7018 rods question

"Bruce in Bangkok" wrote

Gorilla welds are a lot like that, but with exponential amounts of filler rod.

Steve

Well, that is certainly a valid reason.

My comments were aimed at the original remarks about 7018 being hard to start or run. Not to disparage anyone but the guy seemed like a beginner that either had a small welding machine or limited skill. I was pointing out that if you have trouble running one particular rod then switch to a different easier rod. It doesn't make any difference in the type of welding that average door yard welder does as the 60 series rods (that are usually easier to weld with) are plenty strong enough.

Bruce-in-Bangkok (correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)

Either your description of testing is not sufficiently clear or the test method is faulty.

Yesterday I cut some 4 inch coupons and welded them . I then mechanically cut a 2 inch wide section from the center of each coupon and "bashed it with a hammer as you describe.

All welds were 100% penetration and both butt and fillet welds were made.

I used 6010, 6012 and 7018 rod for the tests.

After the bashing none of the welds had failed. In all cases the parent metal bent. In no case did a weld, regardless of the rod used, fail.

Bruce-in-Bangkok (correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)

Ernie Leimkuhler wrote in news:070520082304151447%

Never heard that. What a great tip.

In the flat position, if you got everything right, as it cools, it starts to bend up on one end, and continues until it comes off in one piece looking like a curved banana peel. Most of your spatter will have been kept in by the molten slag, and the outsides of the weld metal will have very little spatter on them. You can just rake the unfluxed end of a rod along the sides of the finished weld, and knock off 99% of the flux that doesn't come off in one piece. It sure is pretty when it does that.

Steve

Finding the "self-peel" current for a bead-on-plate weld is a good way of "calibrating" to a standard "mid-range" amperage. Irrespective of what the dial says - is more reliable and absolute than the dial or ammeter.

Obviously - always use the same type of welding rod for the most accurate "calibration" when moving between different welding machines.

You can adjust your current up or down from that and then be able to say something like "I welded at about 10 Amps above the best self-peel current". Best to use a thicker plate so get uniform fast cooling - say at least 6mm / 1/4inch plate.

FWIW to comment...

Rich Smith

RoyJ writes: