Does anybody need any arc welding tips,insturcions, my 2 cen

Also I have about 75 pounds of 7018 1/4" new rods I would like to get rid of. Anyone interested my e-mail is open, pay shipping.

I can see that happening with this electrode if there is not enough amps and or heat, you can only turn the power down to a certain point to where it will stick when you try to start an arc. Slag on the end of the electrode will close the circuit, for the re-strike you have to knock off the slag, so if you knock it off by tapping against the work, you can start a cycle of this happening. On lower power you need a steady hand, maintaining the arc length uniformly is important, slight change in distance it will stick or close the circuit.

This electrode likes heat, I run a Miller NT250 trailblazer, commonly using Lincoln Electric 7018 DC electrodes between 90 and 120 amps 1/8" and 5/32" and am self taught so I am no expert, but through practice I can produce a very respectable weld, with good base metal penetration, little or no porosity and a good weld profile. I did have some good knowledge of welding practice having been in the construction industry, dealing with AWS criteria and inspections, which helps. The 7018 is strong and does seem to make a good choice for equipment repairs and steel fabrication at home.

Not bad for an amateur, I modified a garage door hanger in when making repairs to an old garage door in a customers building, darned thing was improperly lag bolted to the bottom of wood roof trusses, to the bottom chord, was ready to pull out and the door would have fell on someone soon. Cleaned off the paint where the welds were to be, used the Miller NT 250 with 7018, also it's real important to have a decent clean lense in your shield, as well as having the work illuminated, that was my biggest problem, once I could see the work better, the weld profiles immediately improved.

Overkill, but practice is always good, more than 1 pass here:

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If I use the high end of that setting, the penetration and heat is unreal with 1/8" or 5/32" 7018, it will blow right through thin material with this machine, but you can strike and re-stike this electrode and weld smoothly especially in position all day long with correct heat.

The one thing about these electrodes I have noticed, to re-strike, you have to take the electrode off the stinger, rub it on something rough, knock off the slag on the end, without knocking off too much flux, there is always a coating of slag on the end, it will act like you have no ground, same happens if you arc out on the first strike with a fresh rod, take it out of the stinger, tap or rub off the thin layer of slag and it will re-strike, correct heat and arc distance + all the other correct habits make a big difference, now I can strike and re-strike without losing the arc, and don't waste any part of an electrode. I'm not sure what the pro's do, but on larger jobs, they burn complete electrodes and don't re-strike in the middle, I would imagine the electrodes vary by MFR., but these lincoln electric electrodes always leave a thin layer of slag on the end, one tap and it will re-strike.

Vertical is no doubt harder to learn with 7018, too much heat the puddle can drip off, too little it sticks, but for any easily accessed repairs around the farm, shop, or home, in position looking over the work, if you have enough range on a machine I would think 7018 would be no problem to learn and become satisfied with the results. I've done the trial and error and went through all the sticking, re-strike etc., good learning experience, but once finding the heat range this electrode works well with, all those problems went away.

Thin material is tough for me still with this electrode, really have to be careful, a quick spot weld, then let cool, repeat, works for some things, but on that note, also time to learn to use an electrode or another method better suited for the purpose, as this electrode does not do well without lots of heat.

When you mention the chipping hammer being grounded, the rule is obviously never make yourself part of the ground. I never touch grounded work except with the electrode when welding, so for example in layman's terms if you were striking and maintaining an arc, and you touched the work with the hammer, do you become part of the circuit ?

This is one thing that I've never been clear on. What kind of situation is common to or will get you jolted when arc welding. I should probably read up on this, as I don't think I've got a full understanding of it, but do take my time and play it safe, that is some serious power when you think about it.

Those welds are'nt too bad, everything I've done so far with this electrode seems to have held great, definitely strong. It really makes a difference to be able to see the work, you have to see the molten puddle, it sure took some practice to be able to get a weld profile to look decent, most of it was being able to see the work. I pushed myself to learn as I used to supervise ironworkers and as well as having a need to repair and fabricate things at home. It is a good skill to know, that machine was well worth $1000 I paid for it at auction in '02, think it's a '99 or '00.

There is so much to learn when it comes to welding it is mind boggling. The first major project I did was some repairs to the frame on my f-600, but I still wonder if every procedure I used was correct for the work, it's held fine and does not look too bad at all I took all kinds of photos of the progress, would make an interesting post for comments and learning.