Welding Rods for beginners

[MinnesotaDaveChalmers]

7014 and 6011 are two of the best rods to have around, 7014 is a strong rod, great for tacking, welding on clean-ish steel. 6011 is a good rod to have for welding over crap, rust etc, and best for filling gaps, it can weld down beads or up, also good for cutting steel if no torch. When my last stick welder burnt up I was in the mist of trying to find out what's the difference between 6010 and 6011 rods, what little I used 6010, I didn't notice much difference, when I buy another stick machine I'll re-test the two.

Now a ? for the welder extraordinaire on here, what do the numbers mean in 6011 and 7014 or which number means All Position?

The second to last being a "1" is all position (but not necessarily vertical down)
A "2" in that position is flat/horizontal only, such as a 7024.

This chart from AWS may be helpful as well:

 

[Whatswrong]

I guess everyone develops their own comfort zone ,I don't find 7014 any more all position than 7024 but I like plenty of heat for penetration ,maybe if I went a lot colder it would be different . I use 7014 almost always and go out of my way to get in a horizontal position .
Back to the original post as I said in the "farm weld thread ",practice ,practice , practice . I'm soon 70 ,shake a bit and poorer vision make it testing. You will get the knack of it .

 

[daugen]

I lined up my practice pieces ready to go, been sidetracked on a big delivery of trees to be planted.
Plus it just recently warmed up enough. I hope to be practice welding next week. Thanks for all advice.

 

[Pixguy]

I lined up my practice pieces ready to go, been sidetracked on a big delivery of trees to be planted. Plus it just recently warmed up enough. I hope to be practice welding next week. Thanks for all advice.

Good luck Drew, I'm starting about the same time as you but all I've done 90% of the time is stick my rod to the steel using both 6011 & 7018. It may be my weak 80a welder or my bad skills....

 

[bigtiller]

I gave up trying to start 6011. Now I tack everything with 7014 then weld with 6011. I just bought an auto darkening hood, I'm hoping will reduce my stuck starts also.

 

[PJSprog]

I lined up my practice pieces ready to go, been sidetracked on a big delivery of trees to be planted.
Plus it just recently warmed up enough. I hope to be practice welding next week. Thanks for all advice.

I've been gathering scrap pieces at work, and need to bring them home for practice as well. Working for a tube fabrication company has been very beneficial for this new learning process. Not to mention the two dozen welders we have on staff whose brains I get to pick. Taking full advantage of that, I am.

 

[spursjingles]

7014 is best. 6013 I call candle wax. Great for sheetmetal due to low amps

 

[stihlman]

I would also suggest using 7014 to get the feel of starting the arc and getting used to holding correct arc length and travel speed. It is a forgiving rod for beginners and is a good rod to have around, better than 6013 IMHO. Then move on to 6010 or 6011 and learn the aggressive nature of these high penetration rods. If you can make good welds with these the 7018 will be no problem. Good luck and have fun

 

[Oldpath05]

Before I had mig, I tack all my stuff with 3/32 7014, just lay it on the work and it starts. Then I went to 1/8 or 3/16 7014, it's not a penetrating rod but still makes a strong/fast low spatter weld.

 

[daugen]

finished a lot of the grunt work cleaning up my mower deck. I am left with about half a dozen one to three inch long cracks in the deck top
similar to this pic. In some cases a heavy reinforcing steel plate goes on top so I suppose I don't have to fix the cracks underneath but...

so...on a crack like this, suggestions? I ground the metal down around the cracks but still a dirty area, rust inside no matter what how much I clean the top.
I figured I would just run a bead down the length of the crack. Anything more complicated than that???

fun pic of the metal shavings when I was done cutting.

 

[LD1]

Drill a small hole at the end of each crack first. Prevents the crack from spreading

 

[k0ua]

Drill a small hole at the end of each crack first. Prevents the crack from spreading

Yes, and V out the crack some with your angle grinder wheel so your bead gets down a little deeper.

 

[daugen]

got it, easy to do, like cleaning out a tooth cavity...

I really don't have to be a perfectionist here because whoever who used this deck before just brutalized it.
This will be a showpiece frankly, there aren't many Gravely wing mowers out there. And I have two...
now for a seriously cool project, I'd like to weld/fab/build a custom towing bracket and have a 50 plus 2 40 inch wing mowers
all going at once. Maybe....but always wanted to take that to my local Grange Fair.
I have almost eight acres of lawn and short fields; I could actually use a big mower like that in a few areas.
Whoever owned this before must have hit every tree on his property every week.

drill and edge grind, I can do that. thanks

 

[daugen]

I have finished making the new metal to cover the holes and add strength. Not trying to be exact original but not too far off. Will look like a fabbed deck...all the rage right?
what rods would you all recommend for the cracks and for welding this metal to the not perfectly clean metal underneath? Plus I'm sure I have to put some tack welds in the middle; two pieces of flat metal on top of each other. I will have them clamped tightly for sure. Never done this before so suggestions welcome.

I do have one more cut to make on that one long piece, odd angle.

 

[void777]

weld both sides of the crack and as said drill 1/8 holes at the ends of the cracks if you just put a plate on top and not weld underneath moisture will rot underneath your doubler plate after welding bottom grind smooth so as clippings don't stack up on the weld.

 

[yomax4]

I'm not a stick welder but easy rod for this job could be 6013. Although any type rod will work fine. Everyone has their favorite. Run a couple beads with several types and find your favorite for this application.

 

[void777]

If the metal you are using to patch with is galvanize drink milk or eat ice cream after your finished helps to seatle your gut

 

[k0ua]

If the metal you are using to patch with is galvanize drink milk or eat ice cream after your finished helps to seatle your gut

While I have heard that advice several times to combat the zinc poisoning from welding galvanized steel, I think an even better advice when and if you absolutely have to weld galvanized metal is to weld it outside, and keep a fan blowing the smoke away and make sure your head is not in the smoke plume.
The very few times I have had to weld galvanized steel, I have used a fan outdoors, and seem to totally avoid the "fume fever" from welding such metal.

If you can avoid welding galvanized metal you can avoid the problem, if you cannot avoid it, then avoid the smoke, and I guess if you get sick, try the milk.

 

[GLyford]

For mild steel I 2nd the idea of pretty much anything. I would use whatever you have on hand and like to run, 6010, 6011, 6013, 7014, 7018, 7018ac, 309, 316, 316L, 99ni...for me, that's usually 7014.

 

[k0ua]

For mild steel I 2nd the idea of pretty much anything. I would use whatever you have on hand and like to run, 6010, 6011, 6013, 7014, 7018, 7018ac, 309, 316, 316L, 99ni...for me, that's usually 7014.

I would second the motion that the 7014 is hard to beat for filling holes and cracks, It is a high deposition rate and seems to me to "wet out" better than some. In any case it is what I grab when wanting to fill a hole. Although anything could be used.