[TimmyTIG]

Why is somebody named Timmy_Tiggs telling us how to weld stick? :laugh:

 

[TimmyTIG]

I remember talking to this gal who was selling a SAE 300 on craigslist, she was a stick welder down in the shipyard, I said something about tig and she was like, "Those tig welders are a buncha prissy primadonnas" LOL

You should have seen the looks I got when I rolled up to the pipeline job with a TIG rig hanging off a bottle on the back of my truck. That was like the ultimate clique, there - I never did fit in with those jerks. The guy they had me brother in lawing with finally came around, though. He said "When I saw that TIG rig, I figured you wouldn't be able to hang, but you proved me wrong!"
I could only hang with him because his machine was breaking down all the time. They had another guy that used to smoke me down, just making me look silly. He had an old '58 shorthood that he had done all the modifications that they do to make it stack iron to the max, I had a brand new Classic 3D, wouldn't stack iron for sh1t. He asked me once, what did you buy that machine for??? :dizzy:
Hell, I didn't know no better, I bought it to run a truck in the refineries in Corpus Christi, not pipelining in Wyoming.

 

[TimmyTIG]

I think arc force was developed to keep the 6010 from snuffing out when you bury it in the root on pipe. You don’t really need it on 7018, maybe it might help on the bigger rods like OP said. I do agree he probably could have just turned up some. You can’t do that on a pipe root, though.

 

[TimmyTIG]

Hot start is for rookies that ain't got the touch for starting 7018 yet.

 

[TimmyTIG]

If that was me, I would’ve propped those pieces up on a 45 so I could weld in the bottom of the vee. Don’t have to worry about the top leg sagging then.

 

[TimmyTIG]

It isn't sagging, it contracts when it cools, making it pull in and get out of square. If I clamp it to slightly more than 90 degrees by clamping it to a shimmed angle bolted to the bench and use the same size welds and same heat, I can get it quite close or exact when I release the clamps.

I was referring to the top leg of the weld, not the plate. If you're making a big fillet weld with one pass, it wants to roll down a little on you. Gravity, and all. I understand about the warping, you could tack those a little past square and have them pull in pretty close.