What am I doing wrong?

[yomax4]

Back in the day I was working for a company called JW Harris. It was great filler metal company before Lincoln bought it. We had just bought and were making cored wire. Mostly 70C6 and 71T-1. The owner was always tinkering with silvers and fluxes and he came up with this cored wire called 20 gauge. It was .030 and .035 but the 030 ran the best. It was a Metal core wire that was deigned to run on short arc. It would run on CO2 or 75/25 and would weld through rust grease and paint with no spatter. The beauty of it is it would run beads on 20 gauge material and you could turn it down and make tiny little welds. Much smaller than we could do with .023. Lincoln bought the company, Killed a bunch of products and all the sles guys vacated. Just curious if anyone ever got a hold of any 20 gauge wire. It had a shotgun on the box.

 

[Pilot]

Still here, reading all the comments--thanks for all the posts. I know very little about stick welding, and here I just learned a lot.
Thanks again for all the info. Going to the scrap yard to pick up some thicker metal!

 

[dragoneggs]

Still here, reading all the comments--thanks for all the posts. I know very little about stick welding, and here I just learned a lot.
Thanks again for all the info. Going to the scrap yard to pick up some thicker metal!

Definitely easier to practice/learn on a little thicker metal. Make sure you have good vision of the puddle. If you are like me, I upped my game when I realized I needed to wear glasses when welding. Went to the LWS and got some 'cheaters' for my helmet. That and the right shade will allow you to really see the melted metal and your work. Good luck!

 

[Tractor Seabee]

What you have heard here is all good stuff. Everybody has to develop their own technique based on what works best for them. The how is not as important as the end result. I run hotter than most but there are compensations you have to do. Puddle control at full penetration is the key. As a fitter for welders I had many tell me " don't blame the fit up, just weld it". An extra wide spot in the bevel gap just takes an extra filler pass or two. Xray quality you better have a good fit-up with an even groove. We used a turning machine when ever one was available or a torch beveling jig. As a pipe fitter I could keep two welders going if conditions were good. They had to do their own cleaning. My philosophy was; they are responsible for weld quality, not me, its their stamp on it.

Ron

 

[California]

Question: I have a couple of chunks of 3/8 aluminum plate. Is this usable as a substitute for the copper heat sinks described above, welding very thin material?

 

[Industrial Toys]

How would you know if you have gone too light in your lense or electronic setting? Is this setting the same for all current settings or do you need a darker setting for /hotter welding?

 

[Tractor Seabee]

How would you know if you have gone too light in your lense or electronic setting? Is this setting the same for all current settings or do you need a darker setting for /hotter welding?

I use a #10 setting across the board. Higher arc settings do not seem to make any difference. From what I know an arc temperature is a fixed value, what changes is the base metal temperature.

Ron

 

[Industrial Toys]

So why the possibility of adjustment?

 

[4570Man]

So why the possibility of adjustment?

I don’t like my auto dark hood. I’ve welded with a couple others and I don’t like them either. I can weld better with old style glass hood. I don’t remember if it’s a 10 or 12.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Can you explain? I can't see bugger all. A cheater lense helped, and light isn't the issue.