Welding 7/16 steel

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We recently started using Mo-Clamp's Full Frame Anchoring System  http://www.moclamp.com/4070hpage.html. As seen in this photo the pinchweld clamp does not hold the thick mouunting flange well because they are designed to clamp steet metal not thick steel.My proposed solution is to weld a larger piece of steel to the mounting flange so that it may be directly bolted to the clamping plate. The problem is that the flange is about 7/16" it may be closer to 3/8" or 1/2" I haven't measured the thickness of it but it is in that range. I know that stick welding is going to be the best way to go about this, but since this is in a body shop we are not equipped to make this weld.Our machine shop has Precision TIG 225, but I do not know if they have the stringer for SMAW. At home we have an Airco 180 amp AC only welder.Can the Airco welder make this weld-assuming worst case scenario full 1/2". What size 7018 rod should be used in this case-I plan to v groove both sides of the weld and make multiple passes. Am I correct in remembering that there is a 7018 AC rod?Last edited by metalmeltr; 11-24-2012 at 04:19 PM.
Reply:My research has returned that there are 7018 AC rods and according to Miller's stick calculator I can use up to a 5/32 rod-180 is in middle of the range-on the old airco welder. What size rod should i be using for this?
Reply:I would use a 1/8".
Reply:Should i make the V groove a knife edge or should i leave a small flat area at the tip
Reply:Don't think it will make much difference either way.