6013 is a piece of cake on clean steel.

For a fillet weld with one leg vertical and 6013 try these settings and
angles:
Rod tipped 15 degrees into direction of travel (dragging not pushing)
Rod 30 to 35 degrees off of the horizontal surface (pushing the puddle
into the vertical piece.
Tip of the rod 1 diameter from the work
110 amps on 1/8" (3mm) rod)
75 amps on 3/32" rod
length of weld should be 1/2 to 2/3rds the length of the rod consumed.
no weave, watch the puddle, make sure it flows to both surfaces. Move
that way if it doesn't.


Christopher Tidy wrote:
Grant Erwin wrote:

Christopher Tidy wrote:

Hi all,

I've been using a stick welder for occasional hobby projects for
about 9 years now (the welder is a Cytringan Bantam 180 amp
oil-cooled unit). I've mastered butt welds and can achieve an even
bead with neat restarts, but I can't quite get fillets right. I've
tried varying the current, moving the electrode slowly up and down,
following the instructions regarding angle in my welding book etc.,
but my fillets still contain small slag inclusions. I'm using E 6013
electrodes and 3-5 mm thick 43A mild steel plate (these might both be
British-only standards). Now I find that I'm designing my projects so
as to avoid fillet welds. Can anyone suggest how to improve my fillet
welds, or do I just need more practice?



Isn't 6013 a drag rod?


I don't think 6013 is intended as a drag rod. It doesn't say so on the
packet, and the flux is thinner than that on a 7018 rod. I was given
some 7018 rods when I first started welding, but found them very hard to
use, so I talked to the guy at the welding store and bought 6013.
Apparently 7018 is best with a DC machine. I have about 10 kg of 6013 so
I'd like to learn to use them for fillets.

Try no weave at all, just a straight motion right down the axis. Watch
the puddle, not the arc. Remember, a fillet weld requires a bit more
current than a flat weld because the current has to flow two ways.


Ah! A guy told me the opposite, because "you want to weld more slowly to
give you time to spread the metal around", or some such argument. Maybe
he didn't know what he was talking about? I'll try turning up the
current a notch.

Make sure your puddle flows evenly on both sides of the fillet.


If one plate is horizontal and the other vertical, how do you stop the
weld pool from forming predominantly on the horizontal plate due to the
action of gravity? Roughly what horizontal and vertical electrode angles
should I be using?

Many thanks for your advice.

Chris