what steel?

[fiddleback]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[wushaw]

I'm no expert but IMO I would go with the mild steel like already said ( it's readily available) and 6011 rods also available everywhere, it's considered the farmers rod ( all purpose )

 

[wushaw]

I'm no expert but IMO I would go with the mild steel like already said ( it's readily available) and 6011 rods also available everywhere, it's considered the farmers rod ( all purpose )

 

[fiddleback]

thanks folks. Theres plenty of info there to get me well on my way Thanks again

 

[fiddleback]

thanks folks. Theres plenty of info there to get me well on my way Thanks again

 

[Highbeam]

Funny, I've also heard 7018 called a farmer's rod. I like the 6013, 6011 since they leave a nice flowing, nonporous, weld and are much less sensitive to moisture since I never use all 5 lbs at once. Even using the gasketed plastic cans my 7018 rod is noticably moisture fouled compared to new 7018.

60 and 70 series rod are 60 and 70,000 lbs of tensile strength I recall, and your basic A36 mild steel has a 36000 ksi strength so either rod is way stronger than the base metal. I have never seen a properly made weld break. I like the 6013 because it is so darn easy and consistent since moisture is tolerated.

 

[Ford960]

My dad always used 6011 and 6013 for all of his welding and when he taught me to weld 40 years ago that's what we used. He held 13 certifications so I think that he knew what he was talking about and we used the 6011 on rusted/painted steel that was too hard to prep and the 6013 on clean steel and where a nice bead appearance was desired. 6011 is harder to strike and tends to throw more sparks than 6013 and the 11 is easier to weld vertical and overhead. 6013 will actually run a bead by itself if you bend the rod and rest it so that it feeds itself. 6013 beads need to have all the slag removed or it will contaminate the next bead, however 6011 can be used without removing the slag and that saves time and also makes it easier to use for filling gaps, poor fit-up, and holes.
The design of the projects will have more bearing on possible failure than the type of rod used. I use mainly 1/8" rods.

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks Ford, that was a good explanation. I find 6013 very easy to strike and weld with and the finished bead has good appearance.

 

[gary1611]

I like the 7014 rod you get strenth ease of welding and good filling.
I find this rod much better than a 6011. my 2c

 

[stroker_ace]

Most buckets that are made for hyd. excavators or front end loaders are made of ASTM A572 Gr. 50 steel. Some buckets that are destined for high abrasive applications will have a lot of ASTM A514 or Hardox 500 added to the wear areas or for high stress locations. You might have trouble finding any of the two grades listed above as most smaller steel yards done stock these. They generally have A36 mild steel only.

 

[_RaT_]

I like 6011 for a variety of reasons the least of which is appearance but if you want a superb weld, a relatively easy rod to use and most importantly, great, superb penetration, 6011 is still my standard. It will perform well on ugly steel. I will use 7018 for large amounts of fill, its easy to use and leaves a nice bead. Those two rods are the standard for much heavy plate and pipe work.