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welding tips?

jekbrown

jekbrown

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I am working on my sliders and having some issues. Right now I'm welding some 1/8" plate to some 1/8" wall rectangular tube. After a few passes, I bust out the flapper to clean things up... but often times I end up with a low spot that is lower than the original surface of the steel... so it can't be sanded flat. Sometimes when I try to fill it in with another pass, it works... more often than not though it either maintains to low spot or burns through. Any hints/tips/tricks? I can post pics if needed, but it'd be pretty hard to see what I'm talking about unless they were really good/clear closeups...

j
 
:ahem: Shouldn't this be in another forum? Gosh, how long have you been here. :D

J/K, Steve JUST made a new forum for tools. Like, only seconds ago.

Al
 
Have you tried turning the power down at all? Maybe switch to a thinner wire? Filling in spots is still a technuiqe I need to master. As well as the art of spelling the word technuiqe.

Al
 
Assuming you're talking about MIG: less voltage or more wire

Try adjusting the distance between the gun and the material.
 
jekbrown said:
I am working on my sliders and having some issues. Right now I'm welding some 1/8" plate to some 1/8" wall rectangular tube. After a few passes, I bust out the flapper to clean things up... but often times I end up with a low spot that is lower than the original surface of the steel... so it can't be sanded flat. Sometimes when I try to fill it in with another pass, it works... more often than not though it either maintains to low spot or burns through. Any hints/tips/tricks? I can post pics if needed, but it'd be pretty hard to see what I'm talking about unless they were really good/clear closeups...

j
Click to expand...
Jek , shoot me a pm or call me on my cell if you still got the # . I will be glad to come over and give you a hand . Bruce . ps, how did that 40 gallon burb tank work out for ya ? :D
 
That is known as 'undercut'...

More wire speed helps, or a little less voltage.

rene
 
everyone: Im welding with a stick welder... I'm not cool enough to have a mig/tig or any other "ig". ;) Using 6011 rods... forget exactly which power setting I had it on... I tried turning it down a notch but getting an arc going was a PITA then...

On the plus side, things got better the more I worked at it... I guess I was just really really out of practice. I'm just about done with my driver's side and then its on to the passenger side.. which will prolly go much faster just because by then I'll have done it before. lol! Things are easy right now because I'm just working on the slider... which isn't installed yet.. so I can flip it around etc and always weld on a flat surface. Soon I'll have to actually weld what I have for bracketry on to the body sub-frame... and it could get trickey there... especially when I have to weld stuff from below. doh!

chopped: Done workin' for this weekend, but believe me I'm gonna bribe ya with beer or something to get ya over here for a work-weekend once I'm ready to build my cage/bumpers... :grin:

j
 
In that case...

What size rod are you using? 1/8" material only requires a very thin rod. I wouldn't go any bigger than 3/32. The thinner rod will allow you to decrease your amperage, keep from blowing through the material and minimize the undercut.

Since you're able to weld everything flat, try a 6013 rod instead. It deposits more metal. You'll need the 6011 or some 6010 for the vertical and overhead stuff, though.

If you're determined to stick with the setup you have, try rotating the rod back and forth as you're welding so it "points" directly at the material. Think of a swinging pendulum on a clock. That should help with the undercut.
 
i have some 3/32" rod... I'll give it a try. Good to know that 6011/6010 is better for overhead stuff though! I had a little chart from Lincoln that said what rods were best for what, but I seemed to have misplaced it. Anyway, thanks for the tips.

mods: feel free to move this to the tool section...

j
 
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