I finished up most of the welding and grinding. Not super pretty, but structurally strong. I got a safety loop to weld on the bottom of the tongue, and then clean and galvanize.

Oh, ha, no I meant 3/32" 6013, at 65 amps.

What do you mean by that?

I got half of it done last night. The first 8 plates are welded on. After a lot of playing around I went with 5/32" 6013 at 65 amps.

Here are a few shots. I know they aren't super pretty, but they will work.

Well you did better then me Oscar, lol. Sim thanks for that link. I'll look through it later on. Oliveros, I am set up for TIG, but haven't really started learning the process yet. As far as the little circles, I mean real tight, almost a weaving pattern. My friend at work used it on a test run, and...

I had a little success too. I cut some squares and got some advise from a coworker on how he does it. So basically I used the 3/32" 6013 and made small circles. I focused about 75% on the 1/8" and 25% on the 16ga. I know it's not perfect, but the sides were my last 2 welds and I feel they ...

They are 1.5 diameter fender washers for 1/2" bolts. I can't see your picks, but they are a hair under 16ga, so I'm guessing the 0.040". I bought them from Lowe's, but they don't have the listed thickness on the pack. You got a good supply of toys, enjoy them!

I see you like a challenge, lol. I ended up trying everything from 20 to 60amps with them. I think 50-55 amps worked the best. Below 35 amps striking the arc was a challenge and they stuck a lot.

The 1/16" 6013 ran best at 55amps if memory serves. I need to add 1/16" to each side of the tongue so it is centered in the sleeve without much movement. At the time the washers seemed like the easiest solution, but I was wrong. The gaps are why I wanted to do a full weld, but also since i...

I think I'd be ok if they were 1/8" washers using the 3/32" 6013 rods without burning them to much, but at 1/16" it's kickin my butt, lol. I'm going to try straight runs with the 16ga steel on the 1/8" next week. Maybe by taking out the variable of the radius I can find some succ...

That's a pretty good idea. If I cut the spacers out of 16ga sheet steel then I at least won't have to deal with the tight radius. The washers are all zinc coated so by the time I grind it off it might be to thin. The washers are about 16ga. Is there a big difference between zinc coated and galvanize...

The ones on the boat side will be tacked and thru bolted. The ones on the removable tongue side will be slid in and pinned in place. My thoughts are since it will be moved in and out many times, tacks might break after a while.

I didn't expect to be great out of the gate on this, but I did expect some measurable amount of success. Even if it wasn't pretty. I was able to weld small scraps of 1/8" plate fairly clean with good penetration, but these thin washers are a pain. The 1/16" 6013 rods I have seem the best s...

The project is a trailer for a boat that I am converting to a removable tongue. The washers are to take up the movement from the parts which have about 1/8" play. Straight beads seem to be ok. I ran a few under the washers to make sure I still could. I switched back to tig, and got one quarter ...

If I were welding 2 pieces of thin material I don't think I'd have any issues, but trying to secure a washer that is maybe 16-18ga to the 1/8" is really getting me. I haven't found any good videos of this scenario with stick, mostly tig and a few mig vids. Well I spent a few hours this morning ...

I tried to TIG a few at first, but I'm just not at all skilled at it yet. I ended up with similar results or worse, and figured maybe the stick is the better process for this since I'll be grinding it back down anyway. Maybe not?

Given the choice, and no real experience which would you guys go with ?

Thank you guys. I'll give it a go in the morning. I'll try as you suggest. I'll do small areas moving the amps up 5 at a time until it works better and post the results.

I think I was around 45amps there. Writings it down would be smart, I'm not. I think that's also where I tried to walk the stick back into the puddle a bit.
Should I be angling the rod into the joint or away from it?

20200207_172058.jpg Well I tried these 4 with the 1/16" 6013. Amps from 35 up to 60. I tried many different angles too. Other then straight practice beads, which I got pretty consistent at, this is the first real welding attept/project. Any suggestions are welcome. Should I try swapping to DCEN?

Thank you. I will give it a go and post any improvements.

The pic is part of my test piece, and I did use every stick I had. I even tried TIG for a minute, but that went about as well.

I'm really new to this and I'm trying to work out a problem. I got the welding set up (Everlast PowerTig 185) in part to finish a project on my trailer. I need to weld thin washers onto the sides of a 2x3x1/8". I'm not having much success on my practice piece. Everything I do seems to melt the ...

Thanks again guys. I'm playing more and more with it when I have time. I'm trying different positions and hands. I'm actually thinking I have way more control with the tig so i might try to go that route in the end. Here are some more I did tonight. Just playing with speed, flow, filler.... ignore t...

Thanks guys. Slight correction, the 6013 sticks were 3/32" @ 70amps. The 1/16" 6013 I have I was using around 40amps. The trailer is galvanized, but I will grind it down before welding, then treat it with cold galvanizing spray later on. I did not know about the phosgene gas and the galvan...

Hey guys, after years of wanting one I finally broke down and got a welder. I bought the Everlast PowerTig 185. Seems like a cool little machine and it came with the foot pedal. So I've been playing with it after watching some youtube vids. I started with stick welding and think I got decent penetra...