Looking for recommendation stick welding

[T. J.]

MIG or TIG would definitely be easier, but I’ve stick welded a ton of 14ga square tubing when that was all I had. I like 5/64” 6013 rod at around 55-60 amps. As has been said, good fit up is essential.

 

[westerner]

There are plenty of old guys that would make short work of this project.
If you practice as often as them, you could too...

 

[Ulma Doctor]

for 14 gauge, 3/32" 6010,7010,6011 ran about 55-60 amps

if you go DCEP your penetration will be less, most of the heat will go into the rod

 

[TorontoBuilder]

thanks for all the replies

Tomorrow I'm going to insist on mig welding. I've never had an issue with it.

 

[benmychree]

Sounds like your brother is full of "it"

 

[erikmannie]

14 Gauge tubing is about .072”-.085” thickness, so a 3/32” stick electrode is *just a little too large* IMO. You could measure the thickness of your tubing; a 3/32” on .085” is probably fine, but I wouldn’t use a 3/32” on .072”.

You can easily find 1/16” 6013, but 6013 only has medium penetration at best, & the 1/16” stick electrodes sure do move around a lot (i.e. they are not very rigid).

Personally, I don’t think much of 6013. It runs beautifully, but medium penetration is not good enough.

You can find 1/16” 7014. I have stick welded a fair amount of .050” wall tubing with 1/16” 7014 (which was just practice that I was doing to challenge myself). I am not a huge fan of 7014. It runs okay, but the penetration is just a little hotter than medium.

As far as preheating the rods: with 7018 or any other low hydrogen stick electrode, I will preheat in a rod oven (about 245°F) if the new, sealed canister or other packaging was opened less than 4-5 hours prior to welding.

Preheating the workpiece will help with the arc initiation. If you don’t preheat (as I don’t) the stick electrode will strike easier once you have welded on it enough to heat up the workpiece. If you get frustrated on a restart, just grab a new electrode (as opposed to a partially used electrode).

I (1) look at the packaging for the amperage range, (2) Google it, or (3) figure 1A per .001” of material thickness.

I would definitely practice on scrap before working on the workpiece!

I do all of my stick welding with 6010 and/or 7018, & always DCEP.

The recommendation of 160A on 14 gauge material is more than double the recommended amperage. Again, I am definitely looking at the packaging for the amperage range.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Okay so we've landed at .030 mig wire with 100% CO2 shielding gas, using one of my cylinders from brewing... I'll need a CO2 flow meter and pressure regulator.

Because brother got a huge tank of 100% argon ambitiously thinking he'd be tig welding at some point despite never practicing.

And no. mine is not a beer gas blend, it's pure food grade CO2.

So, could I tee together argon and CO2 lines and set the flows to give me 80/20 blend? Not ideal I know, but I only have what I have available.

This type of issue is why I wanted a bolt together stand versus welded.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

No need to blend gasses
100% CO2 is acceptable for welding mild steel
CO2 will make a different sound as opposed to Argon while welding

 

[Boswell]

While 100% CO2 should work, if you do want to blend the gasses yourself I seem to remember that @General Zod discussed doing this and had some best practices in some old thread.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

While 100% CO2 should work, if you do want to blend the gasses yourself I seem to remember that @General Zod discussed doing this and had some best practices in some old thread.

I will look for that thread.