doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com welding rod question

Yessir on heat, heat sinks and HAV heat factors- I like the Tempilsticks- you pre-heat the entire area after you have done the "grunt work" clean, grind, bevel, etc- with a Rosebud tip, when the crayon turns liguid and runs, you have that temperature, and you can get Tempilsticks in just about every usable range for surface temperatures- post weld heating adjacent to the HAV is also a good idea, just to delay the heat loss factor and then, wrap in asbestos blankets and allow to cool down slowly until the entire welded area or weldment is cool to the touch of a bare hand--An old timer was my "Mentor or Rabbi"- he once told me this-and he was 100% right- re Stck or SMAW welding, whether with 6011 or 7018 Lo-Hydrogen code rod- same principle applies- most beginners get into trouble with that welding technique because they have the machine set to "cold" as in lower amperage- and they tend to travel too fast or do a weave pattern too wide, which usually results in undercut-certain high deposition rods require more amperage to deposit and flow properly (usually in the 1G or downhand position) such as 7014 or 7024 (aka- "Drag Rod"- drag as in the position of the rod to the weld puddle, not as in Tiny Tim or Elton John "drag'--rods designed basically for DC rev. polarity (6010- 7010- HYP and the 7018-8018- etc rods can run well at std. amperage settings, rods like 6011 and 6013 run on AC usually need a bit more amperage- a lot of this is subjective as to nature of the ferrous metals being welded: joint, position,gauge or thickness, stress factors on the developed joint, etc. MY son-in-law and I have a small metal fab. shop for small trailers, riding lawn mower frame repair, welding together metal tree stands and ladders- we have a Lincoln 220 AC/DC welder (runs on 220 Volt 60 amp. single phase stove current) and a Miller 250 amp TIG (runs on 220 Volt 80 amp. curren single phase - and we have 200 amp service for both 110 and 220 sides- The Miller when used for SMAW welding is 10 times smoother for developed arc, because it is a 100% duty cycle machine, the Lincoln is a 20% duty cycle (except for the circled 75 amp setting- that is 100%- mainly for pipe thawing--And we have a Victor combination oxy-acetylene cutting/welding torch set and a propane/oxy heating torch--but not for welding- a 14" abrasive chop saw for cutting metal and pipe to req'd dims and a power handsaw as well-we can't build a submarine with that equipment, but we can handle about most anything that we encounter with those basic tools and machines for welding- possibly a plasma arc cutter some day, if we ever get into non-ferrous metals- the last welding machine I would buy for our needs is a MIG wire feed welder- popular with auto body shops in .022" dia. wire- but the same old timer that taught me current settings (heat) and slow travel speeds once said about MIG (years ago) "Yeah, they're OK for some projects, but it's pretty hard to screw up a ground clamp lead, a stinger and a stick of 5P-- amen to that- here endeth the lesson--

Yep, Miller and Victor are both THE best IMO. We used mainly 7018 for most low-pressure piping and low-load support work but we also had over 50 (yes, 50) DIFFERENT welding procedures for the various materials in the different nuke plants. Anyone can daub things together, especially with MIG, but a good full-pen weldment with good prep, preheat and PWHT (Post-Weld Heat-Treatment, basically a slow cooldown as RWTF has described) is by far the best.

Most smiths fail in the cleanliness dept, others don't really get enough practice to maintain their skill level properly; welding is like anything else, regular practice makes at least 'better' if not 'perfect'. In general I've found that a GOOD professional welder with good equipment does a better job than most smiths, IF I can get him to understand just exactly what's wanted. The best welders I've seen are folks called 'instrument welders' in power plant parlance, craftsmen accustomed to welding very small parts in tight places to withstand very high pressures and rigorous environments. Good welders like this are rare, if you know one then you need to cherish him or her tenderly 'cause they're worth their weight in gold when needed.

Remember clean, preheat and slow cooldown. Mainly clean, and by the way Bubba that includes removing the flash-coating of copper found on new rods(G)!
Regards, Joe

Ame J.D.- some Bubbas like to use the coat hanger wires with the copper flash- even some have salvaged MIG 70-S-3 .035" and .045" to use for TIG- as you so correctly said- NOT GOOD- plus unless you clean the rollers and the wire feed hose liners on ANY MIG unit after each spool change, all that crud will eventually cause porosity in the weld bead deposited-and Never use the same MIG unit to interchnage between Mild Steel, Stainless and Aluminum- My biggest "gripes" about MIG are twofold: Bubba's who work on a production line, where the components are clamped in a fixture and all welding is done Downhand- they'll say that they are "Certified Welders'- BS--they are "One Trcik Pony" Welders- when you can run the Arkansas Bellhole in API code welding with 5P on schedule pipe w/0 backing rings and pass X-ray, then come and tell me how good you are- also, the MIG welders usually judge, especially a fillet weld, by appearance and NOT by root penetration- you can lay down all the cover passes you want, but if the root pass is NOT 100% right, you've wasted time, material, electricity, shielding gas and MONEY--I had a buddy- we both got our Journeyman's cards same day- he worked for a GE AirCraft Engine plant in Kent Co. (closed now for some years) and welded Titanium with TIG- all inside a air purged and Argon flooded "Fish Bowl" 100% Argon, no oxygen to contaminate the welds, and as you said correctly J.D.--precision welding, wheter fusion or with filler rod with TIG- that's the Hallmark of a highly qualified welder-knowledge of materials and metallurgy, cleanliness, precision and joint preparation equals welds that pass X-Ray and meet code each and every time- anything less is not acceptable-

When you are welding on something half the shop has been machining on for a couple of months you dont have any room for mistakes. It had to be done right the first and only time. A lot of people get real shakey when they find out the cost of the part in frount of them. Big difference between production and developement work. Inconel the hardest because its dirty. Platinium a real pleasure clean and smooth. A lot of our work was done under a microscope. Also used a lot of gold nickle solder. Some soldering was harder to do than the welds. Contamination could give u problems there to.
good night
Tom