Teaching welding questions, help needed

Greetings All, I am currently teaching a friend how to stick weld. This is kinda tough since I hardly ever stick weld anymore, I prefer TIG and MIG. I started him off with 6011 rod. It's been so long since I ran 6010 I don't know if it runs much different than 6011. Is there much difference? Do I need to buy a bunch of 6010? I started him off just running beads flat. He is now able to consistently weld straight beads on the flat of the proper width, penetration, and height. Now he is welding fillet welds. Even though his welds look good there is not as much penetration in the vertical plate as there is in the horizontal plate. From the external view the bead is divided equally between the vertical and the horizontal plate. The plate is 1/4" thick mild steel and the rod is 1/8" 6011. The horizontal plate shows about 1/8" penetration but the vertical plate shows about 1/16" to 3/32" penetration. Is this correct? If not, what can be done to correct the situation? I'm not doing much better than he is so I need to know what I'm doing wrong so I can show him the correct way. BTW, I'm not charging him anything so he can't ask for a refund if I can't teach him how to make good welds. But he can give me crap for being a lousy teacher. Thanks, Eric

Reply to
etpm
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JUST FOR ME, if I was to teach anyone to weld, it would be 6010 to start, then promptly to 7018. But that's just me.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

For me, it would be 6013, then 7018.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus23167

6010 is just a bit more difficult to control than 6011. Both are aggressive rods.

Don't worry about "penetration" as long as you have good fusion with the base metal. Try some break tests.

6011 is a good general hobby rod, it just requires a good sense of tempo to make good looking welds with it.
Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

Thanks Ernie. I was really hoping you would reply. It looks like he is now ready for multi pass welds. He is doing single pass fillets now that are porosity free, look good, and pass the break test. So tomorrow I'll start him on multi pass fillet welds and when I get some more scrap I'll have him bevel the edges and start welding butt welds. Any other advice you would like to give is very welcome. Thanks Again, Eric P.S. That wire feed seminar you gave a couple years ago taught me stuff that has stuck with me and I am still making good welds (money makin' welds!) with the little SP125+.

Reply to
etpm

I think 6010 is a good starter rod (notice I said promptly go to 7018) because one needs to learn whipping techniques, and I think the 6010 is a good rod for that. My experience with welding has been that the most important thing going on at any moment is the puddle, and when a wannabe welder "sees" the puddle for the first time and grasps what he sees, that's the first big hill. After that, it's just adjusting movement and angles. Some rods don't allow you to whip, but all do have a puddle to watch.

Reply to
SteveB

On multipass welds, watch him and remember that the object is to tie the previous pass into it. So don't just stack passes, but use a little weave there, or a definite aim at the previous bead so as to melt some portion of that. Otherwise, you end up with what can be compared to a handful of pencils. All lay together, but none is tied in to any other.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

What Steve said is right on the mark. With multi-pass 7018, you have to lay each bead so the next bead can be tied in smoothly. This means no deep valleys or cold-laps. The toes of the weld (where the face of the bead meets the base metal on each side) should be smooth, clean and with a tiny fillet so you don't have sharp inside corners to trap slag.

For an inside fillet weld the basic angles are 15 - 20 degrees up from the table and 15 - 20 degrees in the direction of travel. Keep the arc short to the upper plate to prevent undercut. A 14" electrode of 1/8" 7018 should yield 5 - 7 inches of weld bead in any position. At that speed the slag should just peel off, leaving a smooth even bead.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

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