Ok,

So I am looking to weld up my sliders. I need to weld 1/4" 3"x3" to 1/4" angle and sqaure stock and I have access to either a 110volt 150 amp snap on mig or a 220 lincoln arc. I am leaning toward the lincoln as welding 1/4in with the mig is hard but what rod should i use? I went to lowes and the best looked to be 1/8th 7018 but it only went up to 5/32nds weld on the back opf the package and I need 1/4in. I kinda get the mig but arc is new to me.

What rod should I buy and will home depot be any better? If you can give me what I should buy I will go to the welding place but it is out of the way.

Ron

Not to be a smart a$$ but have you considered skipping the box stores and going to a ....hmmmm....let me see...:idea: :idea: welding shop??? They sell all of the rods you might need, and most are pretty knowledable about things like welding. Home Depot etc is full of 12 year old retards who couldnt recognize the working end of a hammer.

I am not affiliated with Home Depot :D :D

BTW if you bevel the 1/4 at the welds I dont see why the 110 mig wouldnt work.

The 150 amp mig should be fine.....I was doing 1/4 and 3/16 with a hobart 135 mig last weekend......Just make a few passes, I forget what it is called, but layer your welds

Mig is too f'in slow and I am not inclined to bevel. I also want to learn the arc. Would it be that much better to use the mig?

Like I said the welding shop is a haul from my place so if I can pick it up at Home depot or lowes that makes my life easier.

So what rod should I buy? 1/4" to 1/4in 6018, 7018 I know I saw at Lowes.

Thanks
Ron

I like 7018 for stuff like that. Leaves a nice and smooth bead and penetrates pretty well. If you aren't going to hit the welding shops you probably aren't going to get 10018 at Home Depot, which would be my prefered rod. If you are welding dirty steel or aren't getting good penetration with the 7018, use 6011 or 6013 to really get in there good. The bead doesn't look as nice and the tensile strength is 10k less, but it works very well.

Does it matter if I can only fine 1/8 7018? Or should I get thicker rod?

Ron

I made my square drive shaft using 1/4 wall receiver tubing and however thick a dana 44 yoke and however thick a tacoma yoke is with my 110v flux core. Hasn't broken yet! I imagine the strength of my welds on the driveshaft should be somewhere in comparison to those required of sliders. Just a thought.

I'm not certified in anything and probably only have a few hours behind the blue light. So you probably shouldn't listen to me anyway.

Keep in mind, welding rock sliders isn't rocket science. Get it hot, go slow and you'll be fine.

You can always do multiple passes. with either stick or mig.