Welding Tips and Tricks

I mostly do mig and tig- over the years i got very good at it- BUT I m just a basic stick welder, doing general fabrication.
I am working on a project now that requires hard-facing- I used Mckay 118 rods many years ago-on a bucket
and now I am doing a chute for dirt and rock- but since i don't have much experience with hard-facing I wanted to know a few things about hard-facing--
1) how important is penetration?
2) does a hard-face pass over a 7018 weld help protect the 7018 weld?
3)will rods work out of position? uphill or downhill?
4) do i need to preheat or post heat for hr-carbn steel

I found a little information, here:
http://www.hobartbrothers.com/uploads/p ... loy118.pdf

"1/8” and 5/32” diameters can be used out-of-position using reduced amperage, building a series of horizontal beads on a “shelf,” and by using a weave technique."

so if i needed to do a vertical weld i would go uphill ??

Jeff,
I used to work with a guy who used Mckay 118 for the first few passes and then would use Mckay 155 over it. When I asked him why, he said that the 118 would work harden better and by the time the 155 wore off the 118 was hardened. I didn't know enough about the process to know if he knew what he was talking about or not, but he did it enough that he should.

He welded uphill, but mostly welded stringers horizontally across the shutes. These were in a cement block plant and saw quite a bit of abrasion.

I'm not sure what you mean about protecting a 7018 weld though. If your asking if you can weld over a 7018 weld, the answer is yes. I guess if the 118 or 155 is welded over it, then yes it's being protected from surface wear, but probably doesn't make the 7018 weld any stronger as far as tensile strength goes.

I don't know the answer to the question about high Carbon steel, but I'm assuming that a lot of things that get hard surfaced after they show wear are high Carbon steels. They may well need a pre and or post heat, but I'm not the best person to answer that without firsthand knowledge, sorry.

Len

Braehill,
thanks you answered most of what i needed to know-

jeffniel wrote:so if i needed to do a vertical weld i would go uphill ??

I'm going to let all other advice stand where it is, and answer this question specificly....

YES.

Hey, JeffNiel- I'm interested to see how the hardfacing project goes for you. Think you might be able to post photos and descriptions?

I'm sorry- we were on the go when we were at the job site, didn't have my phone with me so i got not photos--and i don't know when we will be back at the jobsite
the job went well- the hardfacing was done over the 7018 welds- used Mckay hard-alloy uphill - ran good seems you have to go slower and wider- 5/32 rods machine was set at 125 amps-dc+ not very accurate on the amps setting cause the machine is on it's way out- but it got the job done