Stick Welding Tips for Beginners

Dear Readers,

Due to COVID-19, past two months there is no posts.

Though Stick Welding is one of the most common forms of arc welding. To be an effective stick welder, one requires higher skill level and mastery of certain techniques. Here are three important things that a beginner needs to focus on.

1). Power or Current Setting

2). Length of Arc

3). Angle of Travel

4). Manipulation of Electrodes

5). Speed of Travel.

Let us discuss in details

Power or Current Setting

The welding machine allows you to set the current as DC positive, DC negative or AC. Which current you select, solely depends on the electrode you are using. Look for the current specifications mentioned on the electrode packaging. It is advisable to change the applied current, 5 amps at a time, till you reach the optimum current setting required for the operation. If the set current is lower, the electrode will appear sticky whereas, if you apply higher current, the electrode may get scorched.

Length of the Arc

While the fact is that the arc length changes with the change of the electrodes, the general rule of thumb is that the length of the arc should not be greater than the diameter of the metal part of the electrode. If the arc is too short, then the electrode may stick to the metal surface due to low voltage. On the other hand, a larger arc may cause spatter and undercuts.

Angle of Electrodes

The ideal way to hold the electrodes, depends on whether you need to weld on a flat horizontal surface, or on a vertical surface. When welding on a horizontal surface, keep the electrode at an angle of 15 degrees towards the direction of movement. When welding on a vertical surface, tilt it at the same angle away from the angle of movement.

Manipulation of Electrodes

Manipulation of electrodes is nothing but the way the electrodes are moved to produce different results. This is a skill that you can acquire over time, through practice and by observing experienced welders at work. For example, you can manipulate the electrode side-to-side to form a step pattern. When welding along a vertical surface, pay special attention to the sides of the joints to prevent any error.

Speed of Travel

A useful tip to find the ideal speed of moving the electrode further, is to form a weld pool (a pool of molten metal) and then drive the electrodes at a speed such that your electrodes are always at the leading one-third area of the weld pool. If you move very slowly, it will result in "cold-lap" and poor alignment. On the other hand, moving extremely fast can cause an undercut.

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Hope you have enjoyed this post and it is useful for the beginners. 

Tips for Conserve Water

Dear Readers,

We are entering the Summer, already water crises are started in major cities. So, we should start saving the water we have and use the water we have, economically. Here are a few ideas on how to conserve water.

1. Almost all of us have reverse osmosis (RO) system installed at home for water for drinking and cooking. I am sure everyone knows that it lets out almost one litre water to produce one litre drinking water. So, keep a bucket to the outlet and store this water. This can very well be used for cleaning the floor, for toilet etc. What they normally say is, the bacteria which is there in this water will die in half an hour time when get exposed to normal air.
2. Similarly, a bucket can be placed in the AC outlet. Everyday morning this water can be used for the plants in your flat, to clean your cars or even be drained into the rainwater harvesting system so that the ground water can get charged. In fact, these outlets can be connected on a regular basis to get drained there.
3. Stop using running water for cleaning utensils and use water from bucket. By this practice lot of water can be saved.
4. Similarly use shower for bathing. This also would reduce water consumption.
5. Use your washing machine when you have a full load because washing machines are designed in such a way that it uses almost the same amount of water for washing low load to very high load.
6. If your washing machine's outlet is not connected to the closed drain. That is if the machine's outlet is let out in the bathroom, then the soap water which comes out of the machine can very well be used to soak your utensils which you have used for cooking.
7. 
   Some of us face a problem with dust in the water. For example, the borewell water may turn slightly muddy when the water bed goes down or because of the accumulated dirt in the overhead tank, the water may come with dust. Please don't waste this water. Keep a block of Alum in the bathroom. Just dip this in the bucket that has the muddy water and allow it to dissolve by rotating your hand. A few rotations will do. After about 10-15 minutes you will see the dust and muddy substances settled in the bottom and crystal-clear water in the top! This Alum would be available in all medical shops.