Thrashsmith
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Will 6013 rods be ok for welding wrought iron & mild steel together? Just need to extend the legs on some estate fencing by welding on a bit of angle iron.
Cheers
Cheers
A hobby welder here .....
I welded some what I believe is genuine wrought iron to stainless using 309L arc welding rods. The welds weren't at all critical but I wanted them to be solid. I tried a bend test with a hammer and the weld split rather easily down the center of the bead. Cue some reading.
I concluded that I was experiencing cracking due to a) a not very nice bead profile and b) probably more importantly due to impurities from the weld getting trapped on the center line of the cooling puddle.
My solution was to weld, grind out the center line of the bead and then re-weld the resulting groove.
This was more than strong enough for my essentially decorative job.
yes you can MIG it, basically same applies as 6013Thanks for the replies.
It's a job that I could also do from my workshop if I collected the panels that need work, and in which case I'd preferably MIG them.
Would MIG be a better or worse option? I use Argoshield Light with 1mm wire.
They're definitely wrought iron, they're mortice and tennon joined with details in that could only be done cold & in situ, they're details you'd never be able to do to steel.
See,every days a school day on here @TechnicAlThats the way....if the original weld is porous which is the usual issue.....keep grinding away and weld again....you will eventually be welding weld to weld...probably still have some holes but a lot less.....the coating of a 7016 will help scavenge some of the impurities
With austenitic stainless (such as 309L) the structure will not absorb high levels of impurities (such as Sulphur) and these form low melting point alloys which are pushed to the centre (last place to cool) and their weakness causes them to fail (and make a crack)
The bead profile also has an effect as a bulbous bead is less likely to show the crack (although it could still be there internally)....welding uphill often helps...position the job so its at an angle of say 10 to 20 deg