tried to stick weld sheet metal...

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Got bored in class and they never let us mess with anything under like 3/16" plate so I decided to try and see if I could weld sheetmetal. by the way all we do is SMAW. Ive done sheetmetal with mig/flux before no problem but wanted to challenge myself with stick so I got some 16 gauge sheet and the smallest rods we had were 3/32 6013's. I didnt do horrible... but I kept getting slag inclusions like crazy. Some points looked really nice, good penetration, no burn through, but the inclusions i kept getting really screwed up the weld. I have never had this problem before except little spots on multi pass welds where im lazy and obviously dont clean the weld good enough but no where near this bad before. What the heak causes this on good clean metal doing only a single pass? Heres a pic if it works... These are lap joints. No making fun of me this was a first attemp   the black spots are the inclusions not holes in the metal. any advice?oh yea and these weren't continuous beads i spread them out to keep the warpage down. Attached ImagesLast edited by CaptainWilly; 12-13-2007 at 11:58 PM.I like to party!
Reply:just make sure on sheet with SMAW your running DC-, and have fast travel speeds so you don't just blow holes. Did you weld them Vertical down? --Gol'
Reply:Originally Posted by Go1lumjust make sure on sheet with SMAW your running DC-, and have fast travel speeds so you don't just blow holes. Did you weld them Vertical down?
Reply:i would say you need 1/16" electrodes for that thin of material. --Gol'
Reply:Welcome to 6013. These weld good but are like a 7014 and I have not found any reason for this other than they dont like to be welded cold. I would recomend using a 6011 because thay can be welded colder and have little troube with this. Also you can reverse the polaity on some rods 6011 being one of them and when you do this you can get a deep narow weld or a shalow wide weld. keep playing around and you will get it. Good luck. Steel Thunder Welding LLC. St. Thomas VI USAMM350PBOBCAT 3MAXSTAR 150 STH375 EXTREME PLASMA6.5 HP COMPRESORDEWALT 18, 24, AND 36 VOLTO/A TORCH SETAND SO MUCH MORE I DONT REMEMBERALL IN MY 2005 2500HD EXTENDED CAB L/B
Reply:I was told by my teacher (not at all claiming he's a bright man) to stay away from the 6010's/6011's for sheet metal because they would tend to blow holes in the metal being more deep penetrating rods and I should go with the 6013, 7014, or 7024 which are lighter penetrating. And stay away from DC+ for the same reason. Which to me made alot of sense... but I've also never had a slag inclusion on a 6010 or 6011 rod because they burn through the slag so much easier. So your point makes alot of sense...Got new things to try which I always like.I like to party!
Reply:when that happens to me with 6013 i just turn up the amps more, and if it is too hot, go to a smaller rod.Nothing Ever Got Done By Quitting, Never Give Up.
Reply:That is where the moving fast comes in. That was all I did for nearly 10 years straight. 20-14 ga sheet, the vast majority being 16 ga, all welded with 6011 or 6010, almost all in 3/32 with some 1/8 sprinkled in for good measure. Run it straight polarity and move like you have a purpose. Whipping will make it easier too. When I am in the field and need to weld 16 or 14 ga, I always get out the 6010/11's. Since I do some metal buildings now and again, I'm staying in practice.
Reply:Perhaps just a little more heat would help float the slag out.  Rod drag angle is important to blow the slag behind the weld.  DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:That was always my problem with 6013 and sheet. They needed more heat to get the slag inclusions to go away, which is exactly the wrong thing for thin sheet. Esp when you have a zero burn through spec to work under. Never had a problem with 6011/10 wanting more heat at 55-65 amps.
Reply:thanks guys, gonna try it again tomorrow with 6011. Not my favorite rod by any means but we'll see how I do. overall this is one of those things I'll never have to do, In reality if I need to weld sheetmetal I'd just mig it. but I want to be able to say I can if the occasion ever called for it.I like to party!
Reply:I think you'll find your teacher was right about rod choice.David R's advice is the way to enlightenment grasshopper.