Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

patience lang brad rosy...
i believe in your abilidad and craftmanship...:knit:
pag naging master welder ka na...:construction:
wala na akong ibang pagtatanungan pa kundi ikaw...:painting:
go ! go ! go ! lang ng go !!! :king:

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

OH YES BRO JON,

Thanks again for your heartfelt encouragement, I'm not really dissapointed nor frustrated with the outcome of the mini exercise, I was expecting it since the sheet/plate I used was kinda thin,maybe its just gauge 20 or even gauge 22, plus the welding rod should have been the 1/8" in diameter.

Anyway it was just an exercise and I feel great in doing so coz I happened to learn something from it again and I will explain it as I go along with the exercise and actual weld applications on this kind of metal.

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

Try to notice the way Bro Rosy clamps the the ground in the last 2 pics above ....

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

AND TO CONTINUE WITH THE EXERCISE :

[COLOR="Red"]EXERCISE ON THIN SHEETS, no.2

The exercise I'll be doing here are for joining the metal sheets in two different approaches. One is for BUTT joint and another is for OVERLAPPING joints. The last remaining stainless thin sheet left, I sliced 'em up again into rectangular strips and from there will joined them together by tack welding and I think that is how thin sheets are joined together when fabricating stainless body panelings of owner type jeeps or tricycle sidecars, and these process really intrigues me and really want to learn it.

Cut the stainless metal sheet into strips and then folded the edges by patiently securing with vise grips and hammering each strips on my makeshift H-Beam anvil.

Here is the first attempt on the Butt joint and did punched some holes again. Heat is too much for the sheet metal even though the ampere setting is on the " SPOT " mode.

I'll try ones more and do another Butt joint.

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

AND THE RESULTING WELDS !!!!!!

Well the resulting welds were kinda much better compared to the first attempt. I guess its due also by proper hand and wrist control in applying the beads. Beads have become more defined and clearer.

And now I will do an Overlapping joint with the remaining metal strips.

And the first attempt on the Overlapping joint, I think depositing the beads have greatly improved though several burned holes have been punched.

This is a closer look at the welds deposited.

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

To continue with the Overlapping joints.

Attached it with the other metal strips and applied the weld beads at a minimum.

In these images you can see I added more bead weld in between and as you can see again the great improvement in the welds deposited, they have become more solid in appearance. A super close-up too of the entire weld exercises. Maybe I'll do one more run on this OVERLAPPING exercise just to see the real improvement on the beads deposited.

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

AND THE RESULTING WELDS !!!!!!

Well the resulting welds were kinda much better compared to the first attempt. I guess its due also by proper hand and wrist control in applying the beads. Beads have become more defined and clearer.

Nice Bro Rosy! Sa mga metalboys dito sa PHM ako na encourage mag welding.
Tama ka bro, aside from the right setting on your welding machine,
you also need steady hands to weld. Especially on metal sheets.

Keep it up bro. :thumbup:

 

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

OK, NEXT WILL BE :

[COLOR="Red"]WELDING on 2mm ( 1/8" ) thick FLAT BARS no. 1

Will post later.........

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

Try to notice the way Bro Rosy clamps the the ground in the last 2 pics above ....

Bro JayL,

Ah yes that one, you might be wondering what's that thing clamped together with the ground clamp. Well its just an ordinary 1 foot # 8 copper wire which I bended in half then twisted tother to form an additional grounding contact between the surface to be welded and the ground clamp. 😉

Diba we all know that copper is a very good electric conductor and in using this helps a lot making the ground clamp have a continues flow of electricity to the material being welded. I got this little tip from the net while reading some welding forums a couple of months back and its true, it really works. 😀

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

@Bro willy1467,

HAHAHAHA, Its very true bro, a steady hand control and wrist ( and pulso, ika nga ) is a must pala in welding specially thin sheets or delicate welding materials, not just knowing the right ampere setting or the right welding rod to be used ans so on and so forth. That is why I don't hesitate to do short practices before final welding on a project to get the right wrist movement and pressure while holding the electrode holder. Maybe for others its kinda ridiculous but hey that is how I like it. LOL

Am glad that you are or will be into welding again, this tool is really a very useful one and has many uses too, its just a matter of knowing your machine and how to use its potentials. CHEERS my friend !!

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

And before I jump in to the next material to be welded, I would like to share first or discuss with you some tips on how to go about in depositing a good and decent bead on a thin sheet, may it be galvanize or stainless. If its a TIG welder, then there's no problem in the discussion but since this thread is about using a stick welder then its a different field now.

I am sharing this from previous experience on tacking two thin sheet metals, whether on a butt joint or an overlapping joint, its not that easy to just stick the tip of the welding rod to the sheet metal and would suddenly get a nice decent weld bead. It takes some patience and technique to do so and here is how I do it.

First of all make sure there is a very good contact of grounding clamp on the surface to be welded and then pre-heat the tip of the rod for a few seconds by sticking it steadily to a metal or you scratch it on some rough metal. And then try to touch the metal surface lightly with the tip of the now heated up welding rod, if you start to see sparks and hear a buzzing sound, it will take only a second to do so and if you prolong its first contact, you'll liable to burn the thin sheet and punch a hole so you retract immediately and move to the next spot to be welded. Let's say you've done that 10 times following the same procedure, you go back again to the first tack or bead that have been applied and if you will notice the amount of metal deposited is so minimal, wire brush that spot and apply another bead on top of the same spot and again onto the next and the next and the next.

Do the same procedure til you see that the beads deposited have thicken already and that is the time now to apply your final decent weld bead. The process done here is you thicken the thin sheet little by little until enough metal have been stacked on top of each bead so not to burn the thin sheet and eventually punch a hole. 😮 😀

HOPE THIS SIMPLE TIPS HELPS. 😉

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

OK, NEXT WILL BE :

[COLOR="Red"]WELDING on 2mm ( 1/8" ) thick FLAT BARS no. 1

Here are the flat bars that I will be using, its a 2mm (1/8") thick X 1 1/2".

Cut to 3 shorter pieces and then will be welded together.

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

Now since I'll be welding on thicker metals, I think its time to change the ampere setting to the MEDIUM mode.

From SPOT to MEDIUM mode ampere setting.

Applied some tack welds on the joints.

If you can see on this image the very nice weld beads applied on the joints. It was very easily applied compared to the tack welds made on the thin sheets. The size of the beads were very uniform. And I discovered something here while applying the weld beads, right after the bead applications and they starts to cool down, you will hear ticking sounds coming from the applied beads and the slags would dislodge by itself and would start to pop out or some sort of explode flying in any direction and you won't be needing anymore a chipping hammer to remove the slags, wow so cool, you will see immediately the beautiful uniformed weld bead deposit.

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

And then after the tack welding, the full applications of welds on the two joints.

Here are different images after applying welds on the metal joints. Now I have included also the slags that automatically would dislodge by itself as they starts to cool down.

A word of caution here for your safety, if ever you will be using a stainless steel welding rod, right after each application of welds, I suggest you don't remove your welding helmets and step back a few feet away because as the applied welds starts to cool down the hot slags would start to pop and dislodges itself flying in any direction and it might hit your face or your eyes if you will immediately flip your helmets up. If you want to see it clearly and watch how the slags would start to pop out, better put on your clear full face shield masks protection.

And here is the reverse side of the welded flat bars, you can see the right penetration on the stainless steel.

My personal assessment here after performing the welds on this material is WOW and COOL, I think I'm gonna like welding on stainless steel more often, its more cleaner, no need to chip the slags and the weld paddles deposited looks like a MIG weld finish, and ganda !!!!

Re: STICK WELDING on STAINLESS STEEL sheets, plates and more.

HERE ARE SOME PICS OF THE WELDS cleaned and without the slags :

Simply wire brushed the surface to expose the stainless welds. Doing the weaving from left to right and the reverse on the other side.

A full shot image of the welded flat bars, well medyo malikot and kamay, LOL :p