Welding drill stem

[TEXHORN]

I've been lurking around the board, learning, for a while but have never posted.

Time has come to get a welder. I am leaning towards Everlast. My question is that I will mainly use it to weld used drill stem (fences, pens, chicken coop). I'm in the middle of the oil fields in Texas so plenty available. They can be rusty and magnetized. Is there one welder that will perform better then the other? Tips or tricks you can share.

Thanks

 

[Shield Arc]

The PA-200 is fantastic with 6010! But if you can afford to buy the PA-300 you'll get adjustable hot start, and adjustable arc force.

 

[Shield Arc]

Far as the magnetized pipe, an easy way to counter it is an AC welding machine with 6011. With a DC only welding machine couple tricks. First thing I'd do is wrap the ground lead around the pipe 4 or 5 times. If that doesn't work change directions of the wrapping. If that doesn't work, heat the weld zone to a dull red with a torch. I've spliced about a bazillion H-piles after being driven. All the corners in a H-beam will give you arc blow on the best of days, but after being driven they can be a nightmare to weld.

 

[DXN1EL]

The PA-200 is fantastic with 6010! But if you can afford to buy the PA-300 you'll get adjustable hot start, and adjustable arc force.

X2 on the PA-300 I love mine. The hot start and arc force are great no sticking even for a completely rookie like me

 

[Arc weld]

You're probably only going to be using using smaller dia. rods so it might not pose too much of a problem. If it does, experiment with Shield arc's suggestions. You should be able to use a DC machine. I mistakenly welded a piece of 4" drill stem in to repair a drilling rig. The night shift foreman caught it and replaced it. I asked a laborer to find me a short piece of 4" pipe and he brought back a piece of drill stem, except I never knew it was drill stem. I cut it to length on a big chop saw. It didn't weld too bad and I was using 3/16" 7018 but enough I thought it could have been drill stem. The foreman was real good and didn't blame me. It took about 1/2 an hour to fix. After that they started marking the drill stem and putting it in a separate location from the other short pieces of pipe. Lots of fences made out of drill stem with DC portable welders.

 

[cowski]

for rusty and magnetized pipe ,my preference would be a ac welder and 6011 rods.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

The worst thing about welding used drill stem is you have no clue where it has been or what it was used for. I know that you don't take a load of drill stem ends etc to a reputable scrap yard because they won't accept it without testing it for radiation. You wouldn't want a bunch of biohazard material around your house but with used drill stem you might be having something as bad if not worse.

Heavily magnetized material might take a bead but there are a lot of stories about it fracturing at the HAZ afterwards. Some old boys out in west Texas were sharing nightmares about welding H fixtures with it and they all had stories about the joint breaking, usually with a loud pop either during the welding or immediately afterwards doing the cool down. I never changed my welding machine, only use dc, when welding magnetized, I just accepted it was going to be a nightmare for the first couple of inches. I also never laid out a joint structurally where a break would cause a disaster when working with magnetized material.

For the reader not understanding the issue of welding magnetized, consider this. You are using a torch to weld and you have a strong wind blowing your flame away from one side or the other. You can never get the same heat on both sides at the same time. It can be frustrating when you watch your arc and puddle on one side refuse to get near the other side.

 

[Gary Fowler]

If you use 60xx rods on drill stem you will likely end up with a fractured weld. You need to use 7018 or higher grade of low hydrogen rods to weld that with. I don't think any welding machine will weld magnetized and work hardened material any better than another one. Just need to get one with the current capacity that you will be needing. I would not mess with any 110V machines even the inverter machines work better in 220V and have higher amp and duty cycles than the 110V ones. Lots of folks have used the 110v with satisfaction but they are not for heavy duty work like welding large diameter drill stem where you need 75+ amps and long duration in welding time.

 

[IslandTractor]

I've never welded either drill stem (what exactly is it??) or magnetized material. Given Harv's description though, why wouldn't oxyfuel be the best way to weld magnetized material???

 

[IslandTractor]

Just found this blurb in a 1988 Texas Monthly article about drill stem fencing:

"So now you’re convinced, right, and you want a drill-stem fence on your little ranch. Where do you get one? Well, first you need to know something else: These fences are not made with real drill stem. To quote Robert Brown, a former tool pusher for Gage and Moore, of Fort Worth, “A drill-stem fence? What do you got—elephants? Man, drill stem weighs two hundred pounds a foot. They call it drill stem, but what they use in them fences and barns and metal buildings is tubing.” Whatever it’s called, its fundamental purpose is to drill oil wells. The drill stem, which is about 4 inches in diameter, makes the hole; another pipe, called casing, sets the hole; the tubing, 2 3/8 inches or slightly larger in diameter, goes inside the casing; and the sucker rod works up and down inside the tubing to pump the oil or gas out. Never mind if you didn’t get all that; just order tubing when you build your fence."