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Welding a Ladle

Rick Rowlands

Titanium
Joined
Jan 8, 2005
Location
Youngstown, Ohio
Last year the Tod Engine Heritage Park acquired half of a 175 ton capacity steel ladle for display. To get the ladle down to a size that could be moved by truck I had to cut it in half. Now it is time to weld the two halves back together and before I get too far into the planning process I am coming here to ask for some advice.

First the pictures:





The plate is 1 1/4" thick A36. I'll have to do the welding with the ladle in the position shown in the first photograph. Since this ladle is just for display, weld strength is not so important. Even a crappy weld that is 30 lineal feet long will be sufficient to hold this thing together.

My game plan thus far is to bevel both sides of the joint, fit both halves up next to each other, tack on a backing strip and apply the root pass. What rods should I use for the root pass and for the rest of the passes? I'm not too sure about welding rod selection, what is good for what position etc.

The equipment I will be using is an SA-400 engine driven welder. Nice machine that I bought for $800 last year especially for this project.
 
If it's not going to be used or moved around too much, you can minimize the amount of work by omitting the edge prep. If it were me, I'd fixture the pieces with a 1/4-3/8 gap and weld it up with E6011.

Otherwise, you can certainly follow your original work plan to bevel and use a backer; root pass can be E6011 with all cover passes in E7018. With this size material, I'd probably use 5/32 rod diameter - although 3/16 would fill faster and take less time.

I'd bet you've got a day or two of work in it...
 
Edge prep with a one sided bevel on 1 1/4" plate will give you a welding project to last a couple of weeks. I'm with HW, just gap the two and lay in a bead. 6011 or 6010 if it is a DC machine, no need for 7018 on A36. Really, its more a function of what rod you can get donated or find on ebay. The big stuff like 3/16 sometimes goes really cheap.
 
I have a full box of 5/32 E6011 that I found in a steel mill and another 50 lb. box that I bought a while back. Its good to know that I can use that stuff up on this project.
 
6011 will work just fine. The third digit in the rod designation, "1" tells you it can be used in any position. If you weld it as shown in the 1st photo you can choose to go either vertical up or down. Up should give you slightly better penetration--I would go up for the root passes at least. Be a good chance to practice both:)

7018 will also work, but it's more expensive, and you only gain the advantages of it by following the storage protocol, which is a hassle. It will also work fine for a non-critical application like this, but why spend the money on it? OTOH I find it easy to get donations of old 7018 from certified welders who have leftovers from jobs and don't want to store it for too long. So if you can get some free go for it. If you have to buy it stick with the cheaper 6011.
 
welding ladle

You are going to find that the 5/32 6011 will work good on the root pass, and for sealing up gaps from any rough torch cuts. It is going to take 10 times the rod you have just to do that for the whole job. You should consider some 3/16"- 1/4" rod for actual fill passes. Again, I don't think you grasp how much weld it will take to fill up a double V in 1 1/4 " plate!
I understand that it is for display, but it will look awful if you don't put back any metal you take out on the outside at least. You may get away with just heavy stitch welds on the inside.
Don't under-estimate weld strength, when you are fitting/tackng up. Here is where 7018 may keep you from getting killed. You you don't want it breaking apart while you are moving or positioning that HEAVY MONSTER for final welding.
Also, you can't beat 7018 on the fill passes, for strength and crack resistance on heavy plate [yes, even mild steel plate welds on THAT THICK of plate can crack] and it has a much faster deposit rate than 6011. You should have power wire wheel to clear slag between passes.
When you get it together, keep us posted with pic's! But I would start collecting any and all rod you can. Try craig's list, and ebay. Or some source of surplus rods. Good luck with your project! Keep us posted, and ask, ask, ask, the welders here!
 
Thanks Alphonse. I think all the welding will be done from the outside of the ladle. I'll fill it up and then grind it smooth. Its going to be a big job but I look at it as a learning experience. Where else can you get that much of practice welding heavy plate? I at least have enough information now so that I can make an informed decision about how to proceed. I'll update this thread as work progresses for sure.
 
Three Suggestions-
1. There is no need to weld it back solid so why not weld in enough places to keep it together and then fill the gap with mortar, caulk or some kind of epoxy? Be creative, form a large drip over the area.
2. Hold a Learn How to Weld Seminar! Charge a nominal fee, lower fee if they bring their own rods! :)
3. Hold a Speed welding Contest!
These shold draw some old farts that can tell you about how hard it was to weld before rods had flux on them.
 
Three Suggestions-
1. There is no need to weld it back solid so why not weld in enough places to keep it together and then fill the gap with mortar, caulk or some kind of epoxy?

I was thinking the same thing since its just for looks. I would chamfer the edge on both sides. Then lay a 1/4" round bar the entire length to make up for the lost metal with the cutting torch kerf. Then stitch the 2 parts together top, bottom and a few in the middle and then duraglass the seam. Easy fix...Bob
 
I'm with alphonse on this one, the massiveness of the steel will
suck the heat out, and provide a fast quench. A little preheat
(just take the moisture off it with a hotstick, weed burner) will
go a long ways.

Yes the weld's are important, if it falls apart, some could be hurt.

It is a public display.
 
As it is to be a non structural weld on a static (I assume) display I would suggest getting something along the lines of 3/4" or 1" round bar and using it to fill in most of the groove and welding the whole thing togeather from there. Will never pass X-ray but probably more then adequate for this application.
 
TimW has the right idea, the finished product is for appearances only, the structural component of the weld need only hold the pieces together. Save time and money on filler metal and finish off the weld with Bondo or something similar to give a smooth appearance.
 








 
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