AC Stick Welding - How good can it get?

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Hi All, I've been reading a bunch of posts and watching videos of stick welding and from what I have seen so far every post or video of a nice clean looking weld was done with a DC welder with "xyz" arc force control and a 123 foo setting and ya might as well set the wire speed to a 2 since that helps appease the diode flow in the rectifier bridge. I'm brand new to welding and have a Miller Thunderbolt AC only buzzbox.  Every night for the past two weeks I have been working on laying stringers on flat plate and a few occasional plate joins.  Some of it looks ok, but mostly I weld like crap.  I have a tremendous respect for this profession and am amazed at the quality of the work that you guys do.  Anyway, I'd like a picture of what I could aspire to with my simple equipment.  I know that most of you have a buzzbox laying around somewhere in your shop.  Is anyone willing to run a kick-*** 90 degree plate join (AC only with whatever rod you like) for me and post the picture?  I'd love to have a big printed picture hanging in my garage reminding me of what is possible even with equipment that might not be state of the art.  Thanks in advance, -Jeff
Reply:i have done some nice welding with alternating current. depends on which electrodes you use with the current. i will be doing some welding tomorrow and i will try to remember to switch it over to ac and burn a few. i dont do so well at remembering though!
Reply:I don't have any pics on this computer but i have rebuilt trailer ramps and if you take your time. I got mine to look like the factory welds. My boss thought i had just bought new ramps but i showed him one that i messed up on.Millermatic DVIMillermatic 251Older buzz box Cheap 120 welder
Reply:Here's an old AC weld using 7018AC rod.  I used it on the inside of the channel because I was getting really bad arc blow with a DC rod.AC can make nice looking welds with good heat.Your machine is also capable of running larger diameter rods because of it's high amp range.  I believe the AC/DC Thunderbolt is limited to 150amps DC Attached Images"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Lots of guys make nicer looking welds than this with AC.  It's a matter of the degree of skill, practice, and coordination.  And good eyes"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Here are a couple, one bead is 7018, but all I had was DC rod so  Sam has a better shot of what you can make it look like.The second one is 6011, if you look at the end of the bead you can see the penetration of the 6011.Made with a Hobart ac/dc Stickmate set on AC.  Hope these help. The main thing is a lot of practice.  Good luck Attached ImagesTrailblazer 302Hobart Stickmate AC/DCLincoln SP 135 TSmith torchSpoolmatic 30A
Reply:Wow!  Guys those are awesome!!!!Mine look like bird droppings. Thanks for posting some pictures.  I love it!
Reply:i remembered! top weld is 6011 center weld is 7018 and bottom weld is 6013. been a long time since ive used ac current to stick. gotta say it ran pretty decent. i still prefer dc though. Attached Images
Reply:I don't have pictures yet but I just started and have use a lincoln AC225 for some projects. They will never be as good looking as DC, or a MIG or a TIG but you can lay some good quality beads, Personally, 6011 has always produced better results but is harder to get used to. I picked up 6013 right away but it isn't as good for first passes or for tacking.
Reply:Originally Posted by Joe SmithI don't have pictures yet but I just started and have use a lincoln AC225 for some projects. They will never be as good looking as DC, or a MIG or a TIG but you can lay some good quality beads, Personally, 6011 has always produced better results but is harder to get used to. I picked up 6013 right away but it isn't as good for first passes or for tacking.