Advise needed please..

[Airborne]

Hi all

Newbie here from Warwickshire. First post on the forum, and also new to arc welding.

I have a project that i want to be starting shortly which is a High seat that will be used on our local shoot.

The seat will be made from 30mm x 30mm x 3mm mild steel box section, i have access to an Arc welder at the farm although im not sure of the make etc. Can anyone advise me on what size rods i should be using and at what ampage i should be running the unit at ???

Many thanks.

 

[keith19]

Welcome to the forum

You'll need to do quite a bit of practice to get efficient at arc welding. Do your practice on m/s 3 - 4 mm up in thickness, so you don't blow holes to start with. If you've plenty of off-cut 3mm box section scrap, use that.

Don't weld your High seat till you can make good strong welds, and have tested your joints to destruction.

Use 2.5 or 3.2 6013 rods on 3mm m/s. 3.2 might be a little fierce till you get used to it; you have to move faster than with 2.5. If you have or can beg or borrow an auto-darkening helmet, use it, it makes learning so much easier.

Amperage varies a bit with what rods you use. Some rods like to be near the top of their range, some are happy lower down. Best advice is to set the amperage as advised by the manufacturer on the pack of rods, then see how you go. I generally start somewhere near the top of an advised range, and work my way down as required.

Don't buy cheap rods from places like b&q, screwfix, halfords, etc. Pay a bit more and buy branded rods from a welding supplier, they will make both learning, and eventually the job, very much easier. Good rods aren't cheap, but cheap rods are generally false economy.

Oh, and study the arc welding tutorials on here, and take a look through those on youtube, and on the Miller welding site.

 

[Airborne]

Keith that's a mega response Thanks very much for your time much appreciated.

AB

 

[decepticon]

i would go for a 2.5mm rod personally, 6013 will be your friend
tack the sections together (do this with the amps at the higher end of the range) with a 'blob' of weld at the corners of the joining sections, tack all pieces together and ensure squareness etc, turn amps down to half way between the suggested amp range and weld unit together.
if you have'nt done much welding then turn the unit so the piece you are about to weld is at 45degrees so you can fill the 'valley' with weld.
have fun and relax-makes for better welding

 

[Airborne]

Cheers guys. wont be for a little while yet. but once done ill post the results.

Thanks again.

AB