Overhead Tee with 7018

When I was learning to stick weld in school, I had a very hard time with overhead stick welding.

I got burned every day.

Balls of fire went down my shirt, in my boots, and even caught me on fire a time or two.

in fact, I burnt my clothes up so much that I started buying pants and shirts at a used work uniform place where pants were 1 dollar and shirts were 50 cents.

I thought I needed to set the welder at a lower amperage for overhead welding.

I didnt know that if I used a tight arc, I could use the same amperage as I used for flat and horizontal stick welding.

I hardly ever burn myself these days.

Even thought my welding instructor explained to me that I was supposed to put the metal on the piece and not on myself, he didn't mention arc length.

he let me learn that on my own.

Probably best, I will never forget it.

Can you weld an overhead tee joint using the same amperage as you would for horizontal or flat?

In an earlier video, I welded a horizontal 2F tee joint and I used 130 amps and 1/8" 7018.

In case you missed that one here it is...

The same things matter on a 4F overhead Tee joint as matter on a 2f horizontal tee joint

• Current
• Length of Arc
• Angle
• Manipulation of the electrode
• Speed of Travel

Current includes both amperage and polarity

7018 run best on DCEP

Amperage varies depending on the brand used but a good starting point is one amp per one thousandths of electrode diameter so 125 amps is a pretty good staring amperage for most 1/8" 7018 rods

Length of Arc should be pretty darn tight for the most part.

Angle is pretty forgiving as long as arc length is tight

Manipulation of the electrode is sometimes a straight drag but small circles or cursive e's are sometimes used

Speed of travel needs to be slow enough to avoid undercut

Cut and Etch macro test to reveal penetration or lack of penetration

I am a big believer in using the cut and etch macro test to prove out techniques and settings.

You can talk all day about different brands of 7018, stick welding techniques, amperage settings, etc.

but one cut and etch text is work a hundred opinions.

Even better to do several to get a better sample

Video using the Same CK welding machine for TIG Welding jobs

to learn more about the CK mt200 ac/dc tig welder at my store..

click image below