SMAW Tips and Techniques?

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Hey all, I am not new to this forum but I am a first time poster...so hey! I am enrolled in a Vocational (trade) School and just started my welding class. My teacher started us out the second day with 6010 rods and made us start a deposit and then stop...then repeat. My question is, is there any good tips or techniques to get a good bead? The first stringers I made where good but really thick. Do you guys have any kind of rule of thumb?Thanks!
Reply:Search around there are some great beginner discussions on here. I would say first post some pictures of your welds. Bead, back side and cross section. Then some of the pro's can help further critique them.Patriot Performance AutoLincoln Power Mig 255CLincoln AC-225 StickVictor Journeyman O/AQuincy QT-5 Compressor
Reply:well first of all practice practice practice, but move at a slow steady pace sorta like you heart beat concentrate on zone everything around you out. It might help to sit down an draw on a piece of paper like your welding. but hold the pencil about three inches from the tip, i know it sounds stupid but give it a try. move at the same pace as if you were welding.
Reply:Seems like fishing with a bare hook asking about stick welding.I dont know squat & just starting myself learning on my own, but plan on night class as soon as I can swing it.About all I can offer you may know Might try starting a bead and as you go get slower & slower untill you burn through clean it up and look it over.Might even try the reverse start very slow and speed up as you go. Just so you have an idea of the speed and what it looks like. I think you want ROUND ridges on the bead Listen -the sound short arc has a crackling sound - no hissing Try to look at the puddle behind the arc- the back edge of the molten puddle solidifes and with the 1/8 rod I have been using I try to keep it 3/8in behind the electrode.Going slow enough might be slower than you think.Just my backward ways I dont know any betterGood Luck in SchoolRon HIcks
Reply:Hey thanks for your responses! Im only 14 and I am not looking for some kinda real pro answer, anything really. I think my only problem is that I make my welds too wide. Should I try holding the arc for a shorter amount of time? Well I will be at the shop every day for 2 hours until the end of the year so, hopefully I will get good at it before I learn MIG and TIG.
Reply:how wide are they?
Reply:I'd say a good 1/2 inch to 3/4 inches. My teacher commented that they were a little wide but very good. I will try to get pictures but we can't have cameras or cellphones, maybe I can bring a VERY small slab home.
Reply:6010 is a very good rod to learn on.  It is realtively difficult to manipulate and get a nice looking bead.  It reveals your every movement.   The reason the instructor is getting you to do many stop starts is to develop that particular skill.  With cellulose rod ( 6010) you can scratch start (like landing a toy airplane on the surface) or tap start.  Eventually you will always tap start with cellulose rods.  Stick welding is an old process but still used today.   Our shop uses wire feed exclusively unless we can't reach into a tight spot.  I gave one of the younger guys a bad time when he asked me if I had a chipping hammer he could borrow out of my tool box.  I gave it to him and asked him if he knew how to use one.  With a straight face he came right back at me.  " Of course Old Man! I read up on it last night."
Reply:Best advice I can give is practice.Next would be learn to weld both hot and cold. There are places for both. Cut your welds apart and look to see what's inside (penetration wise, contamination wise, etc) under different conditions.This will be disagreed with by some, but: run hot, run fast. You tend to get better burn in that way, and have a smaller heat affected zone. I tend to run neat or at the top of the range for whatever I am doing. Sometimes the heat has to come down for a job, but I still run as hot as the job will allow.
Reply:Well I did alot better today with the spot welding, much better than the other kids. My teacher showed me and another student how to use the AO Torch correctly and we cut some peices of steel to practice welding on. He then showed us how to weld across the plate without stopping. He did it in a half-moon motion with a snap of the wrist at the end. My welds came out so much better. I forgot to mention that we always weld at 120 Amps...Thanks for the advice.
Reply:With the 6010 your supposed to use what is called a whip and pause techn. It can be rather annoying but I would suggest lowering your amperage to around 80 and starting out slow. I have gotten to the point to where I am doing a bend test with a 6010 root pass then 7018 pass over it. I have a issue of blowing it through. My opinon would be to take three 2 inch wide by 6 inches long peices of steel tacking them together and running a pad of beads and then tinker with the amperage and penitration. Find out what your comfortable with then gradually go up.
Reply:120 amps is smokin hot on a 6010 unless you are using a 5/32" rod.A 1/8" 6010 will do wonders at 85 amps.
Reply:6010 is a easy to light welding rod.That is why your instructor started you with it.6010 is meant to be run a particular way.Like this.... Weld up 1/2 inch- then back 3/8 ....up 1/2 back 3/8 and so on. repeat over and over. Should look like fish scales or a stack of dimes.The reason is that 6010 is a deep penetration rod but does not deposit a lot of metal.It is used for root passes on pipe or the first pass on a weldment to ensure fusion of the base metal at the root of the weld.AWS certified welding inspectorAWS certified welder
Reply:I think some welding machines make running 6010 effortlessly, all most stacks it for you. Attached ImagesDon’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:I always like these threads about SMAW since I am in the beginning stages myself, about 1.5 years now. Although I wonder if anyone noticed this thread is 4 YEARS OLD now, and the OP might be a journeyman by now!Miller Challenger 172Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC 225/150Miller Maxstar 150 STLVictor 100CVictor JourneymanOxweld OAHarris O/ASmith O/A little torchNo, that's not my car.