t joint weld prep

[Gizmo2]

I am suprised others havent jumped in here. I have welded a LOT of things over the years. And I consider myself to be a good welder. But I am by no means a professional.

And honestly, I dont think I have ever did the method I mentioned. (6011 root/7018cap). I only stated that because it seems that is what everyone says most of the time:confused2:

You can do what you want. But if you arent a newbie to welding, just do what you are most comfortable with. Because it doesnt matter what rod or method you use, a good weld trumps a poor one. So if you havent ever welded with 6011/7018, your first go at it probabally isnt going to be the best. In which case, I would say a rod you are familiar with would be stronger, or just practice with the 6011/7018 until you feel comfortable enough to tackle your project.

:thumbsup: Very good post. But I also think you have to have a good number of years of welding behind you to appreciate it.

 

[swick1]

Thanks for the advice guys! The ripper turned out great and by the time I got to the last few welds they looked pretty good. I just used 7018 on everything because I wasn't getting very good results with the 6013 rod. It should hold together on my small backhoe.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/220577-john-deere-260-backhoe-ripper-3.html

 

[Shield Arc]

I would have never dreamed of using 6013 on that! I would have headed right over to the rod oven and grabbed some 7018.

 

[grsthegreat]

I AM NOT a professional welder by any means of the imagination, but have been welding things together for about 25 years. After i dumped my ac tombstone and got my first ac/dc machine, my welds improved drastically. I burnt up my old century ac/dc about 10 days ago, and just got my new Miller thunderbolt ac/dc rev polarity machine a few days ago. What a wonderful piece of equipment. I just laid down some beads on some 3/16 plate and angle iron using 7018 on reverse polarity at 110 amps that were beautiful. Like a roll of dimes.

Good penetration too. If yo ever get to use dc and 7018 rod, you'll be amazed at the increase in weld quality.

 

[Gizmo2]

I AM NOT a professional welder by any means of the imagination, but have been welding things together for about 25 years. After i dumped my ac tombstone and got my first ac/dc machine, my welds improved drastically. I burnt up my old century ac/dc about 10 days ago, and just got my new Miller thunderbolt ac/dc rev polarity machine a few days ago. What a wonderful piece of equipment. I just laid down some beads on some 3/16 plate and angle iron using 7018 on reverse polarity at 110 amps that were beautiful. Like a roll of dimes.

Good penetration too. If yo ever get to use dc and 7018 rod, you'll be amazed at the increase in weld quality.

Gave up on AC welding years ago. I have also owned a Miller Thunderbolt for about 34 years. Great little welder.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Every machine has a little bit different setting to give correct amperage. My Miller CC/CV 350 amp AC/DC machine burns 3/32" 7018 rods at 75-90 amp setting with 90 being very hot. 100-125 burns 1/8 rod of any type. I NEVER use anything bigger than 1/8" regardless of thickness in my shop. You can run a 3/8-1/2" fillet weld in one pass with a 1/8 rod without any trouble with trapped slag and it doesnt tax the machine. Not much slower either. I welded professionally for many years as a pipe welder and found that I could fill and cap a weld with 3/32 almost as fast as my buddy using 1/8 & 5/32 E 7018. I would be about a half rod length behind him when we brother in lawed (he did one side and I did the other ) a 24" diameter pipe. To me, that 30-40 seconds was irrelevant in terms of time as my side was much better looking than the larger rod weld. The only difference in time was the amount of time it took to change rods as I had to use a few more rods than he did. This does not necessarily hold true for downhill welding with E6010 as you can carry more metal with larger rods when welding downhill. My welding arsenal consist soley of 1/8 Lincoln brand E 6010, Atom Arc brand 3/32" and 1/8" E 7018. This welds anything I have need to weld in mild steel regardless of thickness. For materials thinner than about .100", I use either my FCAW (I dont have bottle for MIG since I rarely use it) or oxyacetylene torch

 

[Gary Fowler]

One other thing that I saw that was not clearly explained is about pointing your rod away from the puddle. You NEVER do that with any rod in flat position. You can go up to 85 degrees vertical to the weld but never point it backward away from the puddle unless you are welding in vertical up position. You are asking for non fusion and trapped slag if you do that. Ideally on flat welding, you would tilt your rod about 15 degree toward the puddle. If you are welding vertical uphill, then you slant your rod about 15 degress away from the puddle but keep the rod 90 degrees to the sides to avoid undercutting one side of the material. When welding on a horizontal section, you aim your rod into the puddle and slightly pointed toward the top side of the material so more metal is deposited on the top side. This counteracts the effects of gravity somewhat on the horizontal weld. I hope I havent confused anyone too much, kind of hard to explain it without diagrams.

 

[Brushhill dave]

I personally start with a better quality rod say a 10018 or 8018-c3, at work we use alot of t-1 grade tool steel in our pullers. Also your weld should be concentrated where your stress load will occur. In welding a ripper I would focus weld on the ends of the ripper, welding about 3-4" around the ends and a 3" fillet down each side.