STick Welding Tips for Lap Joints using 6013, 6011, 7018

Stick Welding lap joints...

Thats what this weeks video is about.

Using some 6013, 7018ac, 7018 excalibur, and 6011 rods, we weld the heck out of some 11 ga steel lap joints .

The first joint is done at 105 amps using a dc stick welder set to electrode positive and it welded pretty ok.

That is because I am using a tight arc and a bit of drag angle along with adequate amperage. Then we crank it up to 115 and it welds even better than at 105 amps. why? because that extra arc force pushes that slag to the back of the puddle where it should be

One key 6013 tip for me is to have plenty of amperage and to use a tight tight arc. Again, That allows the arc force to push the molten slag back behind the puddle. To show what happens if you dont have that arc force pushing the slag back, I turned the welder all the way down to 75 amps just to show what happens with a long arc and low amperage.

So if it welded fine at 115 amps, then why is it that I am not crazy about 6013 rods? I mean they do have some good points.

I mean....they do restart easily and they work pretty well even on basic AC buzz box welders.

So why cant I learn to like 6013 rods?

I will list the reasons.

**The puddle is not distinct...its hard to tell what is slag and what is not.

**I used 6013 rods for the first few days of welding school. Since leaving school and going to work, no construction job I worked ever had 6013 rods on site.

**Even at proper amperage, I have been fooled by the puddle and wound up with worm beds of slag in the middle of the bead.


If all you have is Lincoln tombstone AC welder, 6013 rods will work just fine for a lot of basic steel welding. Especially if you follow my advice and make sure to use enough amperage along with a tight arc.

But you might want to consider getting some 6011 rods also for those times when you need to weld downhill or when you need to penetrate thru rust or paint.

Another option is Lincoln 7018AC rod that is designed specifically to weld on AC.

7014 electrodes also run well on AC

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