What welding rod?

[LoneGunman]

What would be a good rod for welding 3/16" overhead, I have 6011, 6013 and 7018, my welder is an AC and DC machine. I dont need pretty, trying to weld my welding table to the frame, the table top is warped so Im using a straight edge, bottle jacks and tacking it as I go. The frame has some square tubing that has a sort of rolled edge so where that joins the table I have a pretty good gap. Don't care how it looks as it wont be seen.

 

[bayou985]

LoneGunman If Ya have 6011 or 6013 in 1/8" try running the rod between 70/85 amps DC Check Your heat[amps] on scrap first..Clean weld area of rust especially if Ya decide to use LO-HY [7018]

 

[chad s]

This is a question for Merkava.

 

[a390st]

Of the three rods you list, I prefer 6011 for overhead. Try not to use too much of an angle and give it a try. I just don't care for 7018 overhead, despite the fact that I like it a lot better otherwise. I tend to let 7018 puddle a little more than 6011, so I don't do as well with it overhead.

 

[voidifused]

What size are the 7018? 3/32 1/8 5/32? they would be way easier then trying to do the whip and pause with the 6011 since it is just hit and go with the 7018. But the 6011 is a farmers rod it works better in rust and dirt with less hassle then the 7018 will. If you clean it you will have better luck with the 7018 if you are just gumming and don't do a lot of welding.

Run the 7018 at about 100-120 amp depending on how hot you're welding machine runs you can turn it down if you find that alot of your weld is ending up on the floor.

You should be able to hold it down with a few stitch's here and there about 2" long no need to weld it solid.

As for the 6011, basically the same but run them 60-65 amps again the size of the rod and how hot you're machine runs. us a nice whip and pause action by wiping it in and out of the puddle with a small pause should look like a little row of dimes when your done.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=EOi...=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA92,M1
there is a little info there that might help you out, sorry its hard to explain what i want to say

 

[Merkava_4]

This is a question for Merkava.

Why me?



LoneGunman,

The amperage setting is determined by the rod diameter and the material thickness to be welded. We know the material thickness is 3/16" - what are the diameters of the rods?

You would measure the diameter of the unfluxed portion of the rod that clamps into your stinger. That's so I can give you an amperage range.

DC- is the best polarity for those rods. Hook the electrode to the negative terminal and the ground to the positive terminal. Set the machine to DC.

Have you run fast-freeze 6010,6011,6013 rods before? They require a slight whipping motion from side to side in the same direction of your travel.

You keep the rod in the weld pool, but you s-t-r-e-t-c-h the pool to an oval shape by swinging the rod to the right and then come back to the left halfway to your previous point; this gives the puddle time to freeze and creates the overlapping dimes appearance of the finished weld bead.

You can tell when it's time to swing right by how far in diameter the pool is swelling. When it swells to the size of a dime, swing to the right and then come back and overlap your previous pool. Don't swing right too fast though, or you'll break away from the pool. After awhile, you'll develop a rhythm for this type of rod.

The reason why fast freeze rods are whipped (oscillated) is because they are a deep penetrating rod. If you drag it like a 7018 rod, you run the risk of burn through. Not to worry though because it freezes fast when you swing away from the center of the puddle.

 

[voidifused]

Amen to that

 

[trackwelder]

I like 7018 just stay out of the slag shower.

 

[a390st]

I love 7018, but just not for overhead. I welded everything at my old job, but on the really big stuff, 7018 would really do a nice job. Some of the Exergon rods were really nice to use. They were awfully expensive, though. To be honest, they seemed to match up with a lot of the standard rods, only with a step better performance. I suppose maybe I didn't like 6011 as well because a lot of the work I was doing with it was **** stuff. Working on junk just isn't enjoyable. And whatever you do, don't use your AC setting since you have DC available. You can control your heat and penetration infinitely better with DC.

 

[v8garage]

Why weld overhead on a small project like that? Just flip it over.

 

[LoneGunman]

Merkava, thanks for the tips, The rods are 1/8", I learned about the burn through the hard way, on the bright side you cannot see where I am welding, or I mean, sticking metal together in a very unsightly way Now that I know you are one of the resident welding experts I'll be bothering you frequently in the near future. About the only thing I can even remotely decent is run straight lines on scrap metal, even welding two pieces of scrap togther looks like ****.

I need to get my bottle filled so I can use my little 120v lincoln mig, it would have been so much easier with that. I should have never got rid of my Hobart Handler 175 but the little lincoln was free.

Heres a stupid question, I can never seem to see the puddle, can it be from my cheapie HF auto hood?

V8garage, It took two of us to get the table on the frame, no way in hell I can flip the table and right it, because of where it is (in my florida room) I cannot anchor anything overhead to help with the lift.