novice pipe welding

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I shoulda took pictures but got too lazy to grab the camera, so i can post pics tomorrow if it would help anyone.i needed 7.5 foot of 2" heavy wall pipe to make a round cutting edge for my snow plow.  what i ended up with was a 7ish foot and a 1ish foot piece of extra heavy wall 2" pipe.  wall diameter is .21" outside diameter is greater than 2" but not 2.5"so to make them one piece, i beveled two square edges and clamped them together with a C-clamp and some scrap steel.  Came out pretty square for a rookie.so I did a root pass with 3/32 6011 at a touch more than 65amps.  Some of the weld is higher than the base metal, but most of it is lower than the surface of the pipe.  I did my best to hold the rod perpendicular to the pipe while welding the top 1/4 of the pipe and rotating it as i went.  I did my best attempt at whipping and it looked like the the puddle was penetrating fairly deep into the bevel.  I was trying to feed the puddle as long as possible without sticking the rod, and then whipping out and repeating.  (i did stick the rod to the puddle a couple times.)so, the plan now is to cap it with 1/8" 7014. and then grind it flat and trim it to length.Should i grind on the root pass to see what i have?  or is it not really that important so long as the cap weld is solid?Am i on the right track?  i looked down the pipe, and the puddle never dripped through to the interior of the pipe.  should it have?  perhaps the weld was too cold?first pipe weld ... kinda flying by the seat of my pants. any help would be appreciated!on the bright side, if it breaks i get to redo it
Reply:wrong forum?need pictures?no interest?not trying to be a pipe fitter on the pipe lines ... just never tried to butt weld something round.any advice is appreciated.thanks!
Reply:are you wanting to pracice pipe welding? two things is see wrong is that you used 6011, 7014. you should be using 6010, 7018. the 7014 if it was in a chuck rotating and you never left a 1g pipe weld i dont see a problem.
Reply:since you are learning grind it out to see how well you have learned.. you want to see solid shiny metal , not veins of black crumbly material..better to find out now than when it falls off the plow..you do want to see the root come out the back side..try it with the rod deeper into the joint.. you should see and hear  the sparks and sound coming from inside the pipe..
Reply:Pix, There should be penetration visible on the inside.AEAD 200LE, Lincoln precision tig 185, Millermatic 251, Spectrum 625 extreme, Victor torch , Smithy 1220LTD. and  Do all C-4 band saw ,  Always adding.
Reply:I think i will put the grinder to it and see how solid it looks.  As for the rod choice, i guess that's what i have so that's what i used.  my welder is AC only, so i picked 6011 over 6010.  I don't really do enough welding to justify having 7018, i don't think i could ever keep it dry enough.I'll try and get some pix tonight and post 'em up.  Pipe welding is probably misleading in this case.  I'm basically just trying to make it long enough for the project, not trying to make watertight or anything, mostly just assure that they don't come apart.  in the end the welds will be ground flush.i'm just worried about the root pass, i'm not sure i got enough penetration as i don't see much (if any) evidence on the inside of the pipe.  If i need to re-do it, i'd rather know now. I think i could grind it half at a time and keep it together .. .it came out REALLY straight.thanks for the input!
Reply:Ok ... pics ...here is the root pass before grinding on it.  kinda ugly, but what can you do but grind and see.here is what i found when i ground it down.  it was actually solid all the way around, but there was some porosity, obviously if this were a steam pipe it would have to be redone completely by someone elsehere is the inside of the pipe.  it looked like it penetrated all the way through, so i ran with it.Here is my second "cap" and as it sits right now.  I capped it off with 7014 but the results were less than pleasing.  i got one good weld, but i always seem to get undercut.  so i went back to the 6011 and tried to fill in any undercut, which is the picture above.  I really like the way 6011 welds, once i calm the heck down and pay attention, it really makes nice welds for a novice like me.i got much respect for you guys that can do this without batting an eye.  MUCH harder than it appears on the surface.  I'd be greatfull for any pointers.
Reply:I am a novice maybe a year or two ahead of you but with the 6011 its a rod that you can actually stuff and drag.  Watch your key hole on the root and if it opens up to much you may have to whip the rod a bit....dont try all the fancy rod movement. Keeping the proper rod speed and angle is key.  Grind your stops.  I am still working on my weave cap.  I would rather run stingers.  My weave sucks at this point.Buy a set of CD's and memorize them.  Good practice is the key!  I am a novice but love this stuff