Stick welding 10 mm round rod to flat bar or plate

Messages
9
Good Post Points
3
Location
NSW Australia
Welder
Old Generic Stick
Only have a stick welder and often need to weld rod to plate with rod lying flat on plate. I usually grind a flat on the surface of the rod which touches the plate and two flats on the sides at an angle, so in section it looks like this \___/, that's so I can get a root weld in there then try and build on the weld.

Wondering if this grinding metal off the rod actually weakens the join. I tried getting a root weld into the gap without doing any grinding but thought the weld wasn't penetrating properly.

Also tried using 2.0 mm rod instead of 2.5 mm but couldn't get a decent puddle.

Any advice please.
 

Gary Fowler

Well-known member
Messages
715
Good Post Points
199
Yes you can be weakening the rod by grinding it if you grind past the weld area.

You can get plenty of weld metal on a round rod by just welding a fillet down both sides. The round rod naturally forms a weld bevel. A fillet about 2X the diameter of the rod in length (20mm) on both sides of the rod will hold more than the rod. I would use a
 

Gary Fowler

Well-known member
Messages
715
Good Post Points
199
Let me finish the above post.
I would use a 3/32" 7018 stick electrode to weld the 10mm rod with. A 20mm (about 3/4") long fillet weld on each side of the rod will hold more than the rod will support. A 6mm (about 1/4" sized) fillet weld is plenty of weld.
 
Top