Starting a 6011 bead

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My normal go-to rod here on the farm is 7018ac, but sometimes I've used 6011. I've never really practiced with it, though, and decided to spend some time playing with it this afternoon.I'm using 1/8" 6011 on 1/4" plate, just running flat beads @120 amps AC with a straight back-and-forth whip.  This works fine, and gives me a pretty nice stack of dimes, but the problem is right at the beginning. I think it's because the metal's cold, but when I first start the bead, it builds up almost twice as thick, and often narrower, than the rest of the bead.  After the first half inch to an inch, everything heats up and it flattens out more and looks fine. Can anybody give me a tip?ThanksLast edited by Ruark; 07-16-2013 at 09:29 PM.-RuarkLincoln 3200HDHobart Stickmate LX235TWECO Fabricator 211i
Reply:With that rod, arc up an inch or so ahead of where you want to start welding, long arc the end of the rod back to where you want to start welding, shorten up your arc and start depositing metal. The long arcing back preheats the base metal a bit before you start depositing weld metal. When you long arc 6010/11 rod, your not really depositing weld metal.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:Ruark, snoeproe has given a pretty good rundown on a successful method. I might only give you a slight variation of it that works for me. Whether you strike ahead of where you want to start and come back to it or simply strike up where you actually want to start, the key is to "long arc" and possibly manipulate a tight circle at this point momentarily before dropping down to the correct arc length and actually depositing the start of the bead. The long arcing will throw some spatter but not actually apply much actual weld metal, it will however, provide the correct preheat to help with providing a good bead profile upon the initial start and not give the over-stacking that you have described. Good luck on making corrections to your methods and best regards, Allanaevald