When Andrew was telling the story of the CWI struggling with the self-shielded flux-core setup, it was fairly obvious where it was heading; nevertheless, it was a hoot to hear him tell it. And so it struck a chord hearing the 2 of you distinguishing between the different approaches of training students to pass the exam (learning to jump through hoops), and the Lincoln approach of drilling the student with deep and wide fundamental knowledge, with the end-of-course exam being little more than a formality. Learning to jump through hoops was something, I thought, only we in the UK did, so it’s a bit of a disappointment to know that standards in the USA are hardly any better; it merely serves to degrade qualifications, making the piece of paper worthless.

Let’s hope there’ll always be professionals like Jody and Andrew fighting to preserve standards.

What a brilliant conversation. Thanks, Jody and thanks, Andrew.

1. What was the name of the fellow near Manchester, UK, wih the surname you thought might be a “handle”? I was hoping to catch it again. I’m also in Manchester, UK, and I was interested to dig a bit deeper on this fellow, even track him down.

2. I listened live to this Zoom call knowing I was not going to become a CWI - I live in the UK for starters. But, listening to the fascinating conversation, I’m interested in gaining the underlying knowledge. You said you’d include links to the various sources of information, but I can’t see any links right now. I‘d really appreciate some details of where I might obtain the relevant study materials without it costing me a couple of thousand dollars, because I wouldn’t be enrolling for the qualification. Can I get the material without having to enrol?

I’d urge everyone to watch it. Look forward to more such conversations with Andrew.

Martin

I love this, Matt. I think I asked you last year for a video on Hot Start (and Arc Force), so, thanks for this. Now, I’d love to see one on Arc Force. I was trying 6011 (on AC, of course) with my inverter welder. The Hot Start wasn’t immediately obvious, but I’m going to go back and have another go, based on what I’ve seen on your video.

Could you please now do the same for Arc Force, and could you also include a 6010, or 6011 as well as 7018? I’m particularly keen to explore the settings usually described as “ harsh” and “buttery” for Arc Force with inverter welders. My understanding is that Arc Force is a (poor) attempt, with inverter machines, to mimic the ability to alter the slope of the whole Volts-Amps curve with traditional welders, but with the inverter, it only kicks in at a specific, low-arc voltage, whereas with a traditional welder, the whole slope angle is altered throughout the Volts-Amps range.

Thanks, Matt

Martin

Really interesting point about minimising distortion by welding downhill MIG to limit heat input where strength wouldn’t be compromised. That’s the sortof thing where learning the hard way would be a very expensive mistake as well as a blow to one’s pride.

Thanks, Sam.

So glad I could join you both for the live session, and a big welcolme to Aren.

Aren was very clear that college wasn’t the route he wanted to take: he wanted to use his hands to make things . But it was also clear he understands metallurgy to quite a deep level, and I wondered if he’s studied it formally eg at night school, or if he picked it up along the ways, such as from the excellent Lincoln Foundation books?

And a thought for a future Zoom: we learn best from the mistakes we (and others) make. How about a topic “The Lessons I Learned the Hard Way”? This could be about things that went wrong, why they went wrong, and what you learned from it so that it never happened again.

As always, I enjoyed the live session with the ability to ask questions, anc many thanks for the answers.

Future topic suggestion: idendification of aluminium (or magnesium) alloy. I came across someone needing to weld a large crack on the alloy subframe of his Audi. His welder wanted to use 4943, but they ended up using 4043. How would you deal with that? You don’t know the composition or heat treatment of the base-metal forging; it’s a safety-critical component, how would you handle it? Would you turn the job away unless they can provide details of the base metal? If the part failed because of the repair and resulted in an accident, you, as the welder would be held accountable. So how would you deal with such jobs?

As Jody mentioned in his latest video, with carbon steels and stainless steels of unknown composition, 309 filler would possibly be a safe choice, but with aluminium alloys, I feel sure there’s no simple equivalent filler, and things are much more complex

Excellent video, Jody. Here in the UK, the only rod they use in welding school is the 6013. And as for 6010 and 6011, good luck trying to get hold of those from welding supplies. I too couldn’t tell the difference between the puddle and the flux on 6013 and thought it was my fault or my helmet wasn’t up to the job. I also remember on a cut and etch being picked up for not getting enough penetration into the root, no matter how high I set the current. And i’ve also chipped the slag off a 6013 weld to see porosity or an gap down the middle. If you wanted to disillusion/frustrate stick welding students and make them think they’ll never get to grips with welding, 6013 is the rod you want. On the other hand, if you can master the 6013, then mastery of other rods should come easy, but no-one told me that. I think the secret with 6013 is use the highest possible/practicable current (and tight arc, as ever). I fell in love with stick welding when I discovered 6010/11 and 7018.

Sow, Sam. What an interesting job. I didn’t realise you could MIG silicon bronze.

How would the settings differ for silicon bronze over solid steel MIG wire at the same diameter?

Did you have to take any special precautions with the cleanliness of the base metal?

You put it back in the oven after welding to cool, was that simply to ensure the casting coiled gently in a draft-free environment?

Great video, thanks

Martin

Smart! 👍👍👍

All of the options are. interesting, but you’re doing such a good job as it is, that it wouldn’t make any difference to me.