Need advice on welding thicker metals

he already has a welder capable of stick welding , just needs leads .
Yep. Get you a stinger and DC weld with your machine. 1/8" 7018 rods and machine set at 125 amps. I think Lincoln Excalibers lay in the best and the slag just lifts off.
 
A half,a---d stick welder here but support the 7018 DC. Everything that was said about 6011 and 6013 being difficult is certainly true at my place. My SiL commented on difficulties with 6013, he is a welder from the gold mines in Nevada now retired
Can't recall the exact model but part of my crew had to rebuild impact crusher bars on a weekly basis. The bars were 5 feet long and the work was done with a wooden stick fastened to the stick electrode holder until we bought a Stoody automatic wire feed system. The job became pretty cool even when changing out 250 pound spools of wire feed (flux inside).
Have a good day
Ray
 
Ok Stran, as no one has mentioned it yet if you go the stick route go DC reverse with 7018. (What i would do) . 6011 is ok but the 7018 is 10,000 psi. stronger and is much more ductile than the 6011. An important factor for over the road or any trailer. My first choice would be Mig with 70S wire and Argon/Helium 70/30. If for nothing else the speed you can obtain with Mig. It is also much easier to tack and quickly with Mig. Stick will weld as good but take longer and take more practice with out of position, (Vert. and overhead).

Don
 
I'd prefer to mig weld most jobs including this one, but your mig machine is a bit light, yes it will do it, but you will probably have to do multi pass and you may have duty cycle issues, but it will do it and will look fairly good.

With the equipment you have stick would be the best, but you will need to practice up a bit. Use any of the rods the guys have suggested above. I'm no expert on TIG, but love my 175A MIg and stick machine
 
UPDATE:

I've purchased/made (local welding supply didn't have all the right stuff) a stick electrode holder for my TIG machine, and done a couple of odd jobs with 7018. I don't really like it TBH. I'm sure it has everything to do with my lack of skill, but this seems to be more trouble than it's worth. I really want a nice capable MIG welder. I'm spoiled from the place where I used to work, where I had access to a Millermatic 252. That thing was awesome. I know it would do everything I would ever need. However, lack of funds at the moment will probably force me into proficiency with the stick welder.
 
That being said, there will always be a special place in my heart for the TIG welder. It just justified it's existence again and almost paid for itself for probably the 15th time.

My shop fan started making a big racket, and upon inspection I see that the Chinese aluminum blades have cracked almost all the way across from fatigue. These blades are less than 1/16 in thick, and I know the welds look like hammered turds, but it's really tough to weld this thin aluminum and I'm only a hobbyist. There is no other welding process that could have "fixed" this, that I am aware of. Hopefully the welds last at least as long as the original b-grade aluminum lasted.
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Stran, with this statement "will probably force me into proficiency with the stick welder. " you will be glad you learned it. If you do enough metal work over time you will see all the different welding processes have their place. I'm surprised you could een weld that Chinese Aluminum. :) When your proficient in the different processes it just opens up a whole new thing.
 
Ok I was planning on doing paid work today, but in order to do that I need 3ph 480V, so I return to my monster RPC project. It's only half done-up, sitting on a cart, haphazardly wired and pretty much an embarrassment. Sooner or later the customer will be here to witness the panel I'm building, and I don't want this questionably dangerous eyesore to be an example of my work. so instead of getting comfortable using the RPC in this state, I'm going to go ahead and build a skid for it with forklift/pallet jack pockets, and wire it up properly.

This will be a fair amount of stick welding, and I'm using mostly scrap metal which is painted, rusted, and everything else. I have 7018 and 6011. I should use the 7018, right? Mostly this will be 1/4" and 1/8" steel. What amp settings do you recommend? Do I need to grind off paint/rust? I heard stick just burns through it, so much less prep is required; does that mean no prep is required?

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Sorry i'm just seeing this. If you have rusted or painted steel you really should grind the paint and rust. That is on Any welding you do. With just a little rust you could use the 6011. It will weld through rust but is not really the way you should do it. I know some farmers or fishermen may say it dosn't matter but it Does !!. While that flux is keeping the atmosphere out of the puddle the melting paint and rust will displace what that flux is doing. As in soldering plumbing or wires, Clean is the key.
 
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