PICTURES of a recent welding project

Was the photo with the ground clamp the first weld?

It'd take me a few minutes to figure out current and rod speed. It's been years since I've run 7018. 120 amps sounds like the right ballpark for 1/8" rod, but truth is in the sound and the puddle.

Gunner

Id say it was a a bit too long and a bit too fast. But all in all.. you are doing far better than a year ago.

I haven't burned a ton of 7018, but when I have I've found it's almost impossible to have the arc too short. I was taught to pretty much run it with the coating resting on the work. (the rod burns off slightly up inside the coating) Seems to work, and the guy that taught me was a crusty old pipeline welder. (he was crusty, not sure about the pipeline)

Pete

I have burned a lot of 7018, and yes, you can burn it with literally no arc length. This is good because it keeps the molten pool under the surface of the slag. The slag is molten, too, and one is able to see the puddle through it. I try not to touch the base metal with the rod, and you can feel when you do that. Pushing at all may cause you to poke a hole. But that does not mean that you can't rest the edge of the coating on the surface. I just like to give it a very small gap, but still keeping the tip of the rod in the puddle. It sure flows nice when you have the heat right and all the variables aligned with Venus and Jupiter.

Steve

On Tue, 01 Jun 2010 09:43:23 -0400, Pete Snell wrote the following:

Thanks, Pete. I'll have to try that next time.

-- A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and of vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness. -- Ann Radcliffe

On Tue, 1 Jun 2010 07:13:04 -0700, "Steve B" wrote the following:

Bloody 'ell! No wonder my puddles all look like turkey shit. I've never even considered planetary alignment when I stick sticks to the steel.

I just found my pack of Miller calculators (after I last welded, and I use that term very loosely) and put it on top of my stick welder for next time, too.

-- A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and of vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness. -- Ann Radcliffe