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If you not a pro, stick weld with easy to get easy to use
7018 and a welder heavy enough to burn it in and just put up with the
smoke it produces. 7018 is a low hydrogen rod with 70 PSI tensile
strength. Good for what your doing. If you have a
MIG use it for things like assembling the frames and pods,
stuff where welds aren't as critical but use stick for your important and
water tight welds. Stick welding has been around for years and
years and it "ain't rocket science." Sure, it may be crude by TIG
standards, but really, a subs pressure hull is in compression and so are most of
the welds. If there are a few specks of slag inclusion, it's not
going to scrap your hull. Better to have a few specks of slag in the welds
then poor adhesion with a MIG pass that wasn't burnt in properly.
The most critical welds of your sub is in the area where the conning tower attaches to the hull. If your not comfortable have someone else do them. Don't be afraid to use a grinder to grind out anything you see that doesn't
look right. With stick welding, you'll see it if you goofed.
But most of all, learn how to weld first on a ton of scrap or take a
welding course, if your not already competent. If you still don't feel you
can get it done properly, have someone else do it. Like any other trade,
professional welding takes professional training and experience, but you can
become an adequate welder and do adequate work if you use a less
technical procedures and spend some time practicing. I'm not saying
stick welding is easy, as you'll soon see yanking off stuck rods if you haven't
done much of it, but it's less technical and when you knock of the slag you can
see what you get,
Ok, I'm finished talking and
waiting for the flood of disagreement..
Dan H.
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