Welding Tips and Tricks

I recently acquired a Lincoln Electric AC 225 Stick welder its kind of beat up the dial is hard to move, I had to replace the ground clamp and the electrode holder when I first got it. 7018 AC and 6011 are the rods I have been using I have gotten one decent weld with a 7018 but I recently bought a 5lb pack of 1/8 inch 6011 to use and I have gotten used to striking an arc and keeping it lit but I am all over the place it hard for me to run a straight line I've skewed off more than once the slag never chips off and they are some rough looking welds.

Sounds like my experience today. . . I tried some 3/32 E7018 along with some E6013 . . . It was hard starting the arc on the E7018, but my E6013 seem to work better for me. I was using a Weldpro 155 GD on 220v . . .

I was lucky in that the E6013 was perfect because the slag lifted off before I could hammer it . . . found my correct setting for that electrode.

I am 30 days into Stick welding . . . challenging, but loving it . . . keep the faith my friend!

On your practice piece try scribing or making some lines with soap stone. That might help you out and you can follow along the line. Once you get one straight bead, use that as your guide for the next bead and overlay the current weld half way over the last weld.

6011 slag kinda sucks to get off. Try a wire wheel on a grinder if its giving you a lot of trouble. Try turning up your amps a little bit too that might help drive the slag further back away from the leading edge of the puddle.

Learning to prop your hand while holding the electrode is a tricky bit. Not only must you be supported, but you also need to have the freedom to move along AND move closer to the work as the rod is consumed. Welcome to Stick!

A good trick when starting out is to clamp a piece of angle iron along the length you’re running. Use it as a reference to help keep your eyes on track. Or you can scribe parallel lines in the work piece and drag the rod between the lines using that width to help control your travel speed (because you may need to linger long enough for the rod to deposit enough fill to puddle to the width).

cj737 wrote:Learning to prop your hand while holding the electrode is a tricky bit. Not only must you be supported, but you also need to have the freedom to move along AND move closer to the work as the rod is consumed. Welcome to Stick!

A good trick when starting out is to clamp a piece of angle iron along the length you’re running. Use it as a reference to help keep your eyes on track. Or you can scribe parallel lines in the work piece and drag the rod between the lines using that width to help control your travel speed (because you may need to linger long enough for the rod to deposit enough fill to puddle to the width).

Very good points . . . thanks!

Welcome. Definitely invest in a grinder dedicated to running a wire wheel only. It will make slag clean up with 6011 a breeze.

Grinders for this application are shot lived. Buy the cheapest one you can.

Poland308 wrote:Grinders for this application are shot lived. Buy the cheapest one you can.

Harbor Freight had theirs on sale for $11 yesterday. I picked up another one just because I could.

it sure took a while for this post to get up since I am new to the forum but its been since Christmas when I posted this article and I have had a little bit more practice with my stick welder and I can strike an arc easy now and keep it lit but I still suffer from wandering in the wrong direction but I haven't stuck a rod in a while. While I haven't experienced slag peel the 7018 Slag comes off pretty easy now and I got a wire wheel for my grinder and it really get the welds that looked really bad and cleans them up pretty decently.

9rpcrowe wrote:While I haven't experienced slag peel the 7018 Slag comes off pretty easy now and I got a wire wheel for my grinder and it really get the welds that looked really bad and cleans them up pretty decently.

What size rod and how many amps are you running?

I run 3/32 right at 93 amps and 1/8 at 122. Slag starts peeling even before I finish. While it is not a sign that your welds aren't good when it doesn't peel, easy release is.

Im out of my 1/8th in 7018 but I think I was running them a little hot 130 amps DCEP, 3/32eds is all I have left usually I run them at 90 amps DCEP. Got to get some more 1/8th in 7018 and some 6010. by the way Is there any noticeable difference in 6010 vs 6011 besides running AC.

6011 is much easier to run in my opinion.

cj737 wrote:6011 is much easier to run in my opinion.

That is what I use . . . still learning to how to use it