Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi guys, i do a lot of general workbenches, gates, handrails and so on and normally use Satincraft 13 rods or murex speedex 12 rods as they are cheap but still reputable ($45 for 5kg) but recently got on to bobthewelder and bought 10kg of Kobe RB26 2.5mm rods for general sheet and tube work.

I am pretty used to the CIG GP and Satincraft rods, Murex 12's and Pipearc 10p. I'm not sure if what I am encountering is good or bad, but these RB26 Rods seem to be welding a bit rough, but once the slag is peeled off it is nearly mirror smooth with what looks to be a pattern that resembles waves on the ocean. What would be causing this effect?

Heres what I am used to Now heres a fillet with the Kobe RB-26 Rods (almost mig like appearance, really smooth). Sory about the photo's. My good phone has a broken camera, im using some cheapo thing with a 2mp camera. Ill upload some better one's later when i use someone's phone! Heres some rough runs with the CIG GP rods and murex 12's All rods were ran at 85A AC for these welds (out on the mates farm at the mo, only have a buzzbox!) Are these smooth stainless like welds a product of bad setup, or are they ok? I have never seen a stick weld come up so smooth. Flux was pretty baked on, but the weld was close to mirror finish.

Has anyone else ever had rods that deposit a bead with the appearance of the ocean (smooth and polished with tiny off looking waves) The ripples are that smooth and almost mottled you cant see them in the photo's i have posted. I will put some betters up later. I just want to know if this is normal. All my stick welds either look like i am whipping when im not, or have pronounced ripples. These are so smooth i think i might have done buggered something? Or maybe I am overthinking.?

Let us know what you think. Im just a bit lost, the steel comes out bright as hell, and has only been quickly hit with the wire brush to remove slag. Rest of the sheet is black, and has most of the mill scale still on....what a contrast.

On a side note, why do people claim AC welders are so hard to use? Im using some stinking $100 new 100A CIG Turbo PLant with 10% duty at 100A.....i somehow pulled decent welds instantky....no different apart from the low OCV.....

Same with Gasless wire (0.9mm weldskill), it seemed easy as piss for me. Why does everyone make out that gasless wire is so hard to weld with? Used some for the first time yesterday and i'm not sure why everyone is so against it. In a vheap CIG 150 mig as well. Came out tidy as hell. Do these people lack eyes or fingers or something?

There is so much misconception about gasless welding i don;t even know where to start. I swear people just get caught up in hype and spread false info because their armchair welding mate says so. Im not exactly smart, or stable handed as well.

Have been using some dirt cheap tooling at the farm and my results have been tidy as hell.

I checkedout the kobe and other websites that claim the slag peels off easy to reveal a glossy smooth bead. So looks like you got a nice rod there. If your slag is tough you might need to tweak your amps a little to find the sweet spot..

Coldman wrote:I checkedout the kobe and other websites that claim the slag peels off easy to reveal a glossy smooth bead. So looks like you got a nice rod there. If your slag is tough you might need to tweak your amps a little to find the sweet spot..

Yes, it was even hard to get off with the wire wheel on the grinder.......

Heres some of the practice welds i pulled yesterday with the gasless cig. It was just set to the recommended setting on the side of the case (3 out of 4 on voltage, 8 on the wire feed) and they were piss easy? Where does everyone get off spreading clear bullshit about gasless wire? For me it was the same as mig, just slower and a bit hotter. Could have fiddled with settings but couldn't be bothered. The one t piece was enough to prove it was $299 well spent....just not happy about paying $80 for a 4.5kg roll of wire. Will probably get some Co2 like i have at home for my 150 mig.....
I feel sorry for gasless wire....it cops so much hate but in my eyes its unwarranted.

Just out of curiosity, when sticking, is hard to remove slag usually an indicator of a too hot, or cold weld? Or too fast of a travel?

I'm no stick expert but for me it involves amps being up or down and also maybe long arc length. I think the rule of setting it hot enough so it won't stick on a short arc and then welding with a short arc applies.

Coldman wrote:I'm no stick expert but for me it involves amps being up or down and also maybe long arc length. I think the rule of setting it hot enough so it won't stick on a short arc and then welding with a short arc applies.

Im pretty sure its my arc length judging by that. If i run a nice short arc, the machine here wants to cut the arc......it only has something like 45V OCV. Ill add another few amps considering im on AC, keep a short arc and see how we go. I suppose thats one thing i really miss about my inverter. Hot start and arc force.....god that arc force helps when i want to run drag rods....

Vincenzo, it would be helpful to know what current you're running at. I also see an issue with angle, as your vertical plate is showing a bit of undercut. As for the pattern, had you been on the ale the night before? Looks a bit more like an attack of the shakes than anything else.

plantwelder wrote:Vincenzo, it would be helpful to know what current you're running at. I also see an issue with angle, as your vertical plate is showing a bit of undercut. As for the pattern, had you been on the ale the night before? Looks a bit more like an attack of the shakes than anything else.

Running these at 85-90A AC...... I was just curious as why the bead is smooth (normally shaky hands produce more pronounced ripples with me!!) The undercut is minor....i had to shine a white light on the piece as my camera is a joke at the moment which realy brings it out, but regardless it is still there.

By the way, i was on the ale during the welds my friend. I find practicing on the turps leaves me pulling wicked welds when sober lol. My stick welds are pretty puss.....i only started stick welding 2 or 3 weeks or so, any criticism is appreciated.

I struggle with the shakes a bit, wet or dry. I nearly always hold the stinger with one hand, the end of the electrode with the other. You get less arc strikes that way, and it's easier to keep a consistent bead until your rod has burnt down. As soon as you feel the heat through the glove, move your hand to the stinger. It's easier to work either direction, either handed like this, than trying to aim 14" of rod with one hand.

In addition, if you're partial to the turps, try not to exhale while welding.

I regularly use Kobe 52U 7016's and find them very good to use. Haven't used the RB26's though but wouldn't have any doubts about their qualities and why would you be concerned about a smoother weld surface, it's what I live for.

gnabgib wrote:I regularly use Kobe 52U 7016's and find them very good to use. Haven't used the RB26's though but wouldn't have any doubts about their qualities and why would you be concerned about a smoother weld surface, it's what I live for.

I had never seen smooth stick welds before, that's all. Most i see or do myself have a very distinct ripple pattern. These almost come out looking like gas mig stringers.......they pull cleaner beads than my gasless MIG!!!! I was more worried about the microscopic wrinkles (that small you cant feel them at all, there was a post about cro-mo the other day here that had the same wrinkled look and somebody mentioned contamination)