Everdure/silica bronze works very well on cast iron

 

Why do put sand on there after the weld?
are welds from a mig welder stronger than a arc welder( with welding rods) lol sorry I'm new to the welding so I don't know the terms and names...

 

The strength of a weld depends on the filler wire used. Welding rod and MIG wire can be bought in anything from 60,000 psi to 120,000 psi tensile strength. So if both weld methods are used properly they should be equal in strength.

The "sand" in sub arc is actually a form of flux, it is used to protect the arc from contaminants like gas is in MIG and the shielding on a welding rod or the flux inside fluxcore wire.

 

I feel like a complete baby reading this ! I have been welding for 24 years, I have have a Ryobi ( Italian made ) 130 amp arc at home and a Lincoln generator/arc welder 210 amp at work ( I do repairs on playground equipment and weld gates and chains for the local city council ) my biggest tips are quality training, ultra clean surfaces, beveled edges, good quality rods and practice, practice, practice and more practice.
My home welder is a POS but I am very used to it, if a friend uses it, their welds are guaranteed to fail !! If my welds look sh** I grind them out, clean again and start again.
Even after 24 years I am a complete NOOB, so any abuse will be met with a polite nod, a cheeky grin and the bird flipped in your face. Joke

 

Can u recommend a good wire? i tried spot welding with it but i can never get a puddle. it always just sprays slag. This is about all i manage with it:

 

That looks like stainless to me...welding stainless with a fluxcore welder is not going to happen with out specialized wire.

 

If that isn't stainless you need to check the polarity on you machine because that sounds exactly like what was happening with mine before I spotted the diagram on he inside panel

 

I get lincoln wire at home depot, cheaper then harbor freight wire actually and much better quality wire. Polarity or slow down let it melt in more.

 

Don't try to weld continuously. You make little dots that overlap. Pull the trigger only for a second or two. You can push it a tiny bit in the direction of your weld, then let go so the metal can freeze, move over half the diameter of your dot, and repeat. I might add that having an electric auto-darkening helmet comes in real handy doing this. They are cheap at Harbor Freight.

 

much appreciated, i think i'm gonna take a crack at some exhaust work this weekend.

 

Any tips from you guys on stick welding upside down, or vertically? I'm new to the stick world, and learning. I can lay a great bead on any flat surface. But upside down or vertical, it lacks. Any tips? Any rods work better for different positions?

 

In an E6012 rod, E stands for electrode. The initial two numbers signify the minimum tensile strength, which is determined in pounds per square inch (psi). The number, 60, in an E6012 electrode creates a weld bead with a minimum tensile strength of 60,000 psi. The third number ,1, indicates the electrode can be used in every position. The fourth number denotes the coating type and welding current.

So first figure out what material you're gonna weld is, most applications on a jeep shouldn't need more than a 60k vs like a 7013 which is more common for structural in buildings where you're penetrating a good 1"+ piece of steel.

Then determine the welding position. The second to last digit in the welding rod number states how the rod can be used. A "1" means the rod can be used for all applications, a "2" means the rod should be used in horizontal or flat applications, and a "3" should only be used for flat applications.

The last digit or letter & digit represent the type of metal in the welding rod as well as the flux coating used which iirc I've found that a 6011 weld cools quicker then a 6013. Which help a ton on upside down wells & vertical welds as far as speeding up the cooling process, so u don't get a lot of droop as the weld cools.

Here's another good link http://www.jeep-l.net/info_jeep/weld_rod.htm

 

Noice! I'll throw in my little bit o' wisdom.

For MOST people a MIG (solid wire) welder is much easier to use than SMAW (stick). I always use a MIG when I'm in the shop. My 2c on SMAW 6013 rods are easy to lay a bead with, 7018 works good for making machinery repiars (ie 1/2-1in plate) just seem to penetrate good for me.

Also a pretty weld does not mean a strong weld! Anybody can turn down a wire feed and lay a big 'ol caterpillar down, but it won't hold for crap. For beginners I'd always always say more heat, instead of a big fat bead of nice C's.

 

I feel I should point out that too much heat makes a brittle weld, which is subject to cracking. Offroad guys routinely weld very slow and on the cold side, and they race trucks across the desert at 90mph, and somehow those welds hold. Pretty welds are the only kind I make. A hot ugly weld isn't stronger, and it's well ugly.

 

This is also true, but like I said, I see many beginers focused too much on making a nice pretty bead, with heat lacking.

I personally like to use thick wire in my MIG and weld at high travel speed with a lot of heat, I'm impatient.