Welder question...

[Gary Fowler]

Those 7018 rods I welded that hook on my Kioti have never seen the inside of a rod oven. Yes, they are stored in a gasketed plastic rod holder in the basement. Not a rod oven by any means. And they seem to weld pretty good to me. I am not going to leave them out in the rain, but for the kind of welding we do around the place, the plastic rod holder seems to be just fine.

Not the best thing to do, but I have used 7018 that were stored in an old refrigerator (no heat or light bulb). I would just stick them briefly allowing them to heat up and drive out the moisture and they welded OK. I worked repairs on the farm when young, I learned to weld in Ag shop in 9th grade, using an AC Lincoln buzzbox. I even used it to build a couple of 8x40 foot cotton hauling trailers that we used for years with not repairs needed. I worked in construction for 45 years welding TIG and SMAW mostly with just a smidgen of MIG (mostly just playing around with it). When I retired and bought my own welding machine, I got a used Miller AC/DC industrial grade machine and a Phoenix 350# rod storage oven, both from a shop that was going out of business. While no way is it portable, likely weighs 300+ pounds, but it welds very well for stick rod. I like to use 7018 for most welds after using 6010 for tacking up parts or for running a root pass. I do have a 90 amp MIG machine made by Airco that was given to me by a welding supplier because they couldn't get it to work. It is an old transformer style machine that weighs 50# of more but I got it to work years ago but never really used it. I prefer to use stick rod for welding. I have a small assortment of welding rods that work for me for most applications. I have nothing smaller than 3/32" diameter but have some 6011 for AC/DC use, 6013 when I dont want a lot of penetration like on thin sheet metal, 3/32 and 1/8 E 7018 and a few 1/8 7010+. These combos allow me to weld anything I need to on my little farm.

A pipe welder friend has offered to bring me one of his spare TIG rigs next time he comes to visit so I guess I will look for an Argon bottle to use it with. Much of my pipe welding was done using TIG but I haven't done any in over 30 years now so I might be a little rusty, might even hook it to my Airco MIG machine.

So far in the last 10 years I have done all I need with my stick machine and oxy-acetylene rig but it will be nice to have the TIG.

My suggestion for the OP is to start with a DC stick machine and learn the basics of puddle control. Many beginner MIG welders dont know how to watch the puddle to get proper weld fusion to both pieces and thus have poor welds that break easily. There is much more to MIG /FCAW welding than just pulling the trigger on the gun.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Not the best thing to do, but I have used 7018 that were stored in an old refrigerator (no heat or light bulb). I would just stick them briefly allowing them to heat up and drive out the moisture and they welded OK. I worked repairs on the farm when young, I learned to weld in Ag shop in 9th grade, using an AC Lincoln buzzbox. I even used it to build a couple of 8x40 foot cotton hauling trailers that we used for years with not repairs needed. I worked in construction for 45 years welding TIG and SMAW mostly with just a smidgen of MIG (mostly just playing around with it). When I retired and bought my own welding machine, I got a used Miller AC/DC industrial grade machine and a Phoenix 350# rod storage oven, both from a shop that was going out of business. While no way is it portable, likely weighs 300+ pounds, but it welds very well for stick rod. I like to use 7018 for most welds after using 6010 for tacking up parts or for running a root pass. I do have a 90 amp MIG machine made by Airco that was given to me by a welding supplier because they couldn't get it to work. It is an old transformer style machine that weighs 50# of more but I got it to work years ago but never really used it. I prefer to use stick rod for welding. I have a small assortment of welding rods that work for me for most applications. I have nothing smaller than 3/32" diameter but have some 6011 for AC/DC use, 6013 when I dont want a lot of penetration like on thin sheet metal, 3/32 and 1/8 E 7018 and a few 1/8 7010+. These combos allow me to weld anything I need to on my little farm.

A pipe welder friend has offered to bring me one of his spare TIG rigs next time he comes to visit so I guess I will look for an Argon bottle to use it with. Much of my pipe welding was done using TIG but I haven't done any in over 30 years now so I might be a little rusty, might even hook it to my Airco MIG machine.

So far in the last 10 years I have done all I need with my stick machine and oxy-acetylene rig but it will be nice to have the TIG.

My suggestion for the OP is to start with a DC stick machine and learn the basics of puddle control. Many beginner MIG welders dont know how to watch the puddle to get proper weld fusion to both pieces and thus have poor welds that break easily. There is much more to MIG /FCAW welding than just pulling the trigger on the gun.

Gary, you backed up my dialog very well. Problem I have with 7018 is doing position welding with it. It is really a flat position rod for me. I keep going back to 6014, it works well on both AC and DC. My HS was a Technical school, we spent 4 hours a day in the shop class. That one semester of welding was pretty intensive; burned/melted a lot of rod plus the theory classes. We learned how to service a big Acetylene Generator as the shop supply. Held a charge of 50# of carbide at a time. Were you a pipeliner or building trades welder? Mine was all UA building trades as fitter/welder. Welding kept me on the job after all the welders were laid off, as the only welder capable fitter. I was also a refrigeration fitter/service tech and instrumentation fitter. Did it all. Lot of water under the bridge at 84.

Cheers, Ron

 

[Richard]

It sounds as though the class your trade school is talking about is to become a certified welder. I doubt you need that.

Indeed, that is/was the case. This was also why they would have wanted (mandated) me to sign a disclosure form that I only took the class for educational purposes, NOT for job training. This way I won't impact their job placement statistics.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to go this route (if anything). I've got a neighbor that would probably teach me... Then again, I'd not be scared to just jump into something however, I feel someone needs a certain amount of base knowledge prior to jumping in cold (stick, tig, mig, other.... since I know nothing about those and where/when they'd be used, this is what I mean about some base level of education so one is at lease, in the ballpark)

 

[Trafficman]

Richard,
I took a class 2 years ago at the local Community College Continuing Ed Class. 6hrs 1day/week for 12-13 weeks for ~$500. 1st semester was Intro to SMAW/GMAW (Stick/Mig/Tig). We got 9 weeks of Stick; 1 class of Mig; the rest was Tig. Worth every penny! 2nd Class was Stick/Tig. There was no class for Mig. I bought a HF to get me started and burned through the flux cored wire very quickly. It works fine for LIGHT welding, anything more the 16Ga steel will not get good penetration/fusion. I switched over to the Lincoln and was amased at the difference in the quality of the welds. Definitely worth the few extra pennys for the Lincoln. I took the courses with my son, he wanted to be a welder & is now becoming a machinist/welder. I recently bought a Miller 220 (~$3000 new) because I will have the need for Tig. Tig is used mostly for Stainless steel & sheetmetal. I have a 1982 Carver 3607 (40ft boat) the needs new Exhaust risers. Those are ~$10000 per engine (I have 2 International 9.0L diesels), the hull isn't worth that much, so I have to make them myself. So the Miller 220 makes sense for me.
If you get your own welder, take a class or 2 from your local community college, then you'll know a lot more about what you need and if you have the aptitude for it. So things jut don't come naturally. I can't do fiberglass to save my soul no matter how many times I've tried. It just doesn't make sense to me and ALWAYS looks like a lumpy bumpy pile of crap. I farm it out and do what I can do better.

T-Man