Well i got a lincoln electrc ac-225-s for free and wanted to put it to use. I was just wondering how many of you use stick welding still and how do you find it useful? I figure it would be good for inpure metals such as your average angle iron for making work benches and other useful things. I am thinking this welder won't get me too much furhter though.

 

I use SMAW still. Not very often, but it has it's uses.

 

Iv tried it before. lol. not many times. No matter what i do it comes out like absolute dogsh!t. The other day there were some guys over at my new place (shop) putting up the steel roll down gates. i had them stop welding! told them their stick welding was horrible and to just tack weld everything; ill finish it later. lol.

i understand stick welding is inherently a messy process; but is there anyway to get it clean!?

 

i stick weld almost every day and after some practice you can make the welds look almost as good as a tig weld

you just have to use the right method for the type of rod your using

 

well i have lots of experience with mig welding, but i am nervous to use the arc because of the chance of getting shocked. Any precautions i should be taking

 

i stick weld all the time, and find it to be very usefull, to not get shocked.. dont weld in the rain.

 

I personally don't like to use the SMAW process but with the right rod and a little practice it can look awesome. Try some 7024 or 7018 and with the right heat the slag will peel off by itself. 6010 is the pipe welders favorite rod but it looks terrible and doesn't run very nice until you get good at it.

As far as welding with it grab some 3/32 6013 and it is good all around weld anything including rusty stuff. Just don't plan on welding any sheet metal with it.

 

for 6010's all you have to do is


1. strike your arc
2.go to the spot you want to weld and hold until puddle forms
3.go out of puddle but dont break arc and go towards the way your welding
4. go back into puddle halfway do a quick little circle with rod
5.repeat

if you get it down you'll be able to get the dime on dime affect easily

hell im only 16 and can do it so im sure anyone else can

as for 7024's or 7018's you just strike your arc and pull the rod along without any whipping motion and youll have a nice weld and as stated before if you do it right youre slag will literally peal off on its own

 

I stick weld in the rain all the time in the summer. No choice cuz the boss wants the job done. Just make sure you have several pairs of dry gloves with you. Getting zapped sucks.

 

I just started a beginner welding class en route to working up to mig/tig stuff and they started us out on stick welding

Like most people here said, given the right rod (I've been using 6012/7018) and the right heat, you can get it looking very pretty (IMO) even though it still spits and splatters a bit.

I have uploaded some pics doing a 3 lap "T" joint with about 10 hours of experience. My regular beads are alot prettier, but I don't think these are bad at all.

http://welding.doitbig.org

3 big pics for you all to critique.

 

Those looke darn good for a beginner!

Maybe your arc length needs to get shorter, move your electrode closer to the workpiece. This will get rid of the spatter.

 

**** those look better than mine

I avoid learning how to SMAW much like I avoided learning how to finish drywall as a kid. I just don't like it

 

It looks pretty good. Arc length could be long as mentioned, or it could be the heat also.
Tighten up the arc, see if the spatter goes away.
Nice consistent bead though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by arcboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I personally don't like to use the SMAW process but with the right rod and a little practice it can look awesome. Try some 7024 or 7018 and with the right heat the slag will peel off by itself. 6010 is the pipe welders favorite rod but it looks terrible and doesn't run very nice until you get good at it.

As far as welding with it grab some 3/32 6013 and it is good all around weld anything including rusty stuff. Just don't plan on welding any sheet metal with it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Wrong... they make cheap things called stitch welders just for this process. Keeps the rod from sticking to the metal and thus allowing lower currents to be used. You can weld 18 gauge with this. Which is pretty thin.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatrixGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Wrong... they make cheap things called stitch welders just for this process. Keeps the rod from sticking to the metal and thus allowing lower currents to be used. You can weld 18 gauge with this. Which is pretty thin. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Well sorry never heard of them. Give me some more info on this.

 

should i be using regular welding gloves? Like what would be used for mig welding? I haven;t been able to use it yet because i need to wire up a 220v to my garage. I didn't know it could come out so clean based on those pictures!

 

Most welding shops sell gloves for Stick, Mig, Tig, etc.

Make sure you get the stick gloves if you are going to be stick welding, **** gets hot.

 

i have numerous pairs of welding glove, but do they differ? I usually use them for mig welding , but are there different stlyes/material i should be looking for? Anyways i found the education/knowledge section at miller welds and it gives tonnes of good information. Thanks for the input guys! I would love to see some of your stick welding work if you want to post pics.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DSMu4ia &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Most welding shops sell gloves for Stick, Mig, Tig, etc.

Make sure you get the stick gloves if you are going to be stick welding, **** gets hot. </TD></TR></TABLE>

That or welding aluminum... that gets HOT!

 

stick welders are great if your welding large things together... like a truck chassis or the beams on a construction site.

i actually have the same ac225 welder you have but i only use mine for construction purposes... i cant really use it in car fabrication.... this machine in perticular is a lil strong for any of the 1/8 and thinner metal youll prolly be working on for car stuff.... plus it cant weld aluminum so anything you make will be pretty heavy....

they are exelllent heavy duty machines though... but if you want to make car stuff it wont serve for much.... but its ******* great for making heavy duty shop equipment like i made an overhead engine crane and a ramp rails for the car kind of like the ones dealerships have to put cars on display.

 

thats wicked, yeah i am not sure if it worth to keep or just sell it and put towards a tig (dynasty 300dx or syncrowave 300). Now that you mention it for bigger things i guess it would be useful for certain applications.

 

I'm a pipe welder and 6010 is not my favorite rod! LOL I will grab it 1st if I have a open root to weld, but other than that I weld with 7018 3/32nd and 1/8th. I Mig from time to time, like today and love it. I tig something everyday as well, usually pipe from 1" to 6".

But I stick weld everyday on several differnt model welding machines and I really look forward to it, because alot of welders in the shop have gotten used to just tigging. So, I take pride in laying down a beautiful stick bead where I don't have to clean my slag, I can see it lifting as I'm welding if I look back behind my puddle. It also keeps me up to date on the common processes so I don't mind jumping on a stick or mig project!

 

run 6013 rod for your first time its alot easyer to control the arc

 

6013 is the farmer rod, anyone can run it. If you dont have a rod oven, or any way to keep the moisture out of the rods, I would suggest not using 7018 (its what I use all the time). I would use 1/8" or 3/32" 7014, its an iron powder rod and its easy to run, and restrikes very easy. 7018 you have to smack it to get the flux off the tip when you try to restrike the rod.

 

well it will get him used to smaw you know