Thanks, I have thought about the advantages of having spaces in the table that might help when a piece has some irregularities...

Thanks for your reply ogorir; I probably didn't explain my experiment too well. I only welded that small piece of 3/16" angle iron, for 1-1/2" along each side, when it was in the middle of the plate. So not very much welding altogether on it... the plate never recieved heat to its end beca...

I've finally gotten in decent shape w/my little Diversion 165 and gathered materials to make a welding table. For the top I decided to stretch the machine and see if it would weld 3/8" (3/16" is the stated max for the Diversion). A little preheat with a torch and presto, good enough to wel...

"i think you need to start your arc closer to the joint but still on the rod" That was absolutely the problem. The rod was swelling up with heat but not melting because I didn't have the electrode close enough. I was heating everything up but not melting anything! Typical beginner's dilemm...

:oops: 1/8" plate not 3/8", sorry. The electrode is orange band, 2%, 3/32", my cup size is 6 and the filler is 1/16" When I say the rod "deforms" I mean that if I put the arc to the rod first it glows red quickly and swells. This prevents me from running a puddle down o...

Hello everyone and thanks for putting up with a newbie and his dumb questions. I'm trying to weld 1/4" rod perpendicular to a 3/8" plate (mild steel) using my diversion 165. I have drilled a shallow hole into the plate to help maintain 90 degrees between the plate and the rod, and did a li...