt ANYBODY. Stick welding on cruddy drums isn't a beginner's path to success learning to weld.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Tolate24]

 but my shop smells like egg rolls, chicken nuggets and . . . ? When I quench.

Frosty The Lucky.

Not to get off topic but this made me think of when you drive past the local fast food place and you can smell their fryers cooking away.

"Stop into Frosty's for a fast delicious treat" (or something catchy along those lines)

I agree with Frosty though cruddy old drums are a really bad way to learn to stick weld. Pick up some clean scrap and burn some sticks. 

[fergy]

First attempt , thin drums, rusty steel,paint layer, stick welder and they hold    well done 

you have along way to go but as a first go with the conditions you have there you done well to get it that good without blowing through

of course next time stack the odds in your favour 

grind the crud off but try not to thin the already thin drums 

as said concentrate the heat on the thicker material 

Fergy

 

Edited September 9, 2015 by fergy
Fat fingas

[tonyw]

looks like my first tries. Keep practicing

[notownkid]

First try and the lids work you did OK.  Welding isn't a easy to learn thing. Like a lot of advice above,I'd suggest a class, a lot of practice and a coach to look over your shoulder for a time.  After a lot more yrs. than yours my stick welding looks rough and crude still but a lot of farm machinery running around here with it holding pieces together.  Only do my own stuff though.  Oh Yah, throw some paint at the lids the roughness will blend in!  If all else fails Paint It!

[Jacob Nothstine]

Thank you for not making a trailer as your first project. Check out Welding tips and tricks a lot of good information. 

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/

 

[Xaiver]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys.  I did spend quite a bit of time watching Jody on welding tips and tricks.  I was practicing laying a bead on some old rotors...they're thick enough that I won't punch a hole with 1/8th inch 6011s.  

I'll be getting some thinner rod for when I'm more comfortable with the thing.

[forgemaster]

The smaller rod is easier to weld with, especially on thin stuff.  I'd say the main thing with your welds there was, you had too many amps and you travelled too quickly, also looks like the rods could be a little damp, but otherwise if it does the job, you've had a win.  We all have to start somewhere.

[Smoggy]

I think you did quite well all things considered Xaiver.

I've a fair bit of experience of frustratingly attempting to weld thin car body work with a stick welder, just when you think you have the settings and the speed right.....another whole blows! Even worse when attempting to weld to a thicker section. Two tips I can offer.....

First don't attempt a run, just tack it and move along an inch, when you get to the end come back and tack between the first welds....keep repeating until you are happy you have a good enough fixing for the job in hand, This keeps the heat from building.

If you can find a heat sink such as a decent lump of copper to place behind the weld area you stand a better chance reducing blow through.

 

If we now get a plethera of posts enquiring about forging or casting copper.....that'll be my fault!

[f18framer]

Ok so basic things to remember about welding.

   Clean your metal.  the cleaner base metal that you start with the better.  ideally, you will clean both sides of your metal to bare clean oil free metal.  take a grinder or better yet a sander and run over the area you are about to weld to get all rust especially off.  then wipe the area with isopropal or rubbing alcohol.  let it dry and and you are ready to go.  your area should be literally white glove clean when ever possible.  The reason that this is important is things like paint and rust contaminate your weld causing impurity in the weld and reduce strength as well as make your puddle misbehave.  Rust especially is a must to remove.  Oxygen is your worst enemy when welding.  rust is simply oxidized metal so it is packed with oxygen.

   Pay attention to your electrode angle and distance when welding.  with stick welding for general aplications, you should have your electrode at a slightly backward angle "pulling" the weld along.  The distance of the electrode from the weld is also very important.  you should keep the electrode buried in the puddle.  you will see "flame" coming out of the sides of your weld.  if you see this you need to push the electrode down into the puddle more.  with stick welding being a consumable type of electrode, you have to constantly keep advancing the electrode into the puddle. 

speed and heat are kinda a thing you just have to learn by doing.

Keep your electrodes dry.  wet electrodes throw lots of splatter everywere.  the ideal place to keep them is in an oven.  however we dont all have access to them, most of us dont lets be honest lol.  but keep them in a sealed container with some descant or vacuum seal them or something.  water molecules contain Oxygen and oxygen is our worst enemy when welding.

you have been told correct that you will absolutely burn your weight in electrodes.  i have burned litterally hundreds and hundreds of electrodes learning this art.

 

[Marc1]

On 9/11/2015 at 10:36 AM, Xaiver said:

Thanks for all of the feedback guys.  I did spend quite a bit of time watching Jody on welding tips and tricks.  I was practicing laying a bead on some old rotors...they're thick enough that I won't punch a hole with 1/8th inch 6011s.  

I'll be getting some thinner rod for when I'm more comfortable with the thing.

Welding thin steel with an old transformer arc welder is the hardest thing to do. Welding thicker steel with thinner that is painted and rusty? Much harder. 

Will those handles come off? Probably not ... so, you have in a sense achieved your purpose. of course a rivet would have been more elegant but thought you nothing.

Keep on welding, practice and ask a welder to show you the ropes.

Good on you for trying.