Oxy-acetylene welding

sdeloof - Friday, April 27, 2007 - 11:24am

I have received a new batch of flat plates (Mild steel 1/8) that I use for welding and I find it really hard to oxyweld them. The puddle keep to popping all over the place and I have been working with a neutral flame so I was wondering if it is a filler rod problem what would be the best filler rod for mild steel right now I am using ER70s2. Or maybe is it possible that the metal I bought has something in it that makes it pop like that.

Let me know if you guys can help.

Thanks

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I have notice in the past

scrollerbear - Friday, April 27, 2007 - 11:58am

I have notice in the past several years that the cold rolled steel that I buy seems to be inferior in quality or at least different.

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keep to popping rod

B.J. Severtson - Friday, April 27, 2007 - 5:48pm

er70s2 is a mig tig rod. great stuff for mig tig pops and sparkles much with an o/a torch. Concensus seems to be try rg45 or r660. My personal prefference is a coat hanger. There is just something soothing about welding with a torch, don't need all that popping. smooth
Brad

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mild steel welding

visitor - Sunday, April 29, 2007 - 9:34pm

What kind of a coat hanger?
Do you get them from Wolfe Cleaners or QuickClean?
Bell Cleaners seems to have the same hangers all the time.
gosh, too many to pick from.

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coat hangers

visitor - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - 10:54am

wow I just about made the mistake to use the pink plastic IKEA coat hangers from my daughter's room. Thanks guy

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coat hanger

B.J. Severtson - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - 4:49pm

I just checked and there isn't a metal coat hanger in the house. I wouldn't know 'cause I'm not allowed in the closets since my last welding project. I do have three wire handled fly swatters..I'm betting that the metal in them has been recycled just about as many times my cold rolled. I do have a roll of iron binding wire just in case. OH yes you can make a coaster out of the plastic square from the fly swatter, just an added benefit, no charge. You're welcome Brad

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Oxy

visitor - Thursday, May 3, 2007 - 12:33pm

In canada the fly are so big we need a shotgun to eleiminate them so I guess we can use the fly swatter too bad I find a lot of ingenuity in the idea.

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Oxy-Acetylene welding problems

visitor - Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 6:37pm

You are having problems because:
1. You are using a welding wire made for Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (TIG) for best result you should be using R-45 or better yet R-60 or R-65. The R rod is made for oxy-acetylene welding.
2. The popping is probably because you are starving the torch for fuel. Most people try to weld too cold. Turn up the acetylen at the torch handle then turn up the oxygen. When you starve the tip for fuel the flame tries to initiate inside the tip causing the popping.

Get my book "Welding Essential, Questions and Answers" published by Industrial Press.

Bill Galvery
Professor of Welding Technology
Orange Coast College
Costa Mesa, California

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oxy

visitor - Friday, May 11, 2007 - 12:54pm

thanks for the advices I did purchase rome r-45 to no avail I will go with a hotter flame and see what we can do thanks. By the way my wife will be happy to know that she can take the coat hanger out of the safe.

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The alloys in that ER70S rod

Rich Waugh - Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 7:56pm

The alloys in that ER70S rod are fine for TIG welding, but they interfere with good puddle control when you're gas welding. Get some R60 rod and you'll be happier.

The advice about not starving the torch is good, too. Another thing that can caues popping in the weld puddle is getting the tip too far away from the puddle. When you do this, the flame draws in excess outside air, resulting in an oxidizing flame, even thought you're initially running a neutral flame. Keep the tip of the inner cone right at the puddle; don't back away.`

If I had to state one mistake that most people make when welding, by any process, it is not getting their faces close enough to the work. Crawl right in there where you can really see what is happening IN the weld puddle. If you can't see the details in the weld puddle, you're not close enough, and you can't tell what is really happening.

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I will simply echo what has

visitor - Friday, May 11, 2007 - 11:50am

I will simply echo what has been said here, as I just discovered this site. You're using tig rod, so go with RG45 or 60 gas welding rod. I would, however, stay away from coat hangers. I know many people like to use them as they are cheap, but they are just that- cheap. The cheapest metal the manufacturer can find to use. The welds created with coat hangers are brittle and weak, and won't stand much if any abuse.

Steve
Professional welder, inspector,
and sometime fiddler with sculpture.

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Glad you found ArtMetal

webminster - Friday, May 11, 2007 - 1:42pm

Glad you found ArtMetal Steve! Your advice on gas welding is very good! Please do join our community and share more of your experience. Love to see your fiddler in sculpture...