Question about welding...

PeteVS

PeteVS

Well-known member
What do you people use for welding on frames? Coming around to Z'ing the rear end of an A frame for an AV8. MIG? TIG? Stick? What wire or rod? Thanks!
 
All of the mentioned processes will work with certain material status awareness and atmospheric condition controls. The older, somewhat less shiney material can best be done with stick. Stick is oblivious to air conditions and can handle rather rough material situations. "Good" material can be done with MIG and shielding gas if conditions allow. Near perfect material can be done with TIG and with minimal air disturbances prevailing.

The secret to a satisfactory frame project is in your set-up. Everything needs to be straight, parallel, perpendicular and well clamped before the welds are applied. Welding should be done in a manner that accomplishes the goal of maintaining all the proper alignments. This can require various tie-bars, braces, and many clamps along with suffcient supports.

I suggest E6010, E6011, or E7018 stick electrodes. 6010 and 7018 are usually DC Reverse electrodes but there are A/C 7018 rods marketed. My MIG wire suggestion would be ER70S6 with your favorite shielding gas. I like 75/25 but others work as well or better. I suggest using the TIG process only as a last resort for your frame work.
 
I built a Deuce frame for my hot rod in 1977 and used 7014. Maybe it wasn't the best choice of rod but it seemed to work great. Boxing was done with 11 gauge hot rolled, trans crossmember is 1/8' wall 2X2, and naturally the brackets were 1/4" to 3/8". I completely agree with JWL, proper set-up and clamping is of the utmost necessity.
I would not hesitate to stick weld my next frame, in fact I intend to. The old welder is there and it's paid for.
 
Dude, go on over to the Jalopy Journal. That is not said to be a butt-head. It is merely a suggestion to get a lot more in depth info for what you are asking about.
 
I agree with JWL. I use 7018 stick and ER70S-6 mig, and they are reverse polarity. 7014 is the AC welding rod close to the same tensel strength of 7018, but that 7014 will eat you up with sparks welding overhead. Marv
 
The rodders back in the day most likely used a couple of pieces of old railroad rail and some 6011 on there dads old Lincoln Arc cracker box. Clamp it to the rail to hold it steady and start burning rods.

By todays standards it seems archaic but that's where the original plans came from and most of them worked pretty well.

Kerby
 
I Zee'd and boxed my A frame with my 40yo stick welder. No worries.
DSCN0369.jpg
 
A few years back, I switched to ESAB Spoolarc 87HP mig wire. It's an ER70S-7 high silicon wire, with a shot of manganese. Produces an almost spatter-free weld with C-25 or C-20 gas. Very good wetting characteristics and low bead profile too.
 
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What are you comfortable with? You are better off using a system that you are familiar with. You can get quality with any set up, you are the variable. If you do a bend test on the weld, in all honesty it will all look good if you are a good welder, gas tig mig smaw it's all good.
 
(run what you brung) Get it all tacked up and if your not comfortable get a buddy that can to finish it for ya.
 
You guys are GOOD! Am I correct in thinking flux core wire is better with "crustier" material than MIG?
 
Crustier? Nothing is going to work better with crustier. You may have the false sense that a particular system is going to give you a better weld because it protests less during the process of welding (or correctly) not welding the crust. To me crust equates to contaminate, since 99% of any and all of the welding I do is for the transport of liquid or gas, contaminate is absolutely not acceptable, it equals leaks. The big problem with allowing any contaminate to be present is that by lowering your standard, you lower them more and more until you end up in failure or tough consequences. You have to get rid of the crust, sorry.
 
PeteVS said:
You guys are GOOD! Am I correct in thinking flux core wire is better with "crustier" material than MIG?
Click to expand...

I have had co worker's that swore by flux core one thinks using it with gas is the ultimate, He altered (big) truck frames in a shop! I won't use it. How much power does your mig have ? some of the smaller ones are ok to tack in place but not for the weld. Pictures of the crusties?
 
I personaly do not like fluxcore wire. If i were welding steel that was rusty and did not want to clean it properly because of rust etc. i would use 7018 stick. Marv
 
been useing my miller 35 for 30 years argon/co2 mix gave the arc box away. bigest thing you nead is clean steel blast it grind it lick it do what ever clean steel clean clean clean before welding grind a V grove to fill with weld at all jounts do not over bild seen so many guys work on a frame and think there working on a bridge never weld in long lines jump around if you weld to much in one spot you will distort the frame use your tape and X it out left frount to right rear/right frount to left rear take your TIME and NEVER weld on rusted or crustie steel if you do not clean the work area your wasting your time
 
Pete, go on the Miller, Lincoln and thermal arc web sites. Along with the barners experience's it show's all the application's/equip. for auto body. If your realy into it you got to get a plasma set up as well. Your only as good as your weakest tool.

And as for stick welding, I worked at Bath Iron Work for 15 years. If they use stick for ship hull fab I think it's fine for a Ford frame. Talk to your local welding supplier.
 
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