Thick Plate Open Corner Joint ???

[mjm4273]

Hello All, I have been coming here for years and I finally decided to set up an account and get some help on an upcoming project. I have to do an open corner joint with 0.5" thick 1018 Cold Rolled Steel. I want to know the best way to approach it. I will use gas shielded flux core to fill, but I don't know what to do with the root. At the voltage needed to burn the wire, I am concerned that there will not be enough support and I will blow through. That's when I thought of using MIG spray for the root, or at least most of it. Then switch to flux to fill the gap. Can anyone comment on this? Can I get away with using flux core for the root or do I need to try another process? The stock is 8 foot long and I need to weld 4 segments.

[MMW]

What size wire are you using? Does it only get welded on the outside? If it was me I would just turn the machine down if needed. Watch the puddle & if it looks ready to fall out release the trigger, let cool for a second or two, then restart, kind of a manual pulse.

I used to run a lot of esab 7100 & usually got worm tracks welding cold rolled. Your experience may differ.