Anything welding

First beads. Never done it before. Have just a been watching a lot of you tube videos. Learning how to strike an arc and not get it stuck to the plate. Learning how to whip and pause and keep the beads looking uniform without a lot of splatter. This is using 6010 1/8" rod at 65 amps on DC +. Any critique from you studs is appreciated! I know I need to just do it more to get the muscle memory. My hopes are to make myself a welding table or stand since I currently don't have one, a welding cart (hope to get into Mig one day), weld together my TC cam tabs and get them on the truck and some furniture pieces for the house

 

Is this pic of your actual truck (2010)?

 

No pic

 

I believe that pic is of the frame on his 99 model (before his current truck)

 

Woops forgot the photo. First beads with 6010 stick at 65 amps with 1/8" rod
@At The Helm

The one on the far right lower was my first ever bead. Pretty FUGLY. The bottom left one was the last one. Looking better. just gotta work on timing and speed

 

Looks pretty good!
With stick (or any other process that has slag) try not to whip the puddle. You could be burying slag in there weakening tJust drag the puddle along at the appropriate speed.. If you need some scrap to practice with just let me know, I have lots of small drops I'd be happy to stuff in a medium pm mail box.

 

Thanks! Yeah I haven't ever done it before so learning to strike an arc and not get it stuck to the plate and keep it going was a challenge! I have learned that when striking keep it at a slight angle. Everytime I was striking it at 90 it would get stuck. So with stick welding do you recommend just pulling the puddle forward and not "whipping" back? I will take you up on that offer, since with PM it's flat rate right? I need more pieces to practice laying a pad of beads, and then working on joints and stuff.

 

Crank it up to 90amps and whip out farther. 6010 has a slightly more elongated "bead". Just keep a tight arc when back in the weld pool...
Practice, Practice, Practice.

 

I actually don't have a whole lot of experience with stick, I haven't done it since high school and it isn't practical for what I do now. But yes you'd want to drag the puddle. Check out weldingtipsandtricks in case you haven't already seen that YouTube channel. Just pm me your shipping address and I'll get a box sent out, happy to help someone learning

 

6010 1/8" 65 amps is really cold !!

we all weld at different current to a degree.

Both 6010 and 6011 rods need a circular motion kind of really hard to teach yourself .

draw a small dot on a piece of paper

With your pen lift your pen up and slightly toward the hand it is in then touch down to the circle that is the motion you want .

Practice till you can do it comfortable with both hands

After years it becomes so automatic it takes some thinking to explain..

You need to see and be comfortable !!

Try not to teach bad habits to yourself !!!

 

Correct.
That's a picture of what the frame on my '99 looked like in 2013. I snapped it right after I took my truck in for a frame inspection and they put a hammer through it.

 

Third day of practicing with 6010. Doing the lower case e seems to offer me more consistency. Getting better at striking an arc and moving the puddle. Need to be better with keeping it straight. Perhaps lower the sensitivity on the hood or marking a line with soap stone. Practice practice practice. And keep getting critiques. 6010 3/32" at 65 amp. Still too cold?

 

Since your just running beads I guess it does not matter .

But only you can tell you can never really go by the dial or the Meter unless it is Calibrated .

See what it feels and looks like to run to hot or to cold so you know what is in the zone for the rod and position and type of joint

Weld a Tee joint on one side then break it

See how much penetration your getting .

Very seldom in welding will you just be running beads most times your welding a joint .

If you can`t see your in the wrong position or your lens is to dark

I always wear ear plugs it helps me focus on the visible and not be distracted plus it keeps sparks out of your ears

 

Thank you for the advice good sir. I am wearing plugs so that is one less distraction. I threw a few more beads down today in a straight line- went up in amperage and backed down til I found a happy medium around 75amps. I went up to 85 and it was a bit too hot, it was gouging the metal in spots and lots of big splatter even with the rod super close to the plate. Once I moved down to 75 amps, it seemed to clean up better. Top line was at 85 , the rest was at 75. I really need to build a stand. Having trouble getting consistent beads on my hands and knees on the garage floor. Especially since I feel like the closer my face is to the weld is better (for visual purposes). But the little e's are better suiting me than the whip and pause.

 

6010 is deep penetrating and fast freeze. the whip out is to let the puddle cool a little before you loop back to it. Also 6010 has A LOT of spatter more so then 7018 or even 6013.
Def have to get off the floor.. Position is everything... Have you tried running a 6013? if not, it can give you a better feel for just padding and running stringers.
How thick is the plate you are padding on?

 

I'd like to pick up a few 6013's and run them.

 

They are general purpose. I have a box just sitting here, if you were local...

 

I've been taking a welding class for the last two months two nights a week. It's An introductory class to experience a bunch of different types of welding. My first project.



Learned MIG, Stick and TIG. TIG is by far the most challenging but also the most fun.

 

I'll have to get some and try them, any other electrodes I should get?
I'm working on setting up a trailer for welding (DC welder) but it'll be used for welding around the farm.
We also have a 225AC welder for the AC rods, and a miller 211 for small stuff like exhaust.

TIG is fun but nothing beats 7018 (until there's a gap).

 

I did enjoy the process of stick welding. But I hate slag and holes in my jeans.