Stick Welding Tips Required

If you have gas, use this to clean away rust and scale in hard to get places. You dont need to heat red hot, just heat and then scatch at it with a screwdriver or chissel. Even works using a small gas welding tip in tight areas. I think any chassis work should be done with low hyrdogen rods, easier to use with a dc inverter. With low hyrdogen rod, before trying to strike an arc, break the flux off the rod tip as it burns hollow and you either bang it on the work to get the flux to brake or just break it off with a gloved hand to re-expose the electrode metal. Low hyrdogen rod are also a better rod for out of postion work.
cheers
blaze

Just came across this, I have not read all the replies thoroughly (lost interest) so forgive me if I repeat, or contradict, others:
With regard to vertical welds, some electrodes work very well going down, others need to be used going up. A rod that works exceptionally well for vertical DOWN welds is the WIA 12p general purpose rod. I use these for all my stick welding unless i need a low carbon electrode, in which case the WIA 16tc is a good choice. If you use the CIG 'satincraft' rods, you will need to do your vertical welds going UP, and the technique is totally different.

for a vertical DOWN weld using the WIA 12p, hold the rod at about a 35-45degree angle from the horizontal pointing up under the bead of the weld, and draw the weld downward in one straight even flow. If you need more width, layer it just as you would a fillet weld on the horizontal. Once you have used these rods, you will not want anything else for vertical welds.

If you insist on using the satincraft (seems most popular with the handyman for some reason), vertical UP welds are done by working back and forth across the job, effectively building up a series of short horizontal welds. For example, to weld a vertical crack, you would start atthe bottom, strike the arc about 10mm to one side of the crack, weld across to 10mm the other side, move the arc up a few mm (with a momentary pause to keep it hot), back across on top of the bead you just laid, upagain on the other side and back across- sort of like laying a pile of matchsticks on edge on top of one another. You end up with a fat weld across the front of the crack. The weld has to be kept quite hot or you get slag inclusions. Much more difficult than a vertical DOWN weld done with a rod suited to the purpose.

If you use the WIA 16tc low-hydrogen electrode, they start very easily on the first use, but when you stop they glaze over at the tip- to start again with the same rod, I scrape the tip on the concrete floor first to remove the glaze.

Pete

Pete

Thanks for that information that is really great - I have been using general use electrodes but yours and others comments have convinced me to buy specialist rods for the different positions I need to work in.

I have even bought a disposable gas bottle and regular to get my mig back up and running - it will be interesting to see how long the bottle lasts - I have been told that a light weight mig can weld 13feet of weld before the gas runs out.

My cheapie rods ftom Bunnings sound like your WIA 16tc low-hydrogen electrodes as mine are beasy to start at first but glaze over and I have learn't to do minimal stops in the weld if I want to keep the job going.

Thanks

Garry

Reading through the replies I was going to say much the same as Pete then I came to his! Back in my welding days (before I could afford a landrover!) I would do an up weld with the rod at about 90 deg to the work and do a weave again about 1 cm either side spending more time with the rod on the sides than the centre. Get it too hot and it all flows to the ground. Not hot enough and it looks like pidgin poo.

A good up weld will have better penetration and strength than a good down weld but then I did say good & it is hard to keep the up welds good as a DIY. Down welds with good rods are a lot easier so that is what I would do too. Good luck

John