what steel?

fiddleback · Jun 9, 2006

I'm planning on picking up an arc welder cause my 110v mig doesn't penetrate enough but i'm plannig on making my own bucket, a combonation grapple with the bucket portion being a series of slotted channels. I'm doing this because I want to sift the larger stones from the dirt. Its very rocky where I live (mostly 5" and under) and I could really use the stone for lots and lots of other projects. Then when not using that I can use the grapple portion for transporting logs to my mill. I expect some of you have a better idea for the sifting so please post back with your different idea to maybe steer me better, but can you folks answer a few questions about the welding portion?
1 When going to the steel mill, what type/grade of steel am I looking for? Hot rolled/cold rolled, letter/number systems get confusing.
2 What welding rods should I use? High school was some time ago.
I'm not looking to put together the Amazing stuff I've seen in this discussion forum, Just something to get me through that utilizes the rollback feature etc. Also, all this will be accomplished with o/a (no plasma cutter available) Thanks in advance Tom

fiddleback · Jun 9, 2006

I'm planning on picking up an arc welder cause my 110v mig doesn't penetrate enough but i'm plannig on making my own bucket, a combonation grapple with the bucket portion being a series of slotted channels. I'm doing this because I want to sift the larger stones from the dirt. Its very rocky where I live (mostly 5" and under) and I could really use the stone for lots and lots of other projects. Then when not using that I can use the grapple portion for transporting logs to my mill. I expect some of you have a better idea for the sifting so please post back with your different idea to maybe steer me better, but can you folks answer a few questions about the welding portion?
1 When going to the steel mill, what type/grade of steel am I looking for? Hot rolled/cold rolled, letter/number systems get confusing.
2 What welding rods should I use? High school was some time ago.
I'm not looking to put together the Amazing stuff I've seen in this discussion forum, Just something to get me through that utilizes the rollback feature etc. Also, all this will be accomplished with o/a (no plasma cutter available) Thanks in advance Tom

Moemoe · Jun 10, 2006

Can't really tell you what steel to use will let some of the experts here explain that, but I would recomend 7018 rod. It has a high tensil stength rateing and is an all postion rod. Ive used it on alot of my projects and have never had a weld failure and it also gives a nice finished bead.

Moemoe · Jun 10, 2006

Can't really tell you what steel to use will let some of the experts here explain that, but I would recomend 7018 rod. It has a high tensil stength rateing and is an all postion rod. Ive used it on alot of my projects and have never had a weld failure and it also gives a nice finished bead.

MadReferee · Jun 10, 2006

Most buckets are made from mild steel, CRS. You should be able to get this anywhere and not cost you an arm and a leg. Speciality steels will be rather expensive so I would stick with mild steel.

I don't do much stick welding (just mig and tig) but I think rods in the 601x series should work just fine for you.

MadReferee · Jun 10, 2006

Most buckets are made from mild steel, CRS. You should be able to get this anywhere and not cost you an arm and a leg. Speciality steels will be rather expensive so I would stick with mild steel.

I don't do much stick welding (just mig and tig) but I think rods in the 601x series should work just fine for you.

bobodu · Jun 10, 2006

I envision using the grapple to do the sifting,using angle iron with the wide side facing forward.Doing it this way would allow you to put the dirt and stones seperately wherever you want and allow the bucket to be used for either later.If you want the dirt to stay,just tilt the bucket and sift in reverse.
As for rods...I make a root pass with 6011 and cover with 7014.

bobodu · Jun 10, 2006

I envision using the grapple to do the sifting,using angle iron with the wide side facing forward.Doing it this way would allow you to put the dirt and stones seperately wherever you want and allow the bucket to be used for either later.If you want the dirt to stay,just tilt the bucket and sift in reverse.
As for rods...I make a root pass with 6011 and cover with 7014.

Bill_C · Jun 10, 2006

For most general projects, a low-carbon steel will be fine. This is also called mild steel, and has designations such as 1018, 1020, 1022. The last two digits indicate the carbon percentage, in the low 20's or below is low-carbon steel. It's easy to weld.

Medium-carbon steel such as 1040 and 1045 is stronger but it's harder to weld (as well as being more expensive). 1040 or 1045 is used typically for shafting. The shafting is usually cold-rolled (CRS) which meets fairly tight dimensional tolerances; the cold drawing also contributes to its strength. The higher carbon content allows the shaft to be heat-treated if necessary.

For general use, such as brackets, supports, even frames, hot-rolled steel (HRS) is fine and less expensive. For a grapple, you may get by with low-carbon steel but if it's going to be highly stressed you may wish to go with a higher-carbon steel. Welding it can involve preheating though I'm not an expert on welding medium-carbon steels.

6011 electrodes probably would be fine, again though if it's highly stressed you may need a 701x rod. Be aware the low-hydrogen 701x rods should either be used immediately or stored in a special storage oven after the package is open. And some of these are not all-position. Check the Lincoln Electric site under Consumables, they've almost got too many chices but there's lots of good info there.

Bill_C · Jun 10, 2006

For most general projects, a low-carbon steel will be fine. This is also called mild steel, and has designations such as 1018, 1020, 1022. The last two digits indicate the carbon percentage, in the low 20's or below is low-carbon steel. It's easy to weld.

Medium-carbon steel such as 1040 and 1045 is stronger but it's harder to weld (as well as being more expensive). 1040 or 1045 is used typically for shafting. The shafting is usually cold-rolled (CRS) which meets fairly tight dimensional tolerances; the cold drawing also contributes to its strength. The higher carbon content allows the shaft to be heat-treated if necessary.

For general use, such as brackets, supports, even frames, hot-rolled steel (HRS) is fine and less expensive. For a grapple, you may get by with low-carbon steel but if it's going to be highly stressed you may wish to go with a higher-carbon steel. Welding it can involve preheating though I'm not an expert on welding medium-carbon steels.

6011 electrodes probably would be fine, again though if it's highly stressed you may need a 701x rod. Be aware the low-hydrogen 701x rods should either be used immediately or stored in a special storage oven after the package is open. And some of these are not all-position. Check the Lincoln Electric site under Consumables, they've almost got too many chices but there's lots of good info there.