Thanks for the kind words. I am glad the videos have helped you 😀. If you have any questions let me know.

Sure will!! Thank you kindly!@@makingmistakeswithgreg

Thanks so much for the kind comment. Your not the only one who has a hard time welding straight. The two best ways to weld straight are to scribe a line and position the part (or your hands) so you run a straight bead that happens to be on the line lol. It’s much easier when welding a actual joint, you can use the actual metal as a guide to weld too. Sometimes even that’s not enough lol. Those days the grinder is your best friend. There are two kinds of people in this world, those who make mistakes, and those who hide them to make it seem like they don’t. And I guess a 3rd too, people who don’t do anything at all which is why they don’t make mistakes, which is the biggest mistake of all lol.

Welcome 😀. I definitely find limiting the variables works the best. I think that’s also why people struggle a lot with welding, there are flat out too many variables to juggle at once. The variables combined with a lack of knowing what’s right vs wrong means poor results for a while. I am helping with the not knowing what to do part, but practice is still needed to get decent results 😀

Thanks for the kind comment 😀. I don’t edit out mistakes because knowing how to fix them is the most important part of becoming good at something. It also makes it more fun to fix unplanned screwups, since that can be a challenge lol.

I'd like to empahise this, too. Even as a beginner, I am already able to observe that something went wrong, but thanks to you and your video I know what I can change and that's not only my skill level.

Thanks for the kind words 😀. Learning to weld is basically 99.5% making mistakes and learning to handle frustration. Slowly over practice that 99.5% drops and you eventually get to about 15% mistakes and 85% good. There is no such thing as 100% good unless you’re not doing challenging work lol.

That’s an interesting way to learn to control the rod. Once I learned how to run 6010 I have always been a fan of it for the amount of control it gives. It makes repair work so much easier because you can close holes, fill gaps, and it produces a very strong root because everything is fused. If I was stuck with just 7018 stick welding in the repair world would be by far harder.

You’re welcome, I am glad you learned a lot. Stick welding can be a challenge when you don’t know some key things. The big thing is you have to master starts, restarts, and running a straight consistent beads. It will be frustrating at first but if you stick with it you will get a handle on it. Just tell yourself the frustration and difficulty you have when learning is the same for everyone learning, and don’t give up 😀

So my understanding on 7016 is it’s not commonly used because it’s harder to remove the slag and it can cause a person to bust x ray by welding over the stuff left at the weld toes. I have never welded with 7016, it can be bought in this country but likely in a 50lb tin lol. The way you describe being able to push the rod in sounds like it could be a solid performer that could bridge the gap between 6010 and 7018. 7018 doesn’t really have much penetration but it is definitely stronger than 6010 in functional tensile strength.

​@@makingmistakeswithgreg Yes, this is true 7015/7016 rods can produce porosity on poorly cleaned metal and that is detectable by X-ray or probably ultrasound too, therefore on jobs with any significant liability after every pass a weld must be well grided, tack welds must be cut out completely before making a root pass. There are some basic rods that are less prone to producing porosity due to dirty metal or long arcing, but within AWS classification these will be hidden under one of 701x codes so finding good rods these types also requires some type of research. I don't know how well 7018 performs compared to 7015/7016 in terms of porosity as I haven't welded much with them, but I can definitely tell that 7018's slag is hardest to remove above all other types I've ever seen. There are not so many 7018 rods around compared to other types, out of a few I have access to I can name swedish ESAB OK-48.xx, turkish Askaynak B-248, japanese Kobelco LB-62D, arabic-chinese RSE 48.xx, german-chinese BRIMA Kessel 5520 Mo (8018), and probably more familiar to you Lincoln Electric Pipeliner 18P and Basic One and a couple of other rods probably made only for local market. There's also german Bohler FOX EV PIPE marked 7016 that curiously behaves like it is halfway between 7016 and 7018. If any of these rods are available on Amazon then there is a good possibility to be exactly on the same page about 7018 :)

Awesome 😀. Sometimes the smallest things can have a great impact 😀

Have wondered about using a very coarse sharpening stone for 7018s to help with restart. Is this a bad idea?

@@dennisyoung4631 I don't see why it won't work

No problem 😀. What you said is very similar to what I have heard from many people all over the world. I do wish you had easier/cheaper access to 7018, because once you get used to running it I find it’s really a great rod. 6013 isn’t bad, and if it’s what you can get it will surely work. I just find it has a tendency to get slag entrapment easily and welding uphil isn’t easy with it. Once you get used to it and perfect welding with it, no doubt it will get the job done 😀

@@makingmistakeswithgreg I have only had my welder for about 3 weeks now. I will definitely make a point of buying a few kg of 7018 and maybe 7024 as my skills improve. BTW not all 6013 have this slag issue. I have some more premium 6013s that came with my machine they run very smooth and need more amerage but have a tenancy to stick if the arc force is too low and are much more difficult to start but run beautifully. The rod angle on these is more like how you run 7018. These rods are a light grey colour instead of brownish or darker grey of the easier to strike rods. Awesome video series Thank you.

@@julesc8054 interesting to know there are differences in them. No doubt 6013 is a great rod to start out with because of how easy it is to start, restart, and it is far easier to clean the slag off than 6010/6011. Both 6010/6011 pretty much need a wire wheel on a grinder to clean off that slag. Definitely no issue learning with them and even using them to do jobs with. Their strength will exceed the material strength in many cases, and as long as the weld bead is solid it’s not a issue at all.

In “Europe”, they have a lot of different “6013” rods, including “RR”, which is a straight Rutile; RB, Rutile-Basic, which is a bit like a “less cantankerous 7018” - and, the semi-fabulous *Rutile-Cellulose* flavor, which has less slag and more “bite” than the others. Over here, the Lincoln 6013 is supposedly akin to a straight rutile, while the 1/16 HF, Hobart, and perhaps the Forney 6013s are more “rutile cellulose” type. There are some specialty rods that might be akin to Rutile-Basic, e.g. *UTP-612.* I ran some of these a long time ago, and still have a few left. Very high strength and impact resistance, comparable to a kept-warm 7018…

So warping is always an issue, and there are a few ways to take care of it. On thin material using short welds, or spot welds, along with hammer and dolly work will keep warpage at bay. Medium thickness metal this won’t work so focusing on clamping it down to a flat table or clamping it to a bar of something becomes more important. With thick steel (over 3/16th) using what’s called “strong backs” may become needed, they are basically a welded on bridge to help hold the plate from warping. Those tend to be used on structural steel work. For most people the easiest way to control warpage is to use a strong clamp/table to aid, and to account for warpage. If I know I need something straight or say 90 degrees, I will weld it with a slight “bend” opposite the direction it will pull. After welding it will pull straight. This becomes harder to do if you have a beveled plate, and a gap/open root. The more metal gets put down the more everything will move.

@@makingmistakeswithgreg perfect thank you! I have some 6mm steel plate I need to butt weld, and your videos have really helped! I'm planning to bevel the edges and leave a small gap, and weld the pieces with 3.2mm 7018 both sides. I'll try clamping everything down to a flat bar and see what happens 🙂

Thanks for spending the time to learn and better your skills 😀

You’re welcome 😀

You’re welcome, glad it helped you out 😀

Glad you like them, I have 4 6010 stick welding videos that will drop over the next 2 weeks, and a big shootout stick welding video after that. I will then be getting into MiG and flux core again 😀

So by RHS I assume you’re talking rectangular hollow sections? To butt weld two of those together you have a ton of options. 1) the hardest: Bevel them, put them together, run an open gap of somewhere between 1.5mm and 3mm, and weld them. With the right mix of gap/bevel, weld process/settings/skill you can achieve full fusion with internal reinforcement. Arguably negating the need of any internal steel. This requires a ton of skill and exact control over everything. 2) The easiest: find material that precisely fits inside the tube, and use it as a “slug”. Basically both pieces slip fit over it, and you leave a gap at the butt joint. You then weld both pieces to the slug. This will be infinitely easier than an open root without a slug. It can produce an exceptionally strong weld, but it may be difficult to find a perfect fitting slug to fit. I commonly do this on round roll cage pipes, but that’s really easy. What you have on your hands with take a bit more work. Option 3: rather than using an internal slug you sleeve the outside. With a section that fits over the outside you can essentially just do easy lap welds and you’re done. The downside to this is the joint will be obvious, and the increase in diameter at the joint may be detrimental. It would be in your best interest to weld the two pieces together first with atleast one pass on bevels before sleeving it. Option 4: use a flat plate and weld one tube to the flat plate. With it attached you then butt the other one too it and weld that. The welds would be more like fillet welds and less like open roots. The main things you want to avoid is a lot of starts/stops, unwelded corners, poor fusion, and super wide gaps or super tight gaps. I definitely need to shoot a video on doing things like this because it can be really tricky to come up with solutions. For most people I suggest looking at what setup requires the least amount of welding skill due to the design. If someone is very confident in their skill they can look at harder options.

You’re entirely welcome 😀

No problem 😀

No problem 😀. Using a cloak on the back of the helmet is a good idea. Back light can cause a huge issue with vision. If you can’t see what you’re welding the results will be mediocre at best 😀

Yep, that’s what most people do when in welding school. It sucks, it’s boring, and it seems like it will never end. However if you can’t do the simplest thing well (a straight bead that’s consistent) everything else is far harder that it should be. Trying to master the beginning of arc gap control in vertical up is not the way to go lol.

oooooh, this welding is past my skill level , so far … but the mistakes are NOT! 😂 Good video! I do have a metal-grinder, 😅 mentally preparing myself for clean-up on mistakes. 👍

If you weld both sides it will tend to flatten out provided you did it quickly. If you weld one side let it cool and weld the other it would likely not move much. Plate wise I generally use all new steel. At times I did reuse a particular plate in videos but for videos and my own practice I generally use new steel. To make most economical practice running beads on flat plate and layering them is the best way to go. On fillet welds it can get expensive to do 10-15 of them so there are a lot of ways to get cheaper practice. For example: Practicing running beads in the horizontal position on flat plate will help prep for fillet welds.

Hopefully this helps: 7014 is a oddball to me. I think it runs more like 6013 than 7018 or 7024. 7014 is far easier to start than a 7018, is slightly easier to weld in certain positions than a 6013. I personally use 6010 and 7018 for virtually everything so I don’t use 7014 for much. Based on your description of running a decent bead on plate but welding two pieces of metal isn’t good, it probably comes down to travel speed and amperage. When you run a bead on plate you can run a wide range of travel speeds and still have a decent looking weld. When you weld two plates together you have two separate heat sinks pulling heat out of the puddle therefore the puddle reacts differently. If you speed up too fast the weld may only stick to one of the two plates. If you run too low of amperage you may run a nice bead on plate but welding two pieces together you have inconsistent fusion. To solve this you need to run hot enough that the puddle fuses properly, and you need to move slow enough that the molten pool stays consistent in shape (the shape should be of a oval or eye). I am not sure what rod size you’re running but 190amps is probably high. It’s likely that your machine just has inaccurate output settings. A normal 1/8th 6013 runs 100-120 amps, 190 amps would be enough amperage to make the rod glow red and likely melt. Even 5/32 rods run well below 190 amps. Regardless of the welders actual setpoints, if the weld is like a bead of caulk on the plate or you find it difficult to fuse two pieces together, increase amperage, or slow down travel speed, or both. That should help improve things.

Thanks@@makingmistakeswithgreg, I rewatched your video at 4:40 you mentioned about the possible need to up the amp when joining, sure i forgot to try, Now my project is setting up a 10k lbs winch set up in a flat bed trailer, am welding the base plate with three 1/4" C channels thats being welded to the front frame. I did do the up hill weld on to the frame & am not impressed. 1. Does 7014 be okay for such application. 2. Should i actually do downhill with a back-forth motion. 3. I do have some 7018AC, i tried them it was a hit n miss, may be should i put them in oven & try them.? Also yes i suspect machine output setting seem odd, bought it used, even the label on machine suggest 85-160 for that rod but anything below 185 rod sticks. Thanks again.

@@yamahalowrider so uphill welding produces more penetration due to heat input and the molten puddle pulling down via gravity. So arguably uphill is stronger because of better penetration. Downhill is easier to produce decent looking welds, but you can get slag inclusions/weld defects from it. 7014 is a fine rod for general use and produces a strong weld. It tends to have limited penetration though. 7018 AC rods tend to not run the smoothest in my experience. Baking them may help, but they do run different than a normal 7018.

​ @@makingmistakeswithgreg

Sounds like a fun project. Two thoughts, hope they help you out: 1: What rod are you the most comfortable running? If you need to weld stuff in place with a lot of angle changes (uphill and overhead) there could be a lot of issues with rods like 6013. I find that it tends to cause slag inclusions and be pretty difficult running out of position. However if you are most comfortable running it over other rods you should go with what you know you can lay a bead the best with. 2: Flux core wire is so much easier to weld tube and out of position over stick, if you have access to a flux core wire welder that would be the easiest. However 1/16th stick rods do weld pretty good on thinner stuff (not sure how thick of material you need to weld). They make them in 6013, 6011, 7014, 7018, I would pick 6011 for those. Based on my skill and experience, I really think I would tackle it with 6011. The reason is on thinner material its slightly less aggressive than 6010, it welds uphill far easier than the other common rods (besides 6010), and it makes solid welds. 7018 is doable and I would pick that over 6013, however its far harder to weld out of position with. 6011 can make some poor looking welds though if you dont have it dialed in (aka practice).

I generally drag the flux on the plate. What I find with 6013 in particular is the flux seems to melt off slower than it probably should. Because of this if you don’t keep “pressure” on the flux against the metal it’s very common for the flux to melt off slower than the actual metal rod, thus you end up with a arc gap that becomes excessive. The rod tip is up in the flux tube far enough that the arc wanders or it starts spitting molten material out. This seems to be a huge issue with vertical up with 6013. With other rods like 6010 and 7018 they tend to have flux melt off at a ratio equal to the rod so they don’t suffer from a inadvertent (non intended) long arc gap.

@@makingmistakeswithgreg Thanks.

I have some tips. So that welder has a setup that’s a bit different than a typical plug in the wall welder. You have a main dial and a secondary volt/amp curve switch (sometimes the dial is called fine control and the switch is called corse control). To weld with it you need to first select your volt amp curve switch (corse control) to what’s correct for the rod your running. If you’re running say a 1/8th rod either range A or B will work. Then you need to adjust the dial to what works for the rod. The dial in range A is 85 amp to 210 amp. That means the dial all the way down is 85 and all the way up is 210. Range B is 70amp at the bottom and 150 all the way up. Range B gives better resolution with 1/8th rods, aka a small change in the dial won’t massively increase amperage like range A will. So in range B if you have a 1/8th 7018 or 6013, put the dial at the halfway mark, and give it a slight bump past halfway. Halfway would be 110a. Hopefully that helps you.

So 7018 tends to be a sticky rod no doubt. One solution is to switch to a rod like harbor freights 7018, Esabs 7018 prime, or any 7018 that has a “easy start” tip. Basically there is graphite on the tip and it makes the initial start much easier. Generally speaking if the rod sticks you need to run a bit more amperage. The hard part with amperage is I know what amperage a rod needs. However every machine outputs different amperage. Cheaper ones tend to be far less accurate. So 120a on my machine might be 130 on yours or 110 on someone else’s. Unless something is majorly wrong with the accuracy of a machine a 3/32 7018 should be run 80-100 amps and a 1/8th 7018 should be somewhere between 100 and 130. If you’re running on the low end of those numbers bump it up a bit. Beyond that, practicing with 6013 is a much easier way to learn to start a arc, but ultimately learning 7018 does require dealing with the harder starts for a while to get a feel for it.

It really depends. So if welding both sides you can use smaller welds to get the strength that’s needed. If welding one side it’s smartest to weld a big enough weld so the weld is the same thickness as the base material. My general rule is I weld both sides if possible on material 3/16th and thicker.

@@makingmistakeswithgreg thankyou ive learnt so much from u and cant wait to learn more

What size rod is it, and what welder is it? Every welder has different accuracy on its amperage setting/output, and their hot starts tend to function differently. If you’re running 3/32 6011 at 60, you would want the hot start to generally be 20-30% or 2-3 out of settings depending on welder. Look at the first inch of the weld. If the weld is wetted out and looks consistent to the rest of the weld, the rod didn’t stick, and it started decent you probably have it set right. Keep in mind if your base amperage is set low for the rod you may have to turn up hot start more than you should. On thin material you may have to turn it down.

@@makingmistakeswithgreg thanks. Yes 3/32 rod vevor mma140 stick welder. Trying it out/learning for the first time on some cleaned up bed rail.

@@RG-ce5hj so if it’s adjustable start on the lower end, 20-30%. If it’s too high you will have excessive spatter and possible porosity at the start because the rods arc gap will get real big (rod will somewhat blow apart). Sometimes welders have a time control too, where you can adjust how long the hot start is active. That you would want at or around a half second. Too long and you’ll have issues with a excessively hot weld/cooked rod.

Unfortunately you are correct. I am all for budget welders and I wish more people realized how good the titanium 225 stick welder is from harbor freight compared to the yes welder. The 225 will weld with 6010, and welds really good. Atleast you can run 7018 with it, that’s better than no welder lol.

Hey guys just wanted to say, not sure which yeswelder you have but I have the 205DS bought couple years ago and it'll run all common electrodes except for 6010 . Love this series btw

Haha you might be right 😀.

You have to put it in perspective: the video is meant to teach someone the fundamentals of a simple lap joint at a beginner level. A beveled (possibly open root) joint with 6010 is not something a beginner would be doing. It’s also advantageous to start with thicker plate because if a beginner started with 1/8th material or thinner they would likely become frustrated with blown holes (especially with 6010). So you’re not wrong, there are better ways to weld a lap joint on 1/8th and thicker material, but at a beginner level those don’t really apply. I will eventually get to videos dealing with “advanced welding” but you have to understand that I cater more towards beginners than advanced welders. At a certain point with welding you can just figure stuff out on your own and no longer look for videos on how to do it. So spending more time on advanced videos would have fewer viewers and less people I would help.

@@makingmistakeswithgreg fair enough, but still, not beveling the plate encourages bad habits, and that is not a full strength weld. don't take this wrong though, I much appreciate your videos, and 90% are great content

Variables make bad even worse that’s for sure lol.