Hi folks

I am in a bind to do a bunch of fillet welds and found my skills are
quite lacking.

Basically, I am welding a 10 gauge MS channel to the face of a 1/4" MS
plate. the channel has been painted in the past but has been ground
clean in the weld area.

I generally use my tig welder for stuff because I don't do much welding
and it allowes me to produce a fairly good weld with little skill.
However on this project, I need the welds to actually hold and look
fairly good, as well as go more quickly than I could with the tig. I
tried some tests to practice with my (buzz box) stick welder and was
only able to keep a good weld fillet for about 1- 2 inches at a time
before I tended to have an uneven weld, voids, etc. I only have the AC
buzz box and the tig so I am limited is ways I can correct problems. I
could run the DC inverter tig (powercon 400 smt) as a stick welder but
I don't have the right plug for the electrode holder to fit. I guess I
could scab it somehow.

I tried with 1/8" 6011 rods (had problems maintaining the arc), 1/8"
6013 rods (got the best results) and 1/8" 7014 (not horrible but not as
good as the 6013). That's what I had lying around. Oh yea...I was
running what seemed a little high in amperage (about 150) but was having
problems maintaining the arc at much lower currents. I can lay down a
near perfect bead when working flat. It's the fillets that are giving
me troubles.

I don't have time to actually learn this right so I was hoping that
someone might have some suggestions for an unskilled person who needed
to get through a small job before Monday.

Thanks!

Koz

I would go with the 6013 on AC.. If you could use the inverter that would
be my choice with 6013 electrode negative.
If your fillets are a problem why not tilt the plate so that you are
down into a VEE???
150 amps is high for 1/8th electrode. Once the arc is established you
can set the rod on the material with the edge of the flux touching as you
drag it along.
If your seam is long I would stitch weld it, no beads longer than three
or four inches. Skip around to reduce distortion. Often you do not need a
continuous weld. People always are overwelding.
good luck,
Randy

"Koz" wrote in message
...
Hi folks

I am in a bind to do a bunch of fillet welds and found my skills are
quite lacking.

Basically, I am welding a 10 gauge MS channel to the face of a 1/4" MS
plate. the channel has been painted in the past but has been ground
clean in the weld area.

I generally use my tig welder for stuff because I don't do much welding
and it allowes me to produce a fairly good weld with little skill.
However on this project, I need the welds to actually hold and look
fairly good, as well as go more quickly than I could with the tig. I
tried some tests to practice with my (buzz box) stick welder and was
only able to keep a good weld fillet for about 1- 2 inches at a time
before I tended to have an uneven weld, voids, etc. I only have the AC
buzz box and the tig so I am limited is ways I can correct problems. I
could run the DC inverter tig (powercon 400 smt) as a stick welder but
I don't have the right plug for the electrode holder to fit. I guess I
could scab it somehow.

I tried with 1/8" 6011 rods (had problems maintaining the arc), 1/8"
6013 rods (got the best results) and 1/8" 7014 (not horrible but not as
good as the 6013). That's what I had lying around. Oh yea...I was
running what seemed a little high in amperage (about 150) but was having
problems maintaining the arc at much lower currents. I can lay down a
near perfect bead when working flat. It's the fillets that are giving
me troubles.

I don't have time to actually learn this right so I was hoping that
someone might have some suggestions for an unskilled person who needed
to get through a small job before Monday.

Thanks!

Koz

Thanks. I'll keep practicing with the 6013

I was going to stitch weld it at about 3" on, 6" off. Unfortunately,
the plates these weld to are about 30" x 24" so it's a little tough to
jig up so I am working directly into the corner. I'll try to scab
together something though because it's probably worth the time.

Thanks again,

Koz


R. Zimmerman wrote:

I would go with the 6013 on AC.. If you could use the inverter that would
be my choice with 6013 electrode negative.
If your fillets are a problem why not tilt the plate so that you are
down into a VEE???
150 amps is high for 1/8th electrode. Once the arc is established you
can set the rod on the material with the edge of the flux touching as you
drag it along.
If your seam is long I would stitch weld it, no beads longer than three
or four inches. Skip around to reduce distortion. Often you do not need a
continuous weld. People always are overwelding.
good luck,
Randy

"Koz" wrote in message
...
Hi folks

I am in a bind to do a bunch of fillet welds and found my skills are
quite lacking.

Basically, I am welding a 10 gauge MS channel to the face of a 1/4" MS
plate. the channel has been painted in the past but has been ground
clean in the weld area.

I generally use my tig welder for stuff because I don't do much welding
and it allowes me to produce a fairly good weld with little skill.
However on this project, I need the welds to actually hold and look
fairly good, as well as go more quickly than I could with the tig. I
tried some tests to practice with my (buzz box) stick welder and was
only able to keep a good weld fillet for about 1- 2 inches at a time
before I tended to have an uneven weld, voids, etc. I only have the AC
buzz box and the tig so I am limited is ways I can correct problems. I
could run the DC inverter tig (powercon 400 smt) as a stick welder but
I don't have the right plug for the electrode holder to fit. I guess I
could scab it somehow.

I tried with 1/8" 6011 rods (had problems maintaining the arc), 1/8"
6013 rods (got the best results) and 1/8" 7014 (not horrible but not as
good as the 6013). That's what I had lying around. Oh yea...I was
running what seemed a little high in amperage (about 150) but was having
problems maintaining the arc at much lower currents. I can lay down a
near perfect bead when working flat. It's the fillets that are giving
me troubles.

I don't have time to actually learn this right so I was hoping that
someone might have some suggestions for an unskilled person who needed
to get through a small job before Monday.

Thanks!

Koz

You might have a local mobil welding contractor that could come out there
and mig the parts for you cheaper, better and faster than you think. I
STILL have to learn that I can't do everything on time.


"Koz" wrote in message
...
Hi folks

I am in a bind to do a bunch of fillet welds and found my skills are
quite lacking.

Basically, I am welding a 10 gauge MS channel to the face of a 1/4" MS
plate. the channel has been painted in the past but has been ground
clean in the weld area.

I generally use my tig welder for stuff because I don't do much welding
and it allowes me to produce a fairly good weld with little skill.
However on this project, I need the welds to actually hold and look
fairly good, as well as go more quickly than I could with the tig. I
tried some tests to practice with my (buzz box) stick welder and was
only able to keep a good weld fillet for about 1- 2 inches at a time
before I tended to have an uneven weld, voids, etc. I only have the AC
buzz box and the tig so I am limited is ways I can correct problems. I
could run the DC inverter tig (powercon 400 smt) as a stick welder but
I don't have the right plug for the electrode holder to fit. I guess I
could scab it somehow.

I tried with 1/8" 6011 rods (had problems maintaining the arc), 1/8"
6013 rods (got the best results) and 1/8" 7014 (not horrible but not as
good as the 6013). That's what I had lying around. Oh yea...I was
running what seemed a little high in amperage (about 150) but was having
problems maintaining the arc at much lower currents. I can lay down a
near perfect bead when working flat. It's the fillets that are giving
me troubles.

I don't have time to actually learn this right so I was hoping that
someone might have some suggestions for an unskilled person who needed
to get through a small job before Monday.

Thanks!

Koz