A methodical introduction to setting amperage during shielded metal arc welding.
Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), also known as manual metal arc welding (MMA), stick welding or rod welding works best when the amperage is set correctly. The included stick welding amperage chart provides a good starting point. From there, the amp setting can be fine tuned experimentally.
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You can learn to weld. I'll show you exactly what to do in my affordable online welding courses at courses.timwelds.com.
At 72 I have done many things but always avoided welding. Having recently gotten hold of a small welder, it is time. This was great info!
47 and I just started also , never to old to learn something new .👍🏼👍🏼
Yes, It's never too late to learn anything
40 here and same. done wood working & building furniture, plumbing, basic house electrical & networking, land& hardscaping, felled bunch of trees, car and lawn equipment maintenance and repairs, etc etc. Always wanted to try welding though. Picked up a small yeswelder. Best of luck to y'all!
At 59, I’m tired of welding. 38 years as a millwright doing anything from structural, pipe, sanitary pipe and various other welding, I just let the other guys weld while I supervise.
@@fixedit8689time to be a plumber know
I have been going around different KZhead channels for welding tips and realised it’s too hard to learn from to many different people. Not that some are worse/better than others just hard because lots of people have different techniques. I find your style and the way you explain things to be the most straight forward and easiest to understand. Thanks for sharing!!
those who can reach mastery can understand all methods and execute all.
Thank you for including the metric unit.
@Oakley John woah! I read this and realized IT'S A SCAM!!! 🙄
I thought I was the only one who battles with these inches and quarter inches
Down with the imperial measurement system!
What's metric? I thought that was only for sockets
@@mpirokajosephmgcokoca2355 Imperial system for low IQ individual: 1 divided by 2 is 1/2 (one half), One half divided by 2 is 1/4 (one quarter), One quarter divided by 2 is 1/8 (one eighth), One eighth divided by 2 is 1/16 (one sixteenth), do you want me to go on?
I am teaching myself to stick weld and most channels tell you to dial it in without really telling you how to dial it in. This is the most informative video I've seen on the subject. Moving the amps incrementally and showing what to look for has helped me immensely and let me start doing better welds.
Hey Tim, I recently began an adult education program at my local Boces and so far much of it has been “go in the booth and figure it out” after briefly being shown how to get the stick welder going, and i just wanted to thank you so much for these videos where you go into detail! They are extremely helpful for people like me who have zero welding experience and I’ve deff seen improvement from them! I’m going to look into your stick welding course to supplement my hands on experience in getting from Boces
Great video. I've been interested in welding for a long time and did some DIY projects, but I've never seen the process of finding the right current explained this well.
Great examples and explanation. Just bought a stick welder and I’m loving your videos for instruction. 👍
Cannot thank you enough for taking the time to make these videos for beginners. Before I found your channel I checked out a couple others and while they made a good effort, their videos were not nearly as well organized, clear, concise, well edited and produced to your standard. It is very much appreciated and the video tutorial community could learn much from what you do. Again, Mahalo!
Hello! I am from India. I am 73 years younger person. I often do some engineering works and many of them involve welding. Few years back I bought an used Inverter welding machine on sale. However I am still not sure about the polarity of the work and the holder. Different people give different ideas. I have seen some of your videos. Hence I would be thankful if you can shed some light on this. Thanks again.
You're beginner video's have been invaluable for me with learning how to become better. I've played with arc welding with car batteries in the past just as silly projects but now that i have a serious project looking me in the face i'm working on doing better and from what i learned before and you now i'm advancing along really nicely. I've made a test coupon weld that withstood a good amount of hammer punishment and the weld never broke but the plate sure bent. excellent.
Thanks a lot Tim. Really helpful. The chart is a great guide for me as a beginner. The sizes in metric help a lot for us Europeans. 👍
Hey Tim ,love this chart I'm a new stick welder and you make my guessing job a lot easier thanks
I've been tight welding for a couple years. Needed to build some things I can't fit in my shop so I figured I'd pickup the stick. Thanks to you I feel like I've been able to pick it up pretty well after just half a day. Appreciate it good sir.
I have worked with pros that listen and can feel the arc to make the settings proper! Always had great success with them.
This was great. It really helped me to see the effects of the different amperages and how to make the corrections Thanks!
Clear, concise, and accurate. Thank you for this video. I even saved it so I can re-watch it when necessary.
Thanks a lot never welded in my life learned a lot from your videos bought me a small welder so I could repair my trailer with a crack frame
Thanks Tim. I'm a longtime DIYer. So, when I had a need to weld some items, I figured that I'd just buy a cheap welder, practice with a couple of weld runs, and then take care of my project. Boy was I humbled!!! I now have a great respect for you guys. Love your videos. Maybe, just maybe, if I watch enough of them and keep practicing, maybe I'll learn how to strike an arc at will. Right now it's hit or miss; mostly miss. But I'm determined to learn this art. Again, I love the videos and your clear explanations.
I have TI G MIG and Oxy. But my 1970s stick welder is still in use and gives value for money results. Thanks for a good video. My best from Scotland
Wow... this was incredibly helpful. Thank you! And thank you for including metric measurements!
Glad it was helpful!
Very helpful. Also explaining what a good weld looks like. Good job.
So, off the back of these videos I built a 150 sq m steel roof over my container in the jungle in Costa Rica. Thanks Tim!
That is just gold!
Awesome video, thanks for including the metric sizes too
Many years stick welding experience as a teenager, taught by Grand farther. 20 years ago.Used knowledge in many jobs. Recently got one of these baby's, Röhr SMINI-140NI ARC 2 in 1 Welder. 140 Amp. Truly awesome.
Fantastically helpful. Thanks for showing the differences. Great teaching!
Very helpful to me. I’ve watched so many videos about welding but had not heard the comment about the “heaping of the bead (angle at which the bead meets the plate)”. Found that helpful re amperage. And had not really understood undercut before either. Thanks.
Glad it helped. Thanks!
I just started to play around with welding, and I have to be honest your videos are awesome! Very informative, very educational and I have learned so much in such a short time just from your videos. I have been able to take what I’ve learned from watching you and your demonstration and actually using it in the field. Thank you again!
the explanation is on point thanks
Hey man , thanks for the reviews I love this little stick welder . Had mine for months now, works great!
I love the explanation. This will help me a lot. Especially as I am learning on my own. Please make a video explaining the arc power settings.
Really good material. Well explained and hopefully we’ll understood ; ) Thanks, and don’t stop!
This guy is a high quality teacher.
Man, you got me on the right track on my Hobart 200 multihandler! Thank you!
I've just started welding earlier today and this is hecka helpful
Really good info. I just bought the same 100 dollar stick welder. These videos are just what I've been needing.
Hi Tim, how I wish I could have had access to your videos 30 years ago🤣. Back in the day it was really difficult to learn to improve my welding without going to a trade school. Whatever literature I tried to read from was not as informative as your videos. Well done, you have a fantastic way of teaching us to improve in all aspects of welding. My knowledge of welding was all self taught until I began watching KZhead in recent years.🤣. Now I'm learning to correct my mistakes that I could never understand. Thank you.
Thanks haven't welded in 20 years, retired and ready to git Goin 😀. Subscribed.
Thanks for such informative and simply explained examples.
Thank you for being so gentle
Thank you for your generosity of talent and time. So timely it is! I must cut into the subframe if my car to reattach/weld a broken out of place caged nut. I have 10 cu-ft of Acetylene and 20 cu ft Oxygen-but I believe I may rather stick welds to put a plate over the hole I need to cut to tend to this issue. I have not stick-welded since high school metals class and as I recall, I never went above 60 amps that I remember. No shops want to do the work because they do the subframe too much rust. It's still structurally sound. There's no use speaking Lee replacement subframe that is used unless it's from Texas or Arizona cuz I'm going to be dealing with the same rust. The used frame also I have a broken-off caged nut. Toyota asks for $800 for this subframe. Plus I'd have all the labor disconnecting everything that is connected to the subframe and then I'd have to brace the engine up to the top of the body in order to drop the subframe in order to replace it.
I welded my Tractor Mower deck today and yesterday. My experience level... 1 hour of practice welding with 3/32" 6013 on 16ga sheet metal.. lol. So started to try to weld the mower deck. I tried it at 90amps and it was blowing holes through the sheet metal... backed it off to 70 and the rod was sticking. So set it at 76 and it was working. Still blew some holes throught it, but used some 6013 rod I chipped the flux off of to patch the holes. The second day (today) I turned the heat up a little bit and welded the Mower Deck Bracket back on and fixed my boo boos from yesterday. The mower deck was so thin, I had to build up enough metal to make sure it doesn't break again. It looked terrible, so I chipped off the slag, gave it a good brushing and primed and painted it. Now my mower is fixed all with a $103 Deko 160MMA. Now I need to go find some scrap metal and practice, because when I finished I just wanted to cover it up so nobody would ever see it. lol. Live and Learn. Thanks for the videos !!
This was very helpful bro. Keep them coming. Cheers
Thank you for the information Am new to stick welding
Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I really appreciate it. Well-made video!
Thank you so much for your videos, I'm only just starting out and am learning so much from you! ☺️
thanks so much, this is the best said video for stick welding, i’m 15 and just bought a little stick welding machine to fix my broken atv frame. thanks again😁
Thanks so much dude! You're a freaking rock star!
Im just starting to weld on a cheap machine and understanding what to look for in order to diagnose what it is that im looking at and what i'm doing is paramount.. all i was finding was people recommending brands or useless gibberish.. your explaining method is perfectly clear and the topic is exactly what a beginner needs.. if i could recomend a topic to be adressed in this manner is "weld pool control and heat management". Thanks and best regards from Argentina.
Thank you for the awesome information. This is tremendously helpful!!!
This was very helpful. I have been struggling with this.
At last someone talking sense to beginners. Thanks.
Thanks Tim, you answered a ot of questions i had about why i was getting poor welds, great vid, please I found you
I'm learning something good today. THANKS MATE!👈🙂
Another great video, I'm so glad I found this channel. Thank you Tim, you have a great teaching style. JimTree
Thanks mate.... that sums up the electrode amps concept.
Nicely demonstrated & explained, Thanks!
Very helpful. I am a mediocre Mig welder and a poor stick welder. Settings and speed are much harder to dial in. Knowing what to look for is a big help.
Mig man.... once you set it up its automatic
Great info on using your amp-clamp to vet the output. My son just inherited a Miller Thunderbolt so this will be the 1st thing we'll do. Thanks. BTW, I just Subscribed.
You have another sub, great laid back technique very detailed and Informative at the same time ,Thanks
Awesome, thank you!
Hi Tim, my name is Joe and I'm 16, I'm starting a welding coarse for my school next year and we're gonna MIG, TIG, and Stick welding and I was just trying to collect some information so i can be used to the stuff they say and I want to thank you for your videos. You have taught me so much about welding and all the concepts you need to know like arc angles and amps for different sizes of weld plates, so thank you. Have a great day.
Awesome, Joe! I did a lot of welding in high school and clearly never stopped. Thanks for the comment!
great video and very helpful. all other videos that I watched are excellent. keep up the good work
Thanks Tim ! Just what I needed.
That was a great help, thanks mate.
Very good demonstration.
Thanks Tim that video was just what I needed, taught me a lot and gave me a better understanding of what to look for.
So glad it helped!
@@TimWelds Thank you.
Old dynasty DX, I love that machine. I have one, and the arc on that machine with the dig control is unbeatable. I have welded alot of pipe with it in the worst weather you can throw at that machine. I've been inside roofs tying structural steel beams together. I've ran it off my miller Airpak and used the carrying strap to go into places no welder should go. That machine can weld two beer cans together then go out and weld the roof back onto a water tank that's been half blown off. That machine has made me alot of money.
I loved this piece of writing. David Lixenberg.
Keep making videos please. Thank you so much. 🦘🇦🇺
This is a good video that helps explain a lot- thank you! What I haven’t seen (or don’t understand) is what adjustments to amps and rod diameter are made for an open root or bad fit joint. More amps? Bigger rod? Smaller rod and less amps? I’m sure it’s a basic answer but all I’ve seen is the whip and pause with cellulose rod. I’d be interested to know all the settings and rod diameter (upsize the rod, downsize the rod etc?) when doing that type of weld.
Thanks for the tips.
great video. very informative
Nice video for us beginners, thank you.
Awesome video,I’m learning so much 👍🏼👍🏼
Thx Tim! Couple of things caught my eye;namely, the weld bead looked the same on the 1/8in plate and the 1/4in plate for the same current. Also, the voltage readout on your machine didnt change a wit when you changed the current. I presume that’s the way the machine works for stick welding by just changing internal resistance.
The tip is helpful Thank you so much
Great! Just what I needed. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this info. Great help for a newbie like me.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you. Teaching my self to stick weld for a hobby and your videos have been very helpful.
Great tutorial, thanks
This was a very useful. thanks.
Great video Tim 👍🏼 thanks for sharing.
Thanks!
Brilliant vid, thank you!
Thanks for the info and video
Another excellent video. Thank you for the advice
I have been a weekend welder for years with an old Craftsman 230 amp AC welder but I was never showed this test you made and it really helped me to become better at sticking things together. I was told by an old professional welder guy that 7014 was called "Idiot Rod" cause anyone could run it and it was good for making the final pass to look good. What do you say? I am a subscriber and enjoy your videos and thanks for your time~!
Wow, thank you for this valuable information, blessings
Dear Tim, I love your programmes and I listen to them a multiple of times, a sign that I am learning from them still. I have two points to make: the metric measures have an important advantage over the Empirial measure and this is their simple graduation: X is greater than Y. In Empirial measure there are two variables: 3/32 is smaller than 1/8 but it isn't immediately obvious that this is so. It is so because 4/32 is the equivalent number to 1/8, and 4/32 is more than 3/32. Much of the discussion is lost on me because I am unable to make the conversions quickly enough. My second comment is in regard to the ammeter set-up. Initially, you used an ammeter to show how currents effect welds. Then you chose to rely on your Miller welder because it's display shows reliable relative values for advancing current sizes. I would have appreciated seeing the series assembly when you used the ammeter. I would have appreciated a table of ammeter values of the Miller at the close of the excellent programme. I loved the spatter-free stick-welds achieved by correct current and speed and arc length. I loved the root weld explained and the undercut weld explained. David Lixenberg, no-nothing, interested in everything.
Thankyou Tim, you make a great teacher!
Thanks so much!
Very informative thank you
Excellent tips, thank you
My brother bought me a mini stick welder it’s tiny under 8” long by under 4” wide weighing about 3.7lbs 120A and it welds great! So surprising for $80!
Your vids are well presented! 👏
Thank you Tim
Love your videos Tim! Just wondering but I am a new welder trying to teach myself and wondered if it's possible to buy welding electrodes in quantities less than 1 pound. Thinking about buying like 5 rods of each type so I can try out more rods at once instead of 1pound bundles and having them go bad over time. Thanks!
Very helpful, thanks
Thank you bro that was wonderful
Very helpful, thank you
Just bought one of those Dekopro stick welders last week - this video is exactly what I needed.
He's the very reason why I got 1!
@@OVERCAPITALIZE Yep, he was a big reason for sure!
Glad it helped. Thanks!
the different amperages are because it's a switched voltage system, to make it accurate at both voltages would be prohibitively expensive so they just split the difference between the two.
Hi Kenton your tutorial is amazing I watched it few time never before I have done that you are clear and to the point I am an artist working with 3/8 rebar mostly please please can you tell me approximately what amperage should I use at the moment I am doing 130 have also one of the machines like yours many thanks the beginner
Took a picture of the chart even before you said to lol. Thank you so much. I have so much to learn