Which Rod?

[shade tree welder]

I have an upcoming project which is like normal ,the customer needed it yesterday, short on time on my end . I will be building "floatable screens", which are used on outflow structures on detention ponds to catch debris etc. I have to build 18 screens apoximately 4 ft x 16 ft, 2x3x1/4 angle iron frames, 2.5x2.5 x 1/4 angle supports every 2 ft running crossways,2x1/4 flat bar on edge 2/3/4" apart inside the frame welded to the support angles. I have a miller 210, perfect for this project,to speed up production with an extra man helping,I was thinking about a wire feed to run off my 302, but $1700, at the lws is gonna cut pretty deep into my profit. So i am thinking about using stick to help out with the welding. Need to know which rod is best as for speed and look as good as a wire weld,and you do not have to spend a lot of time knocking the flux off,as per these screens will be hot-dipped galvanized after I finish and the galvanizing plant will not take any items with flux on the welds.

[DDA52]

I would probably use a 7018. The flux will knock off fairly easily and the bead appearance will be good. A 6013 or 7014 may work, but I would rather have the deeper penetration and therefore strength of the 7018. 6011/10 would be a good choice, but the flux is tougher to clean up. For that matter, flux core would be a good choice if you had a feeder. Can you rent one for the job? My LWS will rent LN-25's. Then you could use the solid wire.

[weld_13]

rods

i would go with the 7018 because of the penetration and its a universal rod. could go with a 7024 which i like because the flux cleans off realy easy but is only for horizontal welds. the 7024 also has a nice thick clean looking weld that looks good.

[weld_13]

haha i just thought of something u could go buy a wire feed welder and then take it back once ur done and say it didnt meet ur standards or something.

[alha]

i would go with the 7018 because of the penetration and its a universal rod. could go with a 7024 which i like because the flux cleans off realy easy but is only for horizontal welds. the 7024 also has a nice thick clean looking weld that looks good.

Looking at this thread, it raised a basic question for me. People are tossing around rod numbers & applications like they're making a salad. Does anyone make a chart that lists much of what has been talked about here, what rod used for what application with what heat in what position with how difficult/easy flux removal, etc, etc etc?

That would be a _Real_ useful thing to have, I can't imagine that someone hasn't already came up with it, not sure if it will have everything I mentioned, but at least would be a place to start. Any suggestions? Maybe a rod manufacturer or Miller?

Thanks!

[weld_13]

rod chart

yes i know lincoln has one with most rods and i have a copy but dont know how to get a hard copy. i can see if i can scan in a copy but it might not look real good.

[MAC702]

Lincoln has a very basic one on the back of their tombstones, but it doesn't really say much except what size to use for what thickness of metal, and then which ones they make in that size that the machine will run.

But here's a page on their website that gives some details about their electrodes. It's more marketing and doesn't give the real differences between some of them, but it's a start:

http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Catalog/consumableseries.asp?browse=104|2030|

[alha]

Lincoln has a very basic one on the back of their tombstones, but it doesn't really say much except what size to use for what thickness of metal, and then which ones they make in that size that the machine will run.

But here's a page on their website that gives some details about their electrodes. It's more marketing and doesn't give the real differences between some of them, but it's a start:

http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...owse=104|2030|

Cool, thanks for the link. I just whipped up a spreadsheet based upon that one, if there are some more experienced welders out there that would like to add any pertinent information to it that is missing, feel free, it would be a nice resource for those of us still learning. Just post it again when you're done, so we can all benefit from the shared knowledge.

[weld_13]

chart qeustion

is there any way u can put that in a different format? my comp. doesnt have excel or anything so i cant open it. thanks

[alha]

is there any way u can put that in a different format? my comp. doesnt have excel or anything so i cant open it. thanks

If you DL this program from Microsloth,

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c8378bf4-996c-4569-b547-75edbd03aaf0&displaylang=EN

you will be able to open, view and copy the info from the spreadsheet. The only thing you wouldn't be able to do is to save changes, as it's only a viewer. Does this help, or do I need to re-format it?

I might be able to integrate your info into the spreadsheet if you pull it out and do it in wordpad or some other program. I suppose I could make a .pdf out of it when everyone's added their input and it's done

[weld_13]

thats good thanks alot.

[alha]

thats good thanks alot.

No worries, always glad to help. I've played with it a little, here's what it currently looks like as a .pdf, just waiting for info to be entered... I had to zip it, because unzipped, the .pdf was around 45k, way bigger than the forum limit for that file type. Not sure why they limited it to such a small size, but all you need to do is unzip it and you're good to go.