Welding Thin Stuff with a Stick Welder

CatMan · Aug 8, 2019

What's good advice for welding thin stuff with a stick welder? I have a remote outside job that will require welding on some pieces made from 11GA and 14GA mild steel.

Equipment list is either a 10KW generator / stick welder or use the generator to power a 120V wire feed welder.

I realize the stick machine is not ideal, but I wouldn't have to drag out the wire welder. Maybe I could get an electrode small enough and turn the machine down to not burn through?

The wire welder is more suited to the task, but it would be outside. Even with a flux core wire, I worry about getting a good weld. I also worry about the duty cycle of the machine. It isn't a big job, probably about 120" of actual bead need to be ran.

Which would you choose?

DDoug · Aug 8, 2019

You don't have to "shoot from the hip"
Set up some samples in your shop, testing the intended equipment/process.

I will suggest 7014 set on a.c. and a wee bit hot.

Try 1/8" and move down in dia. only if you have to.

solid welding (watertite) or stitch ?

Clive603 · Aug 8, 2019

Beg, buy, borrow, hire or steal a modern inverter stick welder of decent breed. If you only have a buzz box its going to be very frustrating but doable with little short stitches I think. My Fronius Transpocket inverter box will handle UK 16 gauge / 0.064 thick if you concentrate and don't try for long runs.

I've done 1 mm on a bet with the amps turned well down. Dial goes down to 5 amps on 110 V input or 15 on 220. It will strike and hold an arc at 15 too.

Cant remember the last time I dug out the MIG, bottle went back years ago as it wasn't worth it for the very rare times a MIG was the only way for what I do.

Other great thing about inverters when it comes to hauling is size. Tiny beasts. Mine isn't much bigger than the large print, desktop, version of Machinery's Handbook.

Clive

medsar · Aug 8, 2019

11G mild steel SMAW/MMA should be no problem. 14g is a little harder with a buzz-box but still very doable. I would second Clive's suggestion to get a modern inverter. If you're worried about the 14g, the new inverters allow for pulsed stick welding.

Rob F. · Aug 8, 2019

Use small 6013 rod, smallest might be 3/32 or 5/64. Classic sheet metal rod.
Kind of depends on what thickness you are welding the brackets on to.

LKeithR · Aug 8, 2019

medsar said:
...11G mild steel SMAW/MMA should be no problem. 14g is a little harder with a buzz-box but still very doable...

Rob F. said:
Use small 6013 rod, smallest might be 3/32 or 5/64. Classic sheet metal rod.
Kind of depends on what thickness you are welding the brackets on to.

This.

You should be able to weld 14 GA or heavier all day long with 3/32 6013 or 7014. As the material gets a
bit lighter you need to move a little faster. Learn to weld properly and you'll rarely need a pulse option on
a welder....

kenton · Aug 8, 2019

If you are running DC, switching the leads so the electrode is negative and the ground is positive can help on thinner materials.

DDoug · Aug 8, 2019

kenton said:
If you are running DC, switching the leads so the electrode is negative and the ground is positive can help on thinner materials.

Or run a.c. and get less heat than reverse polarity, and have no arc blow problems.....

atomarc · Aug 8, 2019

Many of the above recommendations should work fine but if you're real nervous, you can use a Air-Arc..carbon gouging rod in the stinger and use bronze rod for the filler material. Blow-pipe people do this all day long, hanging from their toenails off of duct in the stratosphere on blowpipe that is only 20 gauge. The carbon rod gets red hot and melts the bronze rod..just like you're welding with oxy-acetylene..almost.

Here is a post from a welding forum..it's not mine but sheds light on the process.

"You described it perfectly. Use 1/4" rods, straight polarity, low amps and use gouging rods instead of tungsten and argon. I used 100% argon and tung. before I learned about this. I had welded pipe and steel for more than 20 years when I tried this and i was very sceptical. It does sound crazy but it works great. Out of curiosity give it a try.

This process is called Carbon arc Welding CAW basically an obsolete process. You stated this was for non code work. The worst thing you may encounter is some carbon contamination."

Having wasted all this bandwidth, I'll end with this thought..a dinky electrode on a stick machine is still the best option.

Stuart

jonok · Aug 8, 2019

Or take your inverter with a foot pedal and HF start and do some truly precision stick welding with the aforementioned 3/32 6013. It works great.

Scottl · Aug 8, 2019

These are about the smallest dia. electrodes.

Welding Rod 1/16 Inch Diameter 3 lb

Years ago I bought the stitch welder accessory from them and with the 1/16 electrodes it works well on thin sheet. The stitch welder has a solenoid that pulsates the rod and also a diode that can be engaged to convert the buzz box output to dc. Very smooth welds.

Another thing that helps is if you can temporarily back up the weld with copper. It prevents burn through. In a pinch I've used flattened copper water pipe.

cg285 · Aug 8, 2019

CatMan said:
Which would you choose?

in the field today i would use a 120v flux core which is why i got one 'cause it's portable. back in the day i would have used a lincoln tombstone as that was what i had then and never gave it another thought. a local body shop, back then, used an a/c stick on body panels. (i would have used o/a...)

fmustang1981 · Mar 18, 2021

Thank you for sharing these tips, guys. I had very similar equipment including a Stick Welder and a 10KW generator. I am new to this field as I have only recently started working at the factory. I'm still just gaining experience and such topics really help me to join the work of a welder. Every day I learn something new. What else would you advise me to do so that I can make progress as quickly as possible to be like guys from this page, as this is my goal for a few years. It was not so easy even after reading this topic, but in the end I coped with this task. Thanks again, guys!

atomarc · Mar 18, 2021

The first post with a link in the middle of the message...yowzer! Could it be canned meat.

Stuart

Garwood · Mar 18, 2021

I have welded thin exhaust tubing with both 110v flux core mig and 3/32 7014 stick on AC. Both worked great.

Phil in Montana · Mar 18, 2021

If you can back the weld with a copper bar and run 6011,12,13 as low as you can...Phil

Strostkovy · Mar 18, 2021

digger doug said:
Or run a.c. and get less heat than reverse polarity, and have no arc blow problems.....

For a given amperage, sure.

But if you have a machine that puts out clean DC you can run much lower amperage and still have a stable arc.

A stick rod fits in a tig welder collet, and runs pretty smooth. In case anyone was into that sort of thing.

DDoug · Mar 19, 2021

Strostkovy said:
For a given amperage, sure.

But if you have a machine that puts out clean DC you can run much lower amperage and still have a stable arc.

A stick rod fits in a tig welder collet, and runs pretty smooth. In case anyone was into that sort of thing.

...and yet...for some strange reason, it works better (to me at least) to doo it my way.

And yes, I have a few ac/dc stick machines.

plastikdreams · Mar 19, 2021

Strostkovy said:
For a given amperage, sure.

But if you have a machine that puts out clean DC you can run much lower amperage and still have a stable arc.

A stick rod fits in a tig welder collet, and runs pretty smooth. In case anyone was into that sort of thing.

Hmm I'm gonna have to try that lol...straight or reverse polarity? Or do you run ac?

Strostkovy · Mar 19, 2021

plastikdreams said:
Hmm I'm gonna have to try that lol...straight or reverse polarity? Or do you run ac?

Whatever you would normally use for the rod, but square wave AC is much nicer than 60hz sine wave. High frequency start and foot pedal control are also real nice.

Welding Thin Stuff with a Stick Welder

Hot Rolled

Diamond

Titanium

Cast Iron

Diamond

Stainless

Stainless

Diamond

Diamond

Cast Iron

Diamond

Stainless

Plastic

Diamond

Diamond

Stainless

Titanium

Diamond

Diamond

Titanium

Similar threads