Looking for recommendation stick welding

[pontiac428]

Blending requires special equipment. Well, proportional flow mixers aren't super-super special, they're easily obtainable used for under a grand maybe, sometimes... Smith's makes a good one. Fixed proportional flow mixers can be had for only several hundred each. I have one for 75/25 and one for He tri-mix. Nice if you can pick one up, but I wouldn't try building your own with any expectation of saving time or achieving good results, because it takes quite a bit of engineering to build valves that output the same mixture regardless of tank pressure.

Good on you for letting your brother try. Next time, tell him to come back when he can reliably weld cigarette paper to glass, because that's what 14 ga tubing is like with SMAW.

Or maybe I can offer some better advice:
1.) Run your pickup at a high idle for an hour to be sure the battery is topped off
2.) Attach the jumper cables, red to red, black to black. Ground the red to your work.
3.) Straighten the coat hangers out. Remove plastic coating if present.
4.) Clamp the coat hanger to the black jumper clamp.
5.) (really important) Squint really tight, but not so tight that you can't see.
6.) Start your arc and quickly turn your head. You can hold your breath for fumes if you want.
7.) Stop when you run out of coat hanger, or when you fuse the cable clamp to the work, whichever comes first.
8.) Inspect the joint but don't stress or break it, it'll be fragile. This step is tough, because it takes a while for your vision to be clear of spots.
9.) Spray paint for rust protection with that can of John Deere green that's been rolling around the floorboards since forever. If you have only JCB yellow, slap yourself in the face and go home. If you have Case yellow, you already know how to weld well- continue to step 10.
10.) If you have any cans left in that 12 pack, you can drink them now. If it's past two in the afternoon, you've probably already moved on to bourbon.
That's all you need to know in ten steps. Now get back to farming!

 

[WobblyHand]

Blending requires special equipment. Well, proportional flow mixers aren't super-super special, they're easily obtainable used for under a grand maybe, sometimes... Smith's makes a good one. Fixed proportional flow mixers can be had for only several hundred each. I have one for 75/25 and one for He tri-mix. Nice if you can pick one up, but I wouldn't try building your own with any expectation of saving time or achieving good results, because it takes quite a bit of engineering to build valves that output the same mixture regardless of tank pressure.

Good on you for letting your brother try. Next time, tell him to come back when he can reliably weld cigarette paper to glass, because that's what 14 ga tubing is like with SMAW.

Or maybe I can offer some better advice:
1.) Run your pickup at a high idle for an hour to be sure the battery is topped off
2.) Attach the jumper cables, red to red, black to black. Ground the red to your work.
3.) Straighten the coat hangers out. Remove plastic coating if present.
4.) Clamp the coat hanger to the black jumper clamp.
5.) (really important) Squint really tight, but not so tight that you can't see.
6.) Start your arc and quickly turn your head. You can hold your breath for fumes if you want.
7.) Stop when you run out of coat hanger, or when you fuse the cable clamp to the work, whichever comes first.
8.) Inspect the joint but don't stress or break it, it'll be fragile. This step is tough, because it takes a while for your vision to be clear of spots.
9.) Spray paint for rust protection with that can of John Deere green that's been rolling around the floorboards since forever. If you have only JCB yellow, slap yourself in the face and go home. If you have Case yellow, you already know how to weld well- continue to step 10.
10.) If you have any cans left in that 12 pack, you can drink them now. If it's past two in the afternoon, you've probably already moved on to bourbon.
That's all you need to know in ten steps. Now get back to farming!

You are on a roll!

 

[deakin]

when all else fails go to O/A. the first process that should be learned when learning to weld

 

[fixit]

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.

I HAVE THIS MACHINE AND IM REALLY HAPPY WITH IT

 

[General Zod]

Cheap lunch box welders have little to no hot-start so that may be the reason he likes increasing the amperage well above what is considered normal. 160A on a the cheap lunchbox stick welders is like 90A on a real welder anyways, so it kinda makes sense a lot of new beginner welders don't know this because they likely have never used a real welding machine before. The warming of the rod helps, but this case it's again because cheap lunch box welders lack real hot-start (and/or OCV). It takes a little bit for the tip of the rod to warm up and really let the arc develop properly. Once you use a real stick welder that has real good arc initiation, you'll immediately notice the difference.

That being said I would not recommend 6010 or 6011 cellulose based rods (assuming you have a machine that can even run them properly) because the forceful arc will blow holes even quicker in 14ga steel, unless you really really hone-in your technique. Professional welders can do quite a bit more than the average weekend hobbyist, so just because it's possible, doesn't make it the best choice for everyone, since there is so much skill-level involved. The released hydrogen in the [6010/6011] arc increases the "punch" and that is what makes them naturally dig into the weld joint. 3/32" E6013 or E7018 would work but not without lots of practice before hand. Travel speed and correct actual amperage at the arc are critical. 5/64" would be the best bet, IMO. You just can't have any gaps to fill, as it will quickly turn into a mess.

As for blending gases, I would not say it requires special equipment. Extra equipment yes, but special; well that depends if you are a professional welder welding to a WPS. Naturally, professional welding jobs will not let you drag in cobbled-up setups like what I have, but to say it requires special equipment, well personally I would not use those words.

My first attempt to mix 100% Argon with C25 in order to get a C10 mix for pulsed-spray MIG welding.

Worked great.

My latest iteration of the Frankenmixer:

I can run pretty much any Argon-CO₂-O₂ combination I want. This is for MIG. For TIG I have the option of blending Argon + Helium, but I haven't needed to do so yet.

But I digress. What rods, 5/64" 6013/7014/7018, whichever you can obtain. What settings? That depends on the welding machine. You need to know what is actually happening at the welding arc. The reason I say this is a lot of cheap welders simply flat out lie on dials/digital displays. I would turn the amperage knob until I see a proper puddle/weld pool. If you don't know what it looks like for a given scenario, settings won't help. Even with a professional welding machine whose actual stated amperage is what is actually delivered, you still need to "know how to weld" if you want to get it right on the very first try, which is easier said than done for if you don't know how to weld, you don't know what to look for, so how can you adjust something to achieve another thing that you don't know what it looks like? Practice, practice, practice. And either throw away, donate, or keep the cheap lunchbox welder as a back-up and get a real stick welder. As a commercial supporting member I have my own forum here at H-M where I am promoting HTP America - USA Weld products as an affiliate. I will soon be posting a full review of their quite popular Inverarc 160 Plus DV stick welder. For a home hobby garage workshop/weekend warrior, it is a serious piece of equipment boasting a high duty cycle and the ability to run practically any rod up to 5/32" diameter, including many E6010s that are difficult to run on the cheapies.

 

[G-ManBart]

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.

No argument there, but I'm wondering if the machine might be AC only? In that case 160A might make more sense.

 

[erikmannie]

No argument there, but I'm wondering if the machine might be AC only? In that case 160A might make more sense.

You may be right! I would not know because I *always* stick weld on DCEP.

 

[General Zod]

I doubt it would be an AC stick welder. Even my cheap $60 toy stick welder runs DC.

 

[Charles scozzari]

The angle you hold the stick rod or mig handle at should also be taken into consideration. With a stick its a little harder because of the shielding, but if your'e using a mig and lay the handle back to a 35/40 degree you have more control with the blow through and still penetrate. I also think that the inverter welders are better for the thinner welding. Transformer driven welders don't seem as forgiving on the thinner material.