[taylorkh]

My neighbor has a farmer job with which needs my help. Basically it involves modifying a 3 point hitch to "Quick Point" (or something like that) hitch adapter into a pintle hook and ball hitch trailer connection. The Quick Point, if that was the name, was something not used since before the 3 point hitch was invented I think. For our purposes it is providing a heavy 20" x 36" rectangular frame which connects to the 3 point on his tractor. After removing a few quick connect bits a 5/8" plate will be welded to the 4 upright members of the frame (1/2" plates) and the pintle hitch and a receiver for the ball hitch tube will be attached onto the vertical plate. The pintle hitch will be bolted and a tube for the receiver welded on.

The main welding will be 1/2" to 5/8". My first choice would be gas shielded flux core with spray transfer as the thing can be flopped around and welded flat or horizontal. However, I do not have a machine with that capability. My Hobart HH180 is limited to 5/16" with self shielded flux core. I would love to TIG the thing but that would be a rather long project and the frame is a bit to big to get onto my bench which is setup for more precision TIG work.

My Dynasty 200DX is SMAW capable and I did make a stinger when I first purchased it. Never have tried it but now I have a chance. Which brings up the question of which rod to use.

First choice of course would be 7018 as the metal will be sanded clean and strength is important. However, I do not have a drying oven which is desirable (required for code work) when using 7018s. Is a non-dried 7018 better than say a 7024?

TIA,

Ken

[Poland308]

Once you get into thicker metals it's common to have fillet welds made up of a series of stacked stringers. You don't necessarily have to weld it out in one pass.

[Poland308]

If it's not real humid were you are and if you can put the cap back on your rod container then you don't need an oven. I think even at the nuke plant there is like a 4 hour window that the rod can be exposed to atmosphere. Since this doesn't sound like reactor work you should be just fine with 7018. I keep 10-50 lbs of 3/32 and 1/8 in rods in plastic rod tubes on my truck and haven't had any troubles with it yet. I did forget to close a tube over night on a humid summer night 80% humidity and the next morning the iron powder in the flux was rusty.

[taylorkh]

Thanks Josh. I understand and may make a couple of passes on each weld. However, the self shielded flux core wire I have for the Hobart is rated single pass only. TIG would take several passes - and I have done that - fixed the over torque protector/drive sprocket assembly on his New Holland bailer witihTIG. Still, I think stick is the ticket for this one.

Thanks Poland308. If I buy a 50# can of Lincoln rods they are sealed - and dry - from the factory. And more rods than I will ever burn. If I pick up a 5# pack at the local farm supply they are in a cardboard box with some plastic wrap around it and an unknown moisture content.

At a nuke plant you can also trace the rods back to the melt from which they were made and the welder's qualifications since he was in diapers. Been there - Radiation Protection/Chemistry and later Engineering and IT.

I guess we need to have Jody make some welds with 7018s right from the oven and some which were laying out behind the shop for a couple of months and then see how the break. Hint. Hint.

I found a pack of 3/32" 7024s and some 1/8" 6011s out in my storage bldg - sealed in an old ammo tube. I will probably light some of them up just for practice and see how they work. Been a while since I burned any rods.

Ken

[Poland308]

Stick is a great option for work like that. If you can get rod from your LWS in a 10 lb container they usually come with a reuseable cap sor sealing.

[Braehill]

Ken,
I haven't had to buy my own rods In a very long time so I don't know the current prices, but if I remember right, the last time I bought a 10# can it was under $30 for 3/32 Lincoln Excalibur rods.

I've never owned a rod oven and have used 7018 rods for years. I used to store them in a 4 gallon insulated milk box (from when milk was delivered to your house, yeah, I'm old) with an incandescent light bulb inside the box to keep humidity at bay. The rods I use now are stored in an air conditioned room that keeps them dry,on top of a transformer that keeps them warm. I've also used them where they have been left sitting on top of the welder for years in an open garage.

I know there is a proper way to store rods and don't knock anybody for doing it, but most applications will do just fine by keeping them sealed until you need them and then place them in a ziplock bag until you need them again.

By the way, I lit up a 6010 rod stored next to the 7018 rods in the A/C room and the whole rod burst into flames, never seen that before.

Len

[taylorkh]

Thanks again Josh. I have to go to the Toyota dealer tomorrow to have the hand grenade (air bag inflator) replaced in the wife's car. The LWS is on the way so I was thinking about your suggestion. But... I have an account at the LWS and get my shielding gas there. As to other items... If I "buy it now" on evilbay I know what the item will cost. At the LWS I have no idea until it get rung up at the register. I do not want to jeopardize my account by telling the manager to take an overpriced item and shove it.

Case in point.. When I first got my account I was filling in for the instructor at a local Community College. The night instructor was a sales rep for the LWS. I had purchased a Diversion 165 (on-line) and he setup my account and got me my first tank of Argon.

I went to have the tank refilled - swapped for a larger one as well - and decided to purchase some supplies. I purchased a 5# box of 4043 TIG filler. It came to $16 and change - a little over $3/pound - a fair price. When I got home I found a sticker on the box in the amount of $10.95. When I saw my friend a couple of days later I showed him the invoice and the box and asked if I had been screwed? No, he explained. The $10.95 on the box is the PER POUND list price. The US government would not pay that much for 4043. I purchased a bottle of aluminum cleaner. The sicker said $7.95. MY price turned out to be something like $4.50. A pair of Tillman TIG gloves which go for $10 on-line might be on the shelf for $18. Does anyone pay that amount? Is my price $9 or $15.95? I understand that large accounts will get a volume discount but I do not like like having to ask how much is this, how much is that? or just hoping for the best. End of rant

Thanks Len,

I may pick up some 7018s somewhere locally or on-line and see what happens. This being a farm project it would probably be welded with 7013s in most cases I fixed such a weld on my Step-son's Farmall Super A. A 1 1/2" diameter shaft into a 1" x 4" bar which formed part of the implement lift. The factory weld had broken and it was stuck together (out of alignment) with a few blobs of something. I could not stand looking at it so I took if off the tractor while he was at work one day, ground the thing apart, trued it up and TIG welded it with my Diversion 165. Gave that machine a workout for sure.

Ken

[MinnesotaDave]

7014 is an excellent rod in place of 7018.

They are very easy to use and are basically a drag rod.

Here is a table from AWS with some of the comparisons.

image.jpg (55.21 KiB) Viewed 1856 times

[AKweldshop]

7018.

Rod ovens are not neccesary unless your welding nuclear rockets.

3/32", 1/8", and 5/32" should be every weldors staple.

IMO.

[Artie F. Emm]

You can also recondition electrodes if they've been exposed to atmosphere.

Electrode_storage_reconditioning.JPG (54.33 KiB) Viewed 1791 times

[gnuuser]

6011 rods work well ac or dc but dc reverse polarity will give deeper penetration in your weld
6012 will be harder to strike an arc on but can produce some damn fine welds in skilled hands.
we use a variety of different rods at work including 6010, 6011,6012, 6013, 7014,7018, supercast, a120 (chrome rod),super-blue and super gold (the last two i dont use much and dont care for)
they are easy to weld with but in many cases unsuitable for many welds being too brittle
super-cast is good but smells like burning cow s#1t when you use it.

try to choose a rod that is closest to the chemical make-up of the pieces you are welding
most of the rod guides can be a big help there

[Edgewalker]

Me personally.I love 6010. I wouldn't get anything "low-hydrogen" without an oven. It does not make sense to buy a 7018. You pay for a low-hydrogen rod to limit the input of hydrogen into the weld pool. Then do not store them in an oven which introduces hydrogen into the rod and thus the weld pool. Will an old and exposed 7018 work? Probably, but what about the time that it doesn't?