How to Use a Stick Welder

So,you are looking for the tutorial to learn how to use a stick welder? well, The stick welder is a tool you must have. Using one is a must-have skill for anybody that wants to do metal repair or fabrication. Stick welding is among the most heavyweight tasks for attaching metal parts permanently. These welders arrange in size from small AC welders and communal buzz boxes to expensive sets of generators that cost thousands of bucks. Regardless of the size and type of the welder, the primary procedure remains similar for joining two metal pieces together permanently.

Safety and Prep

Put safety glasses over the eyes before working with all types of metal. In a second, one piece of metal can get lodged in the eyeball ruining the whole day from productive work. Safety should be the priority.

Lay pieces of scrap metal on a secure and flat surface, preferably in a ventilated area or outdoors. Never grind or weld metal without appropriate ventilation because welding fumes and dust particles can be perilous to your health.

Grind the locations you need to weld along with the electric grinder. You need to remove all grease and rust from the metal surface. The metal has to be shiny metallic for good penetration on the welding rod.

Place the safety gear of arc welding in the right place prior to switching the welder on. Arc welding gives a light of high-intensity and will result in severe sunburns to exposed skin.

Don leather chaps of welding to the upper body and tight leather vests with rear tie straps. Put the skullcap or the beanie on the head. The cap might look funny but will keep the airborne hot slag from burning and landing into the scalp.

Place your welding hood on the head and then adjust the tension and position of side knobs to fit the size of your head. A proper adjustment and fit go a long way to a great weld.

Use the welding gloves and put them on the hands. The arc flash will not only be hot, but also the stinger will become warm if you continue using it. The stinger of the weld will be the holder of the welding rod. also don’t forget to wear the knee pads and best welding boots for the maximum safety.

Tacking and Function of the Welder

Place your grounding lock of the welder unit on the metal you would like to join. Ensure that this connection is stable. In case the clamp is loose, you will realize by welding, or you will have a heck of the electrical shock from the welder.

Place the arc welding rod in the stinger. Exercise placing your rod in the stinger by not utilizing the hands. After welding for some time on a day that is warm, you will begin sweating. Sweat is water, and it can conduct electricity, and it is possible to get shocked by the welder by placing the rod inside the stinger. The coffee can is an excellent place to hold the rods temporarily upright and grab them with a stinger.

Turn the welder on and set the amperage to 100 amps. Flip your welding hood down the eyes and strike the arc on the end of scrap pieces of the metal. Rub an end of the road against it. Hold your rod in place and then form a liquid metal paddle about a quarter inch in diameter, and stop the arc.

Move your stinger towards the other metal joint, align pieces and strike the other arc, tacking pieces together at the ends. Tack the center of your joint. The parts need to be held in position temporarily.

Observe tacks by cleaning off the with one of the best welding chipping hammers. The welds need to come out clean with significant penetration in two metallic pieces. In case the infiltration of the welds are not very deep, increase amperage by thirty amperes on the welder. In case the tack weld is very deep, decrease by that amount. The depth of penetration needs to be half the profundity of the metal joined together. A quarter inch thick metal piece should have least one-eighth inch of weld penetration.

Closing Welding

Begin your weld on the left side of the scrap pieces. For most sections, it is quite easy to weld from left to right than the other way round.

Strike your arc by pushing a rod in the joint. Observe the puddle of the weld and keep the size to about a quarter inch wide. Move your rod in one half-circle motion, in the crescent moon shape, while the rod moves to the right. As you continue welding, the arc rod will continue getting shorter. Therefore, keep pushing lower the rod in the work pieces as you continue to molten the puddle towards the right.

Keep the rods going until when the rod is down to approximately one inch in length; you can then stop welding. Clean your weld slag and observe the design and penetration of the weld. Does it have looks of the continuous moon shape? It needs to look like this design for a weld that is good-looking. Put another rod inside the stinger and continue welding until when you reach the joint. Clean your slag, observe your weld, and keep working. No one can lay it best for the first time. You need to practice for it to stick correctly.