Fillet welding 6mm steel with 2mm rods

[rich r]

Hi, I'm new on here, but have been reading and learning for the last few months and am now learning to arc weld. Never done any welding before. I've got an Aldi buzzbox and box of Aldi rods but think I've been lucky as I'm finding them pretty reliable and easy to weld with. After the first 5 rods or so I bought an auto darkening helmet as I was fed up with not being able to see where I was about to touch the rod down, and not being able to use both hands. So much easier now.

I can lay beautiful stringers on 3mm steel plate with 2mm, 2.5mm and 3.2mm rods with no problems. Only taken about about a dozen rods to get to that stage (the tutorials on here have been very useful). I've also repaired a cracked spade (with 2mm rods) and a couple of rusted bolt holes on the side steps of my wife's Pajero by welding thick washers.

This is my second attempt at a fillet weld with 3.2mm rods on 6mm steel (a bit of shed roof I found in my garden ) - I'm pretty pleased with it (apart from the right hand end where I ran out of rod and included some slag when restarting), for only my second attempt with cheap Aldi welder and rods!

However - when I try with 2mm rods, I invariably end up with the root weld sticking to one side or the other, rather than into the joint. Am I right in thinking this is a result of the arc being too long? With 2mm rods, I struggle to push them in fast enough as they get used up so quickly. Any tips?

 

[shenion]

2mm rods have much more slag compared to metal ddeposited. You need to drag them to keep the rod under the slag.

 

[rich r]

Thanks. I had another go with the 2mm rods this morning, concentrating on trying to keep the arc as short as possible - but it just burns back so quickly! I managed a centimetre or so with the weld going into the corner though, so I think with more practise I should get the hang of it.

I wondered if reducing the current would help, but it's as low as it'll go on this welder (55A), so I guess all I can do is work on my technique. Or just use 3.2mm rods which I know are significantly easier. But if I take the easy way all the time I'll never learn, will I?

I've got a set of wrought iron gates (which I'm hoping are actually mild steel, but they're at least 60 years old, so may well actually be wrought iron) that I need to weld a new hinge hanger onto. They're about 20mm thick, so I need to be confident on welding things significantly bigger than the electrode rod. And 3.2mm is as big as I can go on 13A...

 

[shirazman]

I wouldnt even try to teach someone with 2mm rods, especially those crap Aldi rods. Go and buy a pack of murex or similar quality 3.2 rods and believe me you will notice the difference right away. With your 2mm rods you want about 50 - 70 amps depending on weld. When striking your arc keep a fairly long arc and dont move it until the metal starts to fill then tighten the arc slightly and move of keeping a crescent weld pool behind the rod. with the fillet weld you are doing in pic keep a very slight bias of rod angle to the upright plate so instead of 45 degree make it about 40