welding rod

[Anonymous-0]

Hi,
Over the last few months this board has seen a lot of discussion about welding...something i have always wanted to be able to do...so I have recently fired up my grandfather's old Lincoln 225 and have spent my free time learning to weld...so far it is going pretty well...

I have read a couple of books which has been very helpful and done a lot of learning by trial and error

I was wondering, what are the qualities/attributes of the different types of electrodes, what thickness metal can they be used on effectively, and what amperage setting do you/would you use with them.

So far i have had the most success with 7018 (AC) and 145 amps...i don't know if this is too hot...with 130 i can't strike an arc w/o sticking...

and with 6013 i have found 115 amps to work well..i feel like this is too high...also, i was reading in some old posts here that 6013 isn't great rod...is that true?

are there any secrets with 6011? i haven't found much success with it as far as running a decent bead (haven't tried it in a while either...got frustrated early on...perhaps i should go burn some today)

Also, i think i am running beads too quickly (or at least that's what my book says when i compare pics...) i feel if i go slower i am burning through the material i am welding...should i widen my bead or turn down the welder to slow down?

also - is there name brand that makes better rod? TSC and home depot are closer than my local welding supply store = they sell hobart and lincoln rod, respectively....are these all right?

thanks in advance...this forum and the others are always a great wealth of information

 

[rankrank1]

7018 rod (or 7018AC) rod can be tempermental to run for a newbie as well as on an AC only buzzbox. I personally do not use any 7018 due to the rod storage requirements of it unless I abosulutely need the increased strength that 7018 provides on carbon steels. For mild steel any of the other standard rods are fine. That said, if you are doing well with the 7018AC then certainly continue with using it as it is definittely a desirable rod to use on mild steel too.

My goto rods have always been:
a) 7014 which burns extremely sweet on AC and is so easy to use that it is often called idiot rod - almost welds itself. Medium penetrator that produces a very strong weld.
b) 6011 for deep penetration and dirty, rusty, greasey metals that can not be properly prepped. Produces a very strong weld although technique for using 6011 is different than other rods.
c) 6013 for light penetration applications or when minimal strenght is okay. Useful for when a Mig is not available on thinner metals. Apearnce is good and easy to run but can be prone to wormholing.

7018 I only buy as needed, but the little packages are not sealed properly anyway so I doubt that I am really benefitting. You about have to get into a 5lb tin or 10lb tin to get a proper hermically sealed can of rods and it would take me forever to use that many rods.

Lincoln and Hobart are both good brands of rods. I also like the US Forge brand of Rods (made by Messer). If you happen to be near a Menards then the prices are very good on these.

A pocket welding guide will usually give you most charecteristics of a given rod as well as the technique.

 

[kaferhaus]

What thickness rods? Amp setting depends on both the thickness of the rod and the base metal. If you're burning through with the minimum amps to get a good arc start then you need a smaller dia rod.

6011 is a deep penetration rod usually only used for a root pass on thick steel 3/8 or thicker. You have to keep the tip of the rod just touching the puddle to get a decent bead. a long arc will give miserable results with that rod.

6013 is a great general purpose rod. 60K psi strength which is higher than any mild steel you may be welding. Also easy rod to learn with.

7018 is a 70K rod. Also a general purpose rod with higher yield strength, but is overkill on most farm projects as the base metal will yield long before even a 6013 PROPER weld will.

Engineers always go to overkill on welding specifications to allow for dodgy welds etc. to cover them in lawsuits.

I only use 6011 as a root pass rod on very thick steels 3/4 or over and then finish up with 7018.

On projects that are 1/2 or less I use either 6013 or 7018 depending on what's closer to my hand...

If your machine is AC only, make sure you buy AC rods.....

I prefer DC, electrode negative for welding steel. It puts the heat into the metal and not the rod, much less spatter and a nice wet puddle.

 

[RodinNS]

The trick with 6011... you need to whip the rod back and forth to the sides of the puddle and you pause at each side to let it burn down, quickly whip back to the other side, let it burn, whip back again... etc. They don't work so well on stringer type beads like a 7018 will do.
The amps you're running sounds about right for what I used to do with my Linc. A 6011 would be about 120 amps with a 1/8" rod.
The sowrst part of a 6011 is the spatter everywhere... but if you have dirty metal, poor fits or you just plain can't be bothered prepping... the 6011 is the ticket.
As far as rod brands... I use mostly BOC/LINDE and some Air Liquide and I find them to be the best. I've also used some Marquette that I don't like... and Thermadyne 'Firepower' which I don't care for. PErsonally I find that the Canox/BOC/Linde is about the nicest 7018 to run on my machine (Miller Thunderbolt).

Rod

 

[Tony S.]

6011 is the best all purpose AC all position rod. Vertical up or down. 6010 is better, but is DC only. 7018 is an excellent all position high strength rod but is hard to use with AC. Vertical up only. 6013 is a waste of time, flat position only, I never use it.

 

[Puddles]

I can't imagine a guy needing anything stronger than 6011 for the average projects around the house or farm. Oh sure 7018 has it's place for projects like welding cutting edges on buckets, etc.
I really like Hobart's 335A 6011.

buzzbox novice remember joint prep is every bit as important as having superior welding skills. When first learning to weld, really study joint prep, inferior joint prep can be detrimental to the best of welds! :wink:

 

[kaferhaus]

(quoted from post at 10:13:50 08/24/11) 6011 is the best all purpose AC all position rod. Vertical up or down. 6010 is better, but is DC only. 7018 is an excellent all position high strength rod but is hard to use with AC. Vertical up only. 6013 is a waste of time, flat position only, I never use it.

No offense Tony, but if you can't weld out of position with 6013 you need to go back to welding school or get some more practice. 6013 is universally accepted as a "all position" rod and I've welded thousands upon thousands of feet of it overhead as well as vertical with it.

Any rod with a "1" as the third digit is a all position rod and I've used all of them with good success.

In my opinion as a CWI a novice has no business messing about with 6011 until he can make "good" welds with 6013 and 7018.

Anyone can glue two pieces of metal together, that doesn't make them a welder.

To the OP, I suggest you visit www.weldingweb.com. You'll catch some abuse if you're not careful, but you'll get some expert advice if you pay attention. Some of the best welders in the country visit that forum on a regular basis.

 

[elmersooner]

probably the most important thing other than practice is prepping the surface, a little grinder action goes a long way. a pocket reference is very useful, every welder has a little different sweet spot--practice enough and listen to what the rod is doing, my best welds have always been done by sound. good luck-it gets easier. being good with 7018 will take you far and save you money.

 

[Sparktrician]

I am not a pro welder, but I weld pretty good. Neighboor is a certified welder at a steel mill, and says I am a "damn good welder". I primarily run a 6010 root pass, capped by 7018. I use Lincoln rod.....world of difference between lincoln and hobart rods......not much price difference though.....On farm projects, I figure that doing my 6010 -7018 routine will be fine for my needs, especially if that is what the engineers at a steel mill want done.....

 

[Mel in SW Iowa]

I think that you will find that you can run a lot
tighter arc with most brands of 6011 than you can with other numbered rods. It cuts down on the splatter to the point that you can clean it up with a wire cup on a 4 1/2" grinder or a needle
scaler. 6011 is hard for me to use on metal
less than 3/16" thick using 1/8" rod.

I agree with rankrank1 that 7014 is a rod you should make an effort to use and learn, but it has seemed to me that maybe there is more difference in how the flux appears, acts and behaves in the puddle between brands of 7014 than other numbers. Find one you like and try to stick with it.

Fitting projects so that you don't have to weld up
big gaps is priceless. Oxy Acetylene can either be a cutting or a burning tool.

I think that the answer to some of your questions
is that you will have to experiment to find the
combination of variables that works the best for
you. If you combine that with the wealth of experience offered in the coaching on this website and from any other credible source, you will make the most progress in learning your skills.

 

[Anonymous-0]

6011 by nature produces a rougher looking weld but has the most penetration. 6011 have good strength however. It's best to use a back and forth whipping action when burning it. The same back and forth technique can be used to produce decent vertical down welds. Any other rods will have very little strength going vertical down because the slag will get in the way and the weld will have a concave profile with very little penetration. 6011 usually burns at less amps than other rods of the same diameter. It doesn't hurt if 6011 were to pick up some moisture.

6013 aren't the best choice of rod. They have the least strength of all rods. 7014 are much stronger and burn just as easy as 6013 but at a little higher amps.

7018AC takes some practice and some brands definately weld easier than others. 7018 has the most strength by far and it's worth practicing with 7018 because if you need a go to rod for something you need as strong as possible or don't know what kind of steel it is, 7018 is the rod of choice. I've found the Lincoln 7018AC burns pretty good on a buzz box. The Hobart might too but I haven't tried any recently. Unless you're doing code quality work, 7018 doesn't need any special procedures or ovens other than to be kept dry. The plastic tubes that thread together will store 7018 just fine for 98% of your welding needs. If you warm 7018 up to 100/150 deg's or so before using, they will weld nicer.

6011 and 7018 are designed for welds that are under stress. 6013 and the stronger 7014 are designed more for welds that don't have twisting and pulling forces on them. In general a 1/8" rod should weld about 6" or slightly more when doing practice beads and should take approx. a minute to burn. Most new welders tend to speed up their travel speed as they progress forward. A good way to practice is to make 2 parallel lines with soap stone on your practice piece and try to keep the weld a uniform width between the lines for the entire length of the weld. Once you get an idea how wide the weld should be, you can make your lines this distance apart.