Bubbly looking welds.

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I have an ARC-120 stick welder from HF. I can get a bead going, but after I chip off the slag the welds look like large pieces of spatter. The parts hold together ok, just the welds look really bad. It doesn't look like I'm getting porosity or undercuts. I'm used to seeing nice looking welds done with MIG welders by guys with 30+ years experience. I'm using 1/16 1013 rods and doing filet welds on 10 and 12 gage mild steel. Thanks
Reply:First, welcome to Weldingweb! Secondly, the material you are welding is a bit thick for the machine. Also, are you prepping the metal at all, meaning grinding off the mill scale or are you just welding over mill scale, paint and rust? What settings do you have when running the 1/16" 6013 rod? Finally, the 6013 in 1/16" size are meant for lower amperage, so if you have your machine at max amperage, it will blow them away.edit: post pics as well, pics are worth 1,000 words.John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Unfortunatly I don't have any pictures yet. I'm running a little over 40 amps, about the minimun I've found that will get a bead going. I hit the metal with some 80 grit to clean it up and I put a 1/16 inch bevel on the edges of the 10 gage. Just laying a bead on a flat surface looks good, but when I do filet welds they look bad. I did some nice looking seam welds with good penetration on some 10 gage that I put a little bevel on the edges of.
Reply:Sounds like need more heat...MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:yup 10ga. will handle more amps than that so will the rodsDewayneDixieland WeldingMM350PLincoln 100Some torchesOther misc. tools
Reply:Today I tacked a piece of 7ga 2x2 angle to a couple of pieces I was working on and I had to use a cutting wheel to get the 1/4 inch long tacks out, it wouldn't budge no matter how I twisted on it. I am welding pretty slow with about a 3/16 weaving motion and I'm going back into the puddle a little bit.