Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi. I have been MIG welding in a fabrication shop in Canada for almost 13 years now and I would like to get my journeyman papers...the only thing holding me back is my stick welding hours (i have about 15 hours of practice in now). Because I have been MIG welding so long i have to train myself to slow down and clean my welds really good. With stick (6013 and 7018 rods 1/8 for both)(6010 1/8 I'm having issues with) I can lay a decent flat weld...my uphill on a T-joint is passable....I haven't tried overhead yet....but I'm having issues right now with my uphill root on a 45 degree V-Butt. i usually end up snuffing out the arc or get too hot and end up with grapes on the other side. The root is with a 6010 rod. The filler and cap will be 7018 (if i can ever get the root to work hehehe ) I guess i was just wondering if i could get get any tips as to how to do the root uphill with a 1/8 6010 rod decently.

The journeyman test requires that i pass each of these tests (all 3/8" V-Butt coupons):

Stick
flat - 6010 root, filler and cap
up - 6010 root, 7018 filler and cap
horizontal - 6010 root, 7018 filler and cap
overhead - 6010 root, filler and cap

MIG (short arc only)
flat - root, filler and cap
up - root, filler and cap

TIG
up - TIG root, MIG filler and cap

The welder i am practicing on is a Lincoln Powerwave 355m..dunno if AC, DC or both

sorry for long post...just trying to get all info inputted....i will try to get pictures posted next week to see if anyone can give me pointers on what I'm doing right and wrong. Thanks in advance for your input.

3/32" (0.2cm) gap 75-85 amps. whip out and into the puddle let the puddle freeze before coming back into it. Keep your "fire" on the backside of the plate.
This has worked for me...

I just started not too long ago with stick as well. It took me a while to get the hang of the root too. The key thing that helped me is listening. When you are burning a 6010 for the root you can hear it make a blowing noise. That is what you want then you can see the walls begin to break down. When you are done look on the inside of your coupon and it looks like someone welded it from the inside.

Hope this helps.

it may be that you are locking your wrist.. i know this sounds odd and alot of guys are gonna think its too simple of a solution but i instruct part time and i see all kinds of guys do it, try this, hold a pencil or something sticking out of your hand like the electrode. then mimic the same motion you would weld with if you lock the wrist that you hold the stinger with you will end up with a sharp uphill angle towards the end of your coupon, this can cause arc length to go way beyond suitable and in turn cause you to burn way too hot, or the angle alone can cause your weld to blow out you gotta make sure that you are rotating your wrist toward the workpiece to keep your angles in check you can try this without an electrode and just run your hand up a wall keeping your knuckles paralell to it and feel what your wrist has to do. its a long shot for me to bring up without seeing you run but i've seen alot of it before and i know it causes a hell of a lot of frustration Best of luck to you on your "journey" (sorry for the pun)