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Grinder- Weld it or Bolt it?
- Thread starter Keith_H
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2007
- Messages
- 3,375
I agree about learning to stick weld. It is so versatile and setup is quick. Get some 3/32 7018 and you can weld most steels. 1/8" for thicker stuff. For stainless and stainless to tool steel I mostly use 309. Set your welder on 90 amps for the 3/32 and 110 or so for the 1/8" 7018, a bit lower for the 309 of the same sizes. Point your rod slightly into the weld and keep the rod just barely off the surface of the puddle once you get it fired up. Watch the EDGES of the puddle not the fire. when the edged flow into your parent metal your doing it, try to keep both sides even, move smoothly as possible. upside down is about the same as flat, uphill tilt your rod tip up a bit and get a puddle going and watch as you built on it. Having a groove or corner for the weld to go is huge. After it has cooled. chip off the slag wire brush it good and really look at it. Is there under cut, where your weld causes a edge in the parent metal? Try lowering your amperage. If the cut is on one side point your rod a bit more the other way. Is your weld rounded and rolled over on the edges? Turn up the heat and or put less down per pass. Lots of splatter? Try getting your rod closer and change your angle. Are your edges ragged and crooked? Watch the EDGES of your puddle. slow down and move smoothly. A good groove or angle really helps here. Try not to make wide welds at first. Use several stringers if you have a wide spot or a deep spot. Are your edges smooth and straight and transition smoothly to the parent metal? Good you got it. Trust me you can do this. I know a lot of welders. Some are plenty smart and plenty of them are suspect as to how long the been down from the trees.
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2003
- Messages
- 1,466
0
One thing I forgot to mention, as Nathan said your root pass will probably be sufficient. This is a very true statement, as long as you have SUFFICIENT PENETRATION. If you are unsure of penetration add more weld.
Often when a fillet weld test is checked for acceptability a section of the weld plate is cut out (a cross section of the weld), etched at the weld area. The etching will show all the weld beads and gives you a visual representation of the weld penetration. As long as you have the clean metal to begin with, correct amperage, right weld wire for the job, a fairly sufiicient weld technique you should be able to get the results that you need.
If you use 7018, this is typically a DC wire, an AC machine will not give the best results using this wire. They sell a 7018 AC/DC (relatively new stuff) wire at the weld shop.
If you want to become a good stick welder you really need to burn a whole lot of wire. When I learned how to weld back in the 70's the first day in weld schoolb (at Electric Boat in Groton, CT), I probably burnt (and stuck) over 30 lbs. of wire. You can talk about welding all day long, but that doesn't make you a good welder.
One of the biggest things about being a good welder is to have a plan. When welding on production welds i.e. over 3/8 of an inch you will probably be welding in layers. If the second or third layer needs more that one pass (multiple passes) to complete the layer, you need to examine the layer to make sure you haven't trapped yourself. That is, look at your edge bead, if it doesn't blend smoothly with the base metal, ask yourself, will I bury slag? Will I be able to penetrate into the base metal and the layer underneath? These are the things a production welder needs to ask himself.
I haven't welded production for years, now I inspect welds. Mostly I radiograph welds, which is real cool, as I get to see what is beneath that cover layer. All too often I see lack of fusion, slag, porosity, etc. this by people whe THINK they are welders
. These things can or cannot be acceptable, depending on the code they need to meet. Their are more different codes out their than you can shake a stick at.
Every weld machine will have a different amperage at a given setting, if the machine says it's set at 90 amps, you can figure 10 amps either way. That said, when you put in your root pass, use as many amps as you can handle, after that turn your machine down a knotch. When you put on your cover pass (layer) use as low a setting as you can handle, this is to minimize undercut (Which creates stress at the bottom of the knotch) and gives you a pretty looking cap.
The 110 volt MIG (GMAW) machines out their are what is known as Short Arc. Short Arc is not a very penetrating process. It was first used for welding sheet metal, as you really don't have to worry about burning through the bottom of the sheet. This is okay when you are welding items that the weld will be removed i.e. stacks of metal for pattern welding.
I'm not saying that you cannot achieve very good results using these machines, but it all comes down to "the bead plan".
Have a nice day, and I hope this little dissertation hasn't made me look like a .... head
One thing I forgot to mention, as Nathan said your root pass will probably be sufficient. This is a very true statement, as long as you have SUFFICIENT PENETRATION. If you are unsure of penetration add more weld.
Often when a fillet weld test is checked for acceptability a section of the weld plate is cut out (a cross section of the weld), etched at the weld area. The etching will show all the weld beads and gives you a visual representation of the weld penetration. As long as you have the clean metal to begin with, correct amperage, right weld wire for the job, a fairly sufiicient weld technique you should be able to get the results that you need.
If you use 7018, this is typically a DC wire, an AC machine will not give the best results using this wire. They sell a 7018 AC/DC (relatively new stuff) wire at the weld shop.
If you want to become a good stick welder you really need to burn a whole lot of wire. When I learned how to weld back in the 70's the first day in weld schoolb (at Electric Boat in Groton, CT), I probably burnt (and stuck) over 30 lbs. of wire. You can talk about welding all day long, but that doesn't make you a good welder.
One of the biggest things about being a good welder is to have a plan. When welding on production welds i.e. over 3/8 of an inch you will probably be welding in layers. If the second or third layer needs more that one pass (multiple passes) to complete the layer, you need to examine the layer to make sure you haven't trapped yourself. That is, look at your edge bead, if it doesn't blend smoothly with the base metal, ask yourself, will I bury slag? Will I be able to penetrate into the base metal and the layer underneath? These are the things a production welder needs to ask himself.
I haven't welded production for years, now I inspect welds. Mostly I radiograph welds, which is real cool, as I get to see what is beneath that cover layer. All too often I see lack of fusion, slag, porosity, etc. this by people whe THINK they are welders
. These things can or cannot be acceptable, depending on the code they need to meet. Their are more different codes out their than you can shake a stick at.Every weld machine will have a different amperage at a given setting, if the machine says it's set at 90 amps, you can figure 10 amps either way. That said, when you put in your root pass, use as many amps as you can handle, after that turn your machine down a knotch. When you put on your cover pass (layer) use as low a setting as you can handle, this is to minimize undercut (Which creates stress at the bottom of the knotch) and gives you a pretty looking cap.
The 110 volt MIG (GMAW) machines out their are what is known as Short Arc. Short Arc is not a very penetrating process. It was first used for welding sheet metal, as you really don't have to worry about burning through the bottom of the sheet. This is okay when you are welding items that the weld will be removed i.e. stacks of metal for pattern welding.
I'm not saying that you cannot achieve very good results using these machines, but it all comes down to "the bead plan".
Have a nice day, and I hope this little dissertation hasn't made me look like a .... head
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2004
- Messages
- 241
Keith, Ask your teacher's opinion and have him help you. Hopefully he does have some knowledge and experience. You'll gain his respect by following his advice. That said OA should be reserved for thin material. Learn to use the other types of welders while you have access to the tools and an instructor. These are skills you'll appreciate having in the future. Be sure to finish this project while you have access to the shop. There also should be no problem with redrilling the holes in a slightly different position and filling the old holes and finishing it off smooth. Make sure to clean up your project and paint it so it will always look good. The time involved in beautifying it will be appreciated for years.
Have Fun!
Alden
Have Fun!
Alden
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2007
- Messages
- 3,121
Thanks, Alden. His advice was the same as Bill's, to drill out the threaded holes and put nuts on instead. It will be fast just to do that plate over again. The only piece the right size that I could find is pretty rusty, I was thinking of just sand blasting it, should I do the ol' molasses trick instead?
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2004
- Messages
- 241
If the holes are only off by a little, why not do it that way?
As for the rusty piece,if you have access to a sand blaster that would be faster. I have never tried molasses. I would use a wire brush or sand blaster to be able to work on it right away. Sometimes the "easy way" is not worth the time involved.
Get it done so you can play with it.
Alden