Hello again, I hope this article finds you without burnt eyes or some other welding trauma. You can avoid this by staying behind the welder’s lens. Today we are going to start our discussion on the anatomy of stick or arc welding with flux-coated rods (electrodes).
Of course, there are many types of stick sticks, but the best place to start is with a quick freeze stick. Quick freeze rods are in a category that has been the foundation for clad rod welding. They are still an industry standard in many places. I have worked for companies that do not use these rods in their process as metal root, but most do. When we talk about root metals, we are referring to those metals that are always the first metals that are applied to a weld joint, be it pipe welding, plate welding, tube welding, structural welding, etc.
When we talk about this type of rod we are almost always talking about basic carbon steel (also known as black iron or mild steel). Quick freeze rods have the ability to quickly cool down even while the welding process is underway. Imagine stacking dimes on top of each other with a slight overlap from one dime to the next. Like a row of fallen dominoes. Now this, of course, would be a flat, continuous weld. Every time you weld with a quick freeze rod, the rod moves forward slightly and then returns to the original puddle. As soon as you move forward with the rod, the metal that has been deposited behind the rod is already solidifying, which is why the term flash freezing applies. There is some ability to drag the bar without much movement, but due to the nature of the bar and its design, it wants to solidify quickly to avoid a large buildup when depositing metal, it will naturally move the puddle more than some other rods.
The tighter the placement of one dime on the next means good continuity of the solder. One thing to watch for with this application is the tendency to undermine existing weld joint areas with the new metal being placed on top. When you pull the rod out of the puddle, the area you are moving through is being excavated by the action of this rod. That’s why the rod is put back on the last penny of weld filler in the areas gouged out by the rod as it went.
This type of cane has a high digging effort. A word of advice on this type of process is as follows: “Don’t be afraid to leave enough metal in the existing weld path before continuing. Beginning welders especially have a tendency to go too fast before depositing enough metal to avoid undermining. parent metal (existing metal). Undercutting is a term that simply means that the weld metal that has been deposited was not enough to flush the weld with the surrounding surface. Normally, the weld deposited from the rod is enough to cause the weld to the new weld is taller or thicker than the original material.
When the metal deposited during the welding process is timid or insufficient, the newly deposited metal leaves a jagged edge next to the new metal instead of a nice rounded effect. 6010 electrodes, 7010 electrodes, 8010 electrodes, arc guard 85, 6011, 6013 are all quick freeze rods, just as a few examples. These rods are designed to dig into the parent metal and provide good penetration. It is good on rusty metals and metals that are not very clean. Old material that has corroded over time, etc.
One trick you can apply with this type of rod is this: The polarity can be changed when welding this rod, allowing for less penetration or digging as you weld. Sometimes thin metal or metal that can’t take a lot of scrubbing effort by the standard of these rods can be overcome with this little trick. Make the ground positive and the hot lead negative (reverse polarity). You will find that the sound is a little different while welding than it would normally be. You will also find that the welding rod does not have the tendency to dig or penetrate as much.
This is a trick that comes in handy, especially when working on thin metals. I have found for myself that these wands run more smoothly at a slightly higher heat than you can feel comfortable with. Running a hot puddle is better and gets easier to handle the more you practice with it. These bars can be run uphill from bottom to top in a vertical plane or from top to bottom in a vertical plane. There is usually more moving uphill and more skidding or driving downhill. Actually they are all position bars. Flat, Top, Vertical, Horizontal, Arkansas Hood or 6g incorporating all positions within the weld path. Normally any pipe test you do will be in the 6g position. There are some exceptions. One of the tests I never liked doing was a fixed template test. This test simulates an actual field weld that will need to be done on the job. They can be a nightmare.
Heat, travel speed and rod angle are the 3 most important factors when stick welding. I said heat, travel speed and rod. One thing that doesn’t usually hurt the stick rod category is the wind. You really have to be blowing to damage the quick freeze welding rod series. Some of the rods I mentioned above are AC rods and some of them are DC rods. Keep this in mind when choosing your rod. I have another article about that. Well, that’s all the time in this article. Thanks from the author.
