Stick Welder Hall of Fame ...

[JerryK]

If, somewhere on the planet, there is a Stick Welder Hall of Fame...... there should be a corresponding Stick Welder Hall of Shame ... I respectfully enter my name for the latter. Good wishes do not overcome no talent or no patience with stuff thinner than 1/8". Someday I am going to have to get me a wire feed.... [ sniff ]

 

[Rebeldad1]

not sure where you are going with this....
a stick welder is pretty much useless on sheet metal even with smaller than 1/8" rod.
With all the stuff you have listed a wire feed would pair well with them...

 

[cqaigy2]

It's funny, when i think back. Now this was many years ago, so i maybe a bit vague, but i seem to remember, i'd grab a stick when welding dirty or heavy. But i do remember using a big portable reel with long heavy leads, you crank that amps way up and used a knob on the reel to vary the wire speed. Wire was heavy gauge flux cored. Used it on heavy structural pieces on buildings, typically one pass.

 

[gsganzer]

I've actually had some pretty good success lately welding 14ga. with 3/32" 6011, polarity DCEP and amps will range from 55 to 62. You have to quickly establish a puddle and then move pretty fast, weaving the electrode into the puddle and then ahead, in-line with the travel. And don't be afraid to stop the weld if it's getting too hot and you think it will blow a hole. Easier to let it cool and then restart, rather than blow a hole and fight with filling it.

 

[JerryK]

I tried 1/16" 7014 at 60 amps with my old Lincoln AC [ home made diodes hooked up EP ] .... Worked OK if I got on got off fast, sort of spot welding. But, with my usual competence, I had several holes to fill in butt welding some thin stuff... Just no patience. Getting better helmets and flame retardant jackets does not help my old eyes and lack welding skills.... Just too much of a farm type welder

 

[BrokenTrack]

Stick welding is great, if only because it is a more difficult welding skill to master, but if a person learns that, then they have less trouble with the other processes that are much easier to master.

95% of the students we get have no background whatsoever in the industry, nor have they ever struck and arc before using anything, so we start them with stick. In part because of what I just said, but also because it is a process that all welding shops have as a weld certification requirement. One of the shipyards we have an affiliation with, uses stick for 70% of what they weld, which is US Navy Submarines.

 

[fried1765]

Stick welding is great, if only because it is a more difficult welding skill to master, but if a person learns that, then they have less trouble with the other processes that are much easier to master.

95% of the students we get have no background whatsoever in the industry, nor have they ever struck and arc before using anything, so we start them with stick. In part because of what I just said, but also because it is a process that all welding shops have as a weld certification requirement. One of the shipyards we have an affiliation with, uses stick for 70% of what they weld, which is US Navy Submarines.

General Dynamics builds subs near you, at Bath Iron Works?
I thought they built only surface vessels at Bath, and Nuc subs at Groton, CT.

 

[BrokenTrack]

General Dynamics builds subs near you, at Bath Iron Works?
I thought they built only surface vessels at Bath, and Nuc subs at Groton, CT.

You are indeed correct, but the US Navy rebuilds submarines at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. They do mostly stick welding there.

 

[MH8675309]

Stick welding is great, if only because it is a more difficult welding skill to master, but if a person learns that, then they have less trouble with the other processes that are much easier to master.

95% of the students we get have no background whatsoever in the industry, nor have they ever struck and arc before using anything, so we start them with stick. In part because of what I just said, but also because it is a process that all welding shops have as a weld certification requirement. One of the shipyards we have an affiliation with, uses stick for 70% of what they weld, which is US Navy Submarines.

Agree 100% and have said this for years, Very similar to learning to drive a vehicle - with a stick shift. Ive met lots of people who can drive an automatic but cant drive a manual. There isnt much you cant drive if you know how to drive a stick shift.

 

[JerryK]

Agree 100% and have said this for years, Very similar to learning to drive a vehicle - with a stick shift. Ive met lots of people who can drive an automatic but cant drive a manual. There isnt much you cant drive if you know how to drive a stick shift.

I have been driving stick shifts since time began, back when we used to rub sticks together to start cooking fires..... [ still no patience welding thin stuff ] Got the door beat fairly straight, somewhat welded together, covered in black paint, and back on the machine.. Not proud of the welds, but works. Thank God for no close up pictures and black paint....

 

[k0ua]

You can make some beautiful welds with some 1/16 7014 or 6013 on 1/8 inch steel sheet metal. You need a DC stick welder and you need to set the current correctly. not some old welder that has switch setting of too hot and too cold. You need precise control of the current. Practice on some same size scrap first, but the results can be very good. I have done it and you can too.

 

[yomax4]

You can make some beautiful welds with some 1/16 7014 or 6013 on 1/8 inch steel sheet metal. You need a DC stick welder and you need to set the current correctly. not some old welder that has switch setting of too hot and too cold. You need precise control of the current. Practice on some same size scrap first, but the results can be very good. I have done it and you can too.

I love those little stick rods. And yes with the right hand, you can do body work. I'm not the right hand but I have seen it done.

 

[dragoneggs]

I’ve tried both hands with little success. MIG is a blessing for less than 1/8in material. Still looking forward to learning TIG though.

 

[k0ua]

I’ve tried both hands with little success. MIG is a blessing for less than 1/8in material. Still looking forward to learning TIG though.

If you have welded any time with gas, then TIG is a lot like that, only the Heat Affected Zone is more precise. But they are very similar.

 

[Jstpssng]

I "know a guy" who had to shrink a set of ladder racks from an F150 to fit a Ford Ranger. He welded them up good enough to work, then cleaned up his joints with JB Weld to make them more presentable. The only bad part was when he opened a new box of rods. The older rods must have been a little damp because when I burned that first new rod using the same settings it blew a hole right through the square tubing.
They've been on the truck for 5 years...

 

[rew1953]

Eastwood used to make a sheet metal attachment for a stick welder. It used 1/16 rods that were set in the gun holder with a set screw. The unit had a pistol grip like a wire feed gun, but the top was a large diode that ossilated the rod in and out of the weld puddle. The rod movement was determined by amps on the welder. It ran from 35 amps to 65 amps. It worked very well down to 16 ga, but that was about as low as I could go without perforation. I used 6013 rods with good success. 6011 rods not so good. I wonder if they still make them, or if it died with the MIG rage.

 

[CADplans]

Clamp a piece of copper behind the steel being welded,,
the thin sheetmetal will weld like it is 3/8" thick,,, (10mm outside the USA!! LOL!!! )

The copper is not consumed, use it over, and over,,

I have welded 0.060" (1.5mm) thick steel with 1/8" 7014 rod,, I am not brave enough to try 7018,, but, I think it may possibly work.

No crazy low amp settings,, actually normal settings work best, it helps to melt the rod quickly, so you can travel fast,,
Occasionally, I will get the weld to stick to the copper,, but, that is seldom,,

I have a mig welder for my Miller Trailblazer,, it has been in the attic of my shed for over a decade,, I even have 3 tanks of different gas types.
but, as long as I can get to the back of the part being welded,, I clamp a piece of copper,, and weld.

Most of my copper is about 1/8" thick, easy to cut, easy to bend, I do have some pieces up to 1/2",, I use when clamping to try to make the steel flatter,,

I even add hard face weld to tiller tines, using 1/8" rod (that is what Amazon had).
The tines turned out beautiful, the weld fuses to the steel, and just sets on the copper, no bond to the copper at all.
I can make a nice sharp, extended, tine out of the worn out old "stump".

I have done two sets of Troy Bilt Horse tines,, and worn out both,, I just purchased a third set last season,, pre hard-faced.

I will weld those in about 4-6 seasons from now,, if I am still gardening,,

 

[dstig1]

General Dynamics builds subs near you, at Bath Iron Works?
I thought they built only surface vessels at Bath, and Nuc subs at Groton, CT.

You are indeed correct, but the US Navy rebuilds submarines at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. They do mostly stick welding there.

They also do some nuc sub work in Providence in addition to Groton, but Bath is only surface ships. Who does the work at Portsmouth? I assume it is some company like GD or Newport News that actually does the work for the navy,