Theoretical question

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I have a piece of steel that is about 1/2" thick that I will be welding to a pipe.  The steel is about 3" wide by 6" long and the pipe is a piece of relatively thick walled 3".  I used a hole saw on the steel to get a good fit up and chamfered the edges where I will weld.I have 1/8" 6011, 1/8" 7018 and 5/32" 7018 available.Question:  Which rod will give me the best penetration, or holding power if each is set to the midpoint on the voltage charts?  Let's say I would choose 110 amps for the 6011, 150 A for the 1/8" 7018 and 190 A for the 5/32 7018.Thank you.
Reply:I assume you are doing a fillet? Either size electrode will be fine. 5/32" will give you a higher deposition rate. (#'s/hr) Just depends on how big you want the weld really. --Gol'
Reply:The question is bunk.You don't set your machine to the "midpoint on the voltage charts" (that should be amperage for stick welding, not voltage) and weld away. You start at a standard or familiar amperage value (ie: 125amps for 1/8" 7018) and adjust up or down depending on conditions/skill.The "holding power" of the weld depends just as much on the skill of the welder as the amperage used. I'm not knocking you, just saying if a guy can run 7018 well but sucks eggs with 6010/6011 then the extra penetration is not an asset but a liability. This clearly demonstrates "holding power" is not solely dependent upon penetration which is why I called the question bunk.
Reply:I would run the 6010 first @ 90amp for the 'root'  then the 1/8 7018 @ 120amp just like the pipe penetrations I do at workLast edited by justinT; 08-19-2012 at 09:00 PM.
Reply:Thank you.  All good things to think about.