New to welding. Need serious help.

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Hey all. Let me introduce myself. I'm Kurt, age 20, Mechanical Engineer student. I am building a recumbent tricycle for fun. I borrowed a good welder from a friend in the hopes of welding a bunch of stuff this week.The problem: I can't weld. I've done my fair share of research in to beginning tips and such, and when I am welding, I feel I am doing everything right. But I'm obviously not.I took a picture of my last (and best) welds so far:First picture: Weld starts on right. Second picture: weld starts on left.Electrode is 6013, 5/64", welded at 60 amps or so. Stick welder.This is a practice piece. The final weld will be a T-joint  between two 1/16" steel tubes, one of which seems to like to melt with any current above 40 amps.Also, this is the product of two days of welding. If it makes a difference, I'm welding these pieces cold. And I live in Canada. We're talking below freezing cold. No preheating beforehand. I don't think it's causing my issues though.Last edited by Kurt_; 02-15-2010 at 08:16 PM.
Reply:I take it that you are trying to stick weld? Shield Metal Arc Welding is much more difficult to be proficient at and you’ll find yourself burning through 1/16 stock at the blink of an eye. You would be much better off with MIG; the learning curve is not as steep as SMAW. Can you trading the stick for mig?
Reply:Kurt,Let me be brief.  You're being totally unrealistic in what you expect to accomplish.  Nobody can take a complete novice and teach you how to weld over the internet.  The equipment isn't going to make you a competent welder.  Good equipment, is, at best, not an impediment to welding.  It's like playing golf and golf clubs, if that makes any sense to you.  Using a stick welder to join 1/16" wall tubing is not easy, and nigh impossible for a novice.Best advice, shelve your project, and take a few weekends to practice what you want to do on scrap metal.  Either that, or pay someone who is an experienced welder to complete this piece of your project.  Arc welding, particularly stick welding, is hard and takes hours/days/sometimes weeks of practice to develop the necessary muscle memory and intuitive understanding of what's happening.  I can't make you a competent welder by just telling you what to do.  You have to try, and try, and try, and fail...alot...before your skills will develop.If you're bound and determined to try this, here's some instruction.  Take some scraps of 1/16" sheet.  6"x2".  Set them in a T joint, one resting on edge against the face of the other.  Set your welder to DC+(work clamp on the - terminal.  Electrode Holder on the + terminal).  If the welder is AC only then the manner the welding leads are connected doesn't matter and your job just became harder.5/64" is not a common size for stick welding electrodes.  1/16", 3/32", 1/8", 5/32", 3/16", 1/4" are common sizes.  Make certain you have 1/16" or 3/32" electrodes.  Anything larger is wrong for your material.  Check the package for the size, or measure the bare metal end of the electrode if you've got a fist full of old rods(also not good).Back to practice.  Set your machine to 40-60 amps(you'll have to find what works best for you).  Strike and arc, and hold the electrode at 10-20° leaning forward in the direction you want to travel, and 45° to the bottom plate.  Hesitate for a fraction of a second, for a puddle to form.  'Whip' the electrode forward 1 diameter(a small distance) and then back into the puddle 1/2 diameter(an even smaller distance)  Keep the drag angle at 10-20° and the work angle at 45°.  Hesitate again, and then repeat.  What you should get is a stack of rippled metall that joins the vertical to the horizontal plate.  If you're timing is wrong, you'll burn holes in the plates.  If your angles are wrong then the puddle will not form a sound weld bead, or you'll burn through the plates.  If your travel speed is wrong, you'll get an uneven, poor looking weld.  Or you'll burn through the plates.  Repeat this until you get it, or until you want to stab the molten end of the welding rod into your forehead over and over again.Before attempting this, bribe someone who knows how to weld to spend an hour or two with you demonstrating and helping you over the steep part of the learning curve.Lastly,  don't weld your recumbent trike until your skills are up to the task, and don't try and ride any of your practice pieces.  Good luck.Last edited by A_DAB_will_do; 02-15-2010 at 08:44 PM.Benson's Mobile Welding - Dayton, OH metro area - AWS Certified Welding Inspector
Reply:Stick machines are not the easiest to use to do thin metal. You'd have better results with steel 3/16" to 1/4" when learning with stick.  It can be done, but you will need a fair amount of practice before you will be able to do a nice job. I don't know the recomended settings for 6013 that size. It should be marked on the package as well as the polarity. If posible run DC electrode positive and start in the middle of the suggested range. 6013, 7014 are good starter rods to learn with, and the smaller the rod, usually the easier it is to do thin steel.If you can borrow a mig machine you would have better luck starting out from scratch on thin metal with no previous experience. Mig tends to be an easier process for most to learn, especially with thin steel.Post up as much info as you can and the guys here will try and help. Machine you are using, polarity, DC +, DC-, or AC, amps, metal thickness, position (flat, vertical etc), rods and so on. You've given some of the info, but the more info, the better the responces will be.Welding is not as easy as many make it out to be. With practice you can do what you want, but don't be at all surprised if it takes you a bit to get where you want to go.You mention you live in Canada. Take a minute to go up to the User CP at the top left and put in your location. There's a lot of guys here from up north. You may find some one here who's near by and willing to help out. You might also think about looking into taking a basic welding class at a local tech school or comunity college at night to learn the basics. Usually it's much easier to learn with someone helping you than on your own.Good luck..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:You don't say if you are running DCEN , DCEP , or AC.I would reccommend DCEN,   electrode negative.6013 is available in 1/16" rods. I use 'em for thin stuff.Make sure you can see the work well. No back lighting in your hood etc. Look at the puddle, not the arc,not the slag.Work clamp connected securely to a shiny spot of metal?Welcome to stick welding. It is not easy.
Reply:All great advice!My two cents, in addition to every thing above, get a piece of scrap and just keep running passes on it. One right next to the other.  Once you have on side covered, flip it and do the other side. Once that is covered do a second layer on the first side. Repeat. Repeat again, and again, and again untill you find yourself doing it in your sleep.Welding is an art, just like drawing or painting. Only way to get good is with practice. Some guidance will help shorten the learning curve, but wont remove it.