I machined two 8” Sch 40 pipe coupons. Then I welded them together in the 1G position. 3/32” 6010 (at 60A) root, 1/8” 7018 (at 90A) fill & cap.
I welded the 7018 uphill from 10 o’clock to noon. I couldn’t get the 7018 to behave at even the slightest downhill angle.
The good:
(1) I got no undercut on the two cap passes. 95A on the hot pass was causing undercut.
(2) The rollout wheel is one of the best purchase decisions of my entire life. I did not know that it would also make it easier to grind down the root pass.
(3) The coupons were so uneven, but I made adjustments while welding the root pass. After I ground down the root pass, I was very happy with the result.
The bad:
(1) The coupons were recycled from a previous weld. I parted it right at the old seam. The pipe coupons turned out so poorly because I bored & turned them down just enough to get a perfect pipe on each side, but after this they had a different ID. The coupons looked great by themselves, but I was horrified when I put them together to see how poorly they matched up.
(2) I was not successful blending the 7018 restarts. If I can’t figure this out, I am going to grind down the end of the old bead (when I ran out of rod) before I put in the next bead. I do know to warm up the first inch of the welding area before I establish the puddle (so that the beginning of the bead has enough heat).