My brother gave me an arc welder. The problem is I've never welded with one before. I have a 110v mig welder but I wouldn't want to weld anything structural with it. I've heard that arc welding would be a lot better for welding on say a shock mount or something. I would like to put a 10 bolt GM rear end under my panel truck to match the subframe. (I didn't weld the subframe in) I don't want the spring mounts to break under stress. I would also need to attach some sort of spring mounts. For that matter, if I got good at it maybe in the future I could put a C-notch back there. or a four link. You guys know how it is. Daydreaming all day at work about how cool the truck could be and not having the funds to pay someone else to do it. I have a 77 monte carlo that I would like to take the rear end out of with the coil springs and trailing arms. For those of you that are interested check out this site.
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowl...rcweldfund.asp By "tips" I mean, do I use my regular welding mask or do I have to use something else? How clean do the surfaces to be welded need to be? That kind of stuff and anything I might not think of with technique and what not. Thanks, John

 

regular welding hood shade 11 lens

clean metal is easier to weld on, looks better, and also is usually stronger
(it doesnt have to be as clean as a mig welder would need) some welding rods are more picky with dirty metal compared to others.

our frames are mighty thin really i would say stick with 3/32 rods.
technique depends on the rod and would take a lifetime to teach/learn every one.

the lincoln site is a great site and lots of info! start welding flat no weaving like you would with mig and run straight stringer beads.
vertical will take some weave but it doesnt have to be excessive.

basically you need to figure out if your welder is a/c d/c or both and select your rod for the machine and the type of welding you will be doing. lincolns site has lots of info on electrode selection.

 

I would use with the mig welder. It is simple and easy to use and maybe your duty cycle will prevent you from doing extended welding, you can still get pretty good amperage out of you mig.

One drawback of stick welding is that the welding rods must be dry. That means they have to be kept sealed until you are ready to use them, unless you have a drying over or some people try to keep them in a fridge.

Another proplem is there will be lots of popping and splattering.

I guess you should just hook it up and try it out. After I tried it a few times I only do mig or tig.

 

Practice, Practice and more Practice!

Kyle

 

The best thing I've found for any welder is an auto-darkening hood. Besides eliminating the annoying head-shake to lower the hood, they are adjustable in darkening, so you can fine tune exactly the picture you need.

Stick-welding is very good for axles and such. There is a much wider range of metallurgy available than with MIG, and that is important when you consider brittle failure cracking. Rods like E6013 are very forgiving. As stated, practice is everything, but stick welding on heavy gauge stuff is a lot easier than MIG welding thin stuff!

 

Please, for your safety and that of others DON'T do any structural or driveline related welding with ANY machine unless you are a VERY competent welder! Poor welds can look great, even hold up for some time, but one day they will fail. When it happens it's likely to be disasterous. Are you willing to risk your life, the lives of love ones, or an innocent bystander to save 50.00? Never weld to an axle housing with a buzz box if you aren't a pro. If your mig is at least a 100A machine it is more suitable for welding on a frame than the BB, our frames are only 10ga (~ 1/8") thick. Arc welding is more suited to welding materials 1/4" and thicker especially in the hands of a novice. A C notch that doesn't go more than 1/2 way through the frame and is boxed and lined is not a serious structural mod you can tackle it with the MIG. For the axle install tack the welds or bolt or clamp them and take it to a pro welder to finish, if he's a gearhead and in a good mood, (talk to him and see when would be a good time to bring it in) It shouldn't be very expensive to have them finished, he shouldn't charge over 75. /hr and a pro can do a lot of welding in an hour (if your weld areas are clean and well fitted). It's the setup and fitting that takes the time.
Arc welding is a lot more difficult to learn on your own than MIG, see if there are any adult classes around to learn the basics.

 

I agree w/ AXRacer. Anything serious should be done by an experienced welder.

I learned to weld using a stick and prefer it over MIG welding. I am far from an expert though.

 

Before I went to MIG, I built a couple of frames using an arc machine and mild steel rod like someome mentioned (6011, 6013) and never had a problem. As also was said don't get dangerous trying to save $$. Practice with a good auto-dark helmet. I always kept rods in the can and stored in the refrigerator. Good luck

 

A simple rod "safe" can be made from a suitable length of PVC pipe, and a couple caps. Glue on one cap push on the other. Throw in a couple packages of dessicant to keep dry. Change the dessicant packages depending on humidity levels. IMPORTANT: If you store your rods in the fridge, let the package warm up to room temp before opening.

 

i keep my rods in the closet.

 

It would help a lot to know what kind of welder your brother gave you -- is it a quality Lincoln AC/DC, or a really cheapo no-adjustment piece? I'm guessing it's a two-range AC-only ~150 amp machine?

 

If you have a D-C machine, practice with 7018, 8018, 9018 3/32" rod using reverse polarity. Try starting at around 80 amps and see how you do. The *018 rods are low hydrogen and have less tendency to make the weld brittle. With the right current, they also don't splatter very much.

 

I tried to do some welding on my camp trailer frame with my MIG - it was like I could not get enough wire speed to feed the weld and keep the arc going. I also think I didn't get enough penetration - but again that could have been because I would run out of wire.

I am also going to build a couple of carts using 3/16 and 1/4 angle, and 2" pipe. To make a long story short, I just spent the day rigging an extension cord so I could get 40 amps of 220 VAC down the driveway so I could use my old stick welder.

I am not very experienced with either one, and I don't make life-dependant welds. But I do think the mig is for fender repairs and the stick is for thicker stuff.

 

*****, I've been in the same situation. If there is a metals recycler (used to call them a "junkyard") around, who deals in wire, go there and check for welding cables (stingers). The commercial outfits scrap theirs when they are damaged but they sometimes still have 50 ft of good cable, plenty good for hobby use. I got a pair at a copper scrap rate like that (about $20 total). Just had to put new ends on them. It's cheaper and better to use stingers than to run 220 that far. Much more than 50 ft on an AC machine and you'll have too much voltage drop, though.

I agree, stick machines are the way to go for plate work unless you've got a $1,000 MIG set-up.

 

thats works better than the extention cord, but only if the machine can still get hot enough with that long of cable those little buzz boxes are junk for the most part. there is a few half way decent ones out there,but they are costly. not to mention that an a/c machine is not real good for penetration its mostly known for fill....