I used 6013 ONE time, when I was doing field repairs on ornamental metal, .065" square tube. The rod was described in a welding book I had as "a sheet metal rod." Sounded good to me, wanting to join thin materials. But it seemed to take a while to build a puddle on the surface, and then the puddle would cold lap, and break off with little or no fusion. So, I developed a system of 3/32" 6011 stinger negative. I did a lot of repairs with that combo.
What exactly is the main use/purpose of 6013 rod? It has 60k tensile strength, so it must have some holding power.
My book, Modern Welding, Althouse-Turnquist-Bowditch-Bowditch doesn't have a lot of info.
How would you describe it? Is it for deep penetration? For sheetmetal work needing a surface puddle and little burnthrough? It is listed AC/DC either polarity, so apparently it can be used to burn a puddle, or just transfer metal from the rod.
Buy some at Home Depot and try it. You may like it. It is VERY easy to use. I have never had any puddles of it without penetration (on clean metal, of course). The welds will not look as good as 7018 though.
6013 is PERFECT for tacking metal pieces together.
I use it for a lot of little things where I do not care to get the absolute top maximum strength.
General purpose beginners rod, It's all I used for years. Clean metal is required. 7014 is even easier to use, no gap required you can drag it on the part to be welded.
Been a long time since I stick welded, small stuff gets TIG big stuff gets the MIG.
6013 is a really nice all purpose rod for the hobbist building new things (as opposed to repair). It's designed for AC, (but runs nicely on either polarity DC)Low open circuit voltage is OK. It's a fill-freeze in that it freezes faster than the iron powder rods but slower than the
6010/6011 rods. Very heavy slag keeps the puddle from freezing, much nicer looking weld beads. Slag will lift off a perfect weld as it cools. It doesn't burn in deep, does not have a lot of admixture. They list it as an all position weld but I really don't like it for anything other than flat or vertical down. It really doesn't want to build a 'shelf' for vertical up.
The downsides: the lower amperage means it's not hard to get a bead that just sits on top. The low amperage/low admixture means it hates dirty material or galvanized material. The heavy slag is a real problem when you get into a corner or a grove with steep sides and don't get your flow out as nice as you would (should) like.
The classic demo of 6013 is to strike an arc, then lay the rod down flat to the plate and just let it burn. 1:1 rod to weld bead, no weave, perfect weld. Plus the slag will pop off all by itself about a minute later.
If you don't have a MIG, I consider it a great production rod for A36 hot rolled projects that use lighter (under 1/4") material. Nice bead, easy to clean up. For higher stress applications (trailers and car haulers in particular), you need to bump up to 70xx series.
For the guy with the classic Lincoln Tombstone, some 61011 in various sizes for repair, 6013 in various sizes for new build, and some 7018 for critical. Keep in mind that 6013 can be stored in open boxes as long as the humidity is low enough that the rods don't rust.
Quoted from the Lincoln Manual:
Here?s a terrific all-position electrode for low amperage welding on sheet metal ? especially in applications where appearance is important. We?ve designed Fleetweld 37 for excellent performance with smaller AC welders with low open-circuit voltages. It?s an excellent choice for jobs involving irregular or short welds that require a change in position. ADVANTAGE LINCOLN ? An all position electrode for the welding of mild steel. ? Excellent choice for sheet metal lap and fillet welds. ? Superior slag control, which makes it a great choice for vertical down. ? Manufactured under a quality system certified to ISO 9001 requirements. TYPICAL APPLICATIONS ? Sheet metal lap and fillet welds. ? Irregular or short welds that change direction or position, and downhill fillets and laps. ? General purpose plate welding and maintenance.
Heh , you just described what I've decided to keep on hand , with the exception of having various sizes . Just recently got around to hooking up and tryin' out the tombstone I bought from a friend several years ago . I bought some 6011 and 6013 , a box of 7018 came with the machine - all 1/8" rods . That box is unopened , but it's been around a while . What are the odds it's stil good ?
There are 3 puddle classifications, fast freeze = xx10 or xx11 fast follow = 6013 fast fill = iron powder in coating like 7014, xx18 and especially xx24 (jet rod) or xx28.
Rods with iron powder in the coating like a short arc with minimal weaving and no 'whipping'. 7014 & 7024 are not low-hydrogen rods but most others (xxx8) are and these perform best when kept very dry.
7014 and 6013 work well with limited open circuit voltage input power and for this reason are well suited for use with small 'buzz box' transformer welders. They are often called 'farmer rods' because they are very forgiving of both minimal input power and operator skill.
6013 rods have much less penetration ability than xx10/11 and are not available in the wide variety of special purpose xx10, I do not recall ever seeing any 7013.
Most 6013 can be used electrode + or -, electrode + will have greater penetration.
Like the xx10/11 rods, 6013 can be used with a wide range of rod angles and using either whip or drag technique and also uphill or downhill (downhand).
In addition to the lower penetration, (especially with electrode -), the 'fast follow' quality is what makes these rods good for sheet metal work. If xx10/11 rods are dragged with a high rate of travel they will often skip or jump ahead or lose their puddle, the 6013 puddle will follow the arc much better which will allow the use of higher rates of travel which will reduce penetration and burn through by keeping the arc ahead of the heat especially when travelling vertical down. When whipping, you can make longer slower whips with a long narrow (not wide) puddle. Many people try to limit burn through by lowering the arc power but that usually makes operation more difficult and skipping worse. With 6013 you can use higher heat and just travel faster to stay ahead of it and prevent excess heat build-up.
IMHO, MIG is superior for sheet metal work but it is not always available and is not well suited for field work in the wind and weather. I always keep some 6013 on my rig to use for special jobs on thin material where high penetration and burn through are problematic. In addition to 1/8 and 3/32, I also keep a small bag of 5/64 for really thin work. I do not recall ever using 1/16 but that would be great on very thin stuff (if I could get my welder adjusted low enough).
I have never needed a lot of 6013 but IMHO everyone should keep a little around just for special work.
"Snag" wrote in news:7t_Rp.21031$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe01.iad:
It's probably all still good except for "technical"? welds with the 7018. What I mean is the 7018 stored in typical cardboard and cellophane will have moisture in it.
In my limited, non-certified experience, the 1/8 7018 is a pia to run on a tombstone, very short arc and all. Welding supply houses will carry
3/32 and usually moisture resistant and "AC" flavors of it.
This box of 7018 is the AC flavor , and unopened . I might just crackit open and see what I can do with it , as soon as I get finished with the rewiring of my "shop" . The 6011 and 6013 are both brand new stock , but I think all the rods could benefit from sealed storage . 5 or 6" PVC and a couple of end caps ...
7018 AC runs very finicky. It runs hot, and arc length is vital, or it will stick. Sometimes hard to start. Then you crank it up, and if you're not welding on something thick, or keep it moving, you have holes big enough to throw a quarter through. Never liked the 7018 AC, unless in flat position.
Well , until I actually burn some ... made good progress today , got all the 110v stuff back online with the new power saource . I still need to wire the outlet for the big welder , an outdoor 110v outlet , and the 220v compressor plug . My DRO 350 still jumps .200" when I power up the mill ... sometimes .
Most home projects probably have more welds than needed. It is just not worth calculating how much welding is required.
7018 is not all that much stronger than your 60xx electrodes. And really only needs to be used where hydrogen embrittlement is a problem. And then the rod has to be dry.
7018 rod that has not been kept dry can be used where hydrogen embrittlement is not a problem.
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