Welding tool steel socket to mild steel at home.

I want to weld a tool steel socket (from a mechanics socket set) to a mild steel plate at home. I only have a stick welder.
I am aware that I should use low hydrogen rods, but find them so difficult to use especially on small jobs.
Can I get away with using mild steel general purpose electrodes?

I am just a hobbyist; my apologies for the amateur nature of the question.

Jim.

Jim.Thompson said:

I want to weld a tool steel socket (from a mechanics socket set) to a mild steel plate at home. I only have a stick welder.
I am aware that I should use low hydrogen rods, but find them so difficult to use especially on small jobs.
Can I get away with using mild steel general purpose electrodes?

I am just a hobbyist; my apologies for the amateur nature of the question.

Jim.

Click to expand...

In a prior life ... I once made up several extended-reach crowfoot type by disk-grinding open-end wrenches in half, welding on a length of hardware-store hollow square tubing at right-angles to the flat side with a hollow that fit the ratchet/breaker bar.

Welder was a 1970's vintage 200+ A AC Dayton/Grainger AKA "El Cheapo".

Rod was a vanilla general-purpose 'Fleetweld'. A 'Sodel' offering? Can't recall, but 'mild steel' was wot I used mostly, even where i should not have done..

Both choices 'coz they were all I had under-roof on the day.

Weld is still good 30-40 years on.

For sockets, I'd use the black-oxide 6-point ones made for air-tools. Easier to scuff to bare metal, no worry about Nickel/Chromium plating complications, easier to paint as part of your final/final.

Bill

Jim.Thompson said:

I want to weld a tool steel socket (from a mechanics socket set) to a mild steel plate at home. I only have a stick welder.
I am aware that I should use low hydrogen rods, but find them so difficult to use especially on small jobs.
Can I get away with using mild steel general purpose electrodes?

I am just a hobbyist; my apologies for the amateur nature of the question.

Jim.

Click to expand...

Tech Tip: Repairing Tools with 312 Stainless Filler Rod - YouTube

Blue Max 2100
Stainless Steel Stick Electrodes

lincolnelectric
Techalloy 312TIG.



Preheat and post heat 500F ish
Toaster oven works for this

I can buy these stick rods one at at time at my local welding supplier shop.

If you already have 309 stainless, give it a try on scrap tools probably works

Made a crank nut socket for a Honda FL350 I rebuilt. Worked fine. Boring out the larger socket (3/4" drive) knocked the hell out of a couple boring bar tips, but had to for clearance over the crank snout. MIG welded together after grinding the chrome off to bare steel.

Jim.Thompson said:

I want to weld a tool steel socket (from a mechanics socket set) to a mild steel plate at home.

Click to expand...

Hand usage ? yes.
Give it a bit of pre-heating to help make sure.

309 or 312 stainless would be the way to go

I used 309 on this. Still working great, many heavy uses later.

Our blacksmith trained welder said welding hard and soft tends to cause cracks and would stuff a job in a bucket of sand or ashes to let the cooling take longer.

I usually used impact sockets or ground the chrome off at the weld area and used a stainless rod. Short term use though.

Dave

Your tool steel socket isn't tool steel. It is probably a alloy steel such as 41xx, 43xx, 61xx, or similar. Low hydrogen is preferred, but hardly the only method. I would have no fear whatsoever welding with 6010/6011. I would preheat to 700F before welding and would cover in clay oil absorbent or insulation until cool. If you use lohy, you could reduce the preheat to 450F.

Yes, 309 to 312SS would be better, as would inconel 625, supermissile rod, or any of a number of rods designed for welding high strength mystery metals. But sometimes you have to go with whats in your shed right now.

From the description this is not a critical weld. Worst that can happen is you utter a few swear words, grind off the old weld, and reweld with 200F higher preheat temperature.

Thanks for the reply and the details of your experience.
I will get on with it. Mild steel rods it is!

Thanks for all the detailed replies!
I will read them carefully again later.

Cold formed millions of sockets some years ago. Never tool steel but last ones were 40B29. Welded all kinds of specialty tools up from them, never did much special and never remember a failure.

Key with any high stress weld like this, clean metal and a little preheat maybe on larger parts - smaller welds, but a nice slow cool down - post heat. I too have made more than a few emergency crow foot wrenches (really should buy a set some day!!) right up to 1 1/4 ish on a long pole to get to a really awkward nut from the other side of the machine to avoid a long winded strip and rebuild.

On site, beggers can't be choosers and its normally just 6013 or similar. At the shop, i will generally tig with stainless filler (more ductile - less inclined to crack) Either way i will let em both cool naturaly out of drafts whilst i sample the local tea + biscuits (more than a fuew of my customers know full damn well the mear smell of a chocolate digestive or ginger nut can achieve wonders in the machine repair completion time scale!

Common mistake a lot of people do is go low hydrogen or other higher tensile filler. Seams great and on a properly designed weld joint it also works great, problem is on a crap joint like these 9x out of 10 the forces are focused on one spot and they just crack. A softer more ductile filler yields - stretches spreading the force over a bigger part of the joint and the parts stay together.