As a previous military certified welder, you really need to know what the series the steel is. The only way to find out is to use an XRF. You can easily use the wrong wire and overheat the bolt. The other thing is post annealing to relieve stress may be required on a particular steel. I have welded everything from mild steel, Core10, HY80, HY100, HY110C3 and just about every other series. Including all aluminums, SST, Inconel, data couplings and many others.
Welding info needed
- Thread starter Fast14riot
- Start date
Maybe cut the handle in two places, drill and tap for 10-32 on both pieces, bevel the edges ,screw together and weld up the bevel and off you go. Grind to match. Just a thought to keep the heat minimized. With the stud it isn't coming apart. Just a thought.
Paul
You should be fine, welding steel with 120 amp machine is plenty. Machines have ratings based on a one pass weld. So if the machine says 1/8 or whatever that means a single weld penetration guarantee. Stack the welds and boom your good. Btw I am a welder by trade and a CWI lol so you’re good.
A TIG weld would put a lot less heat into the parts.
Fast14riot
Gold $$ Contributor
I believe I have .030" e71T-11 wire, should be fine for the small amount of multi-pass this would require, correct?
ajfpa
Gold $$ Contributor
Do you know the duty cycle of your welder? Duty cycle is the percentage of time a machine will weld, within a certain time period, at a given amperage.
WSnyder
Silver $$ Contributor
Why in the world would he have to worry about the duty cycle of his welder to weld a stub of a bolt handle back together? Answer: He doesn't
ajfpa
Gold $$ Contributor
The reason I asked the question is because he sounds like a novice welder. Some welders have duty cycles, as low as 20%. Which is 2 minutes in real time if the welder is a brand name. I understand the size of the bolt handle. If someone who doesn't weld a lot might not understand AMP drop if they keep trying to run a continuous bead.Why in the world would he have to worry about the duty cycle of his welder to weld a stub of a bolt handle back together? Answer: He doesn't
That is for steel yes, I would assume that it’s nothing special due to the fact that it is already welded. You wouldn’t want to add tons of heat to the bolt. If you’re worried about any sort of cracking you could do a slight preheat no more than 250 degrees. The biggest issue I see with using that wire will be the spatter that comes with it so I would suggest you wrap the bolt with some sort of leather.
The duty cycle is a non factor here as even a multi pass with something like this may be at best 3 inches of total weld.
You are not going to be making multiple passes on that small of a joint. The other poster was talking about welding 1/4 inch material with a welder that is only rated for 1/8 material. I have welded a lot of bolt handles on and one pass with a tig is what was needed.
Your Vee out shouldn't be all that deep, Definitely not 1/4 inch.
Fast14riot
Gold $$ Contributor
The bolt handle is about 5/16"x1/4" at the base and this little welder is rated for about 1/8" thick single pass. Wanting to put enough bead down to be able to grind back to shape after cutting it.
My welding experience is all non critical stuff, I dont have the technical knowledge to know if it is possible with this unit and what I have. I do know that I am not able to weld to the bolt body and trust it, however cutting the handle in half I can mitigate heat travel enough I should be able to do it.
Going to practice a few times on scrap to see what happens and how I do.
Looks silver brazed to me. Can’t really tell.
jds holler
Gold $$ Contributor
I've got a hunch that there has been a lot of bolt handles welded with an OxyAcetylene torch. Steel temper doesn't take place under about 600 degrees, and if the bolt was submerged in cold water or another type of heat sink, it would be fine. I've welded a lot of little and light weight stuff with a torch, and maybe that prejudices may opinion.
Never mind if the OP doesn't have or have access to a torch. jd
Never mind if the OP doesn't have or have access to a torch. jd
You do not need to weld all the way through the thickness of the piece. If necessary vee it out and put a small root pass in there and let it cool. Then you can cap it. Weld a bit and let it cool.
This is not a bridge, it should be plenty strong. When you get your pieces together, put a tack on and you can adjust things a little sometimes.
Practice a bit and then you'll get it just fine. If you don't have one, an auto darkening helmet is a nice addition for learning. Get gloves so your not distracted by spatter hitting you and when you go to weld it up, clamp it down so it doesn't move all over on you. And .030 wire will work just fine. Try to adjust it so the arc sounds sorta like bacon frying. You don't want a sputtering noise. Welding tips and tricks on youtube has some good instructionals.
Fast14riot
Gold $$ Contributor
Yeah from what I gather, I may have been overthinking this, but I just dont know what I dont know when it comes to structural welding. I immensely appreciate the tips and have a lot more confidence that my equipment can do this (myself being able is another story, lol). I just wanted to be sure I wasn't completely out of line.
A new auto helmet is already on its way. The current dark helmet quickly became annoying. Looking forward to practicing for this to help me learn and understand welding better.
Here are some better, close up pics of the bolt handle currently.
A new auto helmet is already on its way. The current dark helmet quickly became annoying. Looking forward to practicing for this to help me learn and understand welding better.
Here are some better, close up pics of the bolt handle currently.
Yep this. Use solid wire and fuse weld it like you would with TIG. For me it would be a lot nicer than gasless Mig.
Fast14riot
Gold $$ Contributor
Unfortunately I do not have, or have access to tig or torch. I have some junk bolts out of old rifles I can practice of as well. Just waiting for when I have time to do it.
Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
If you’re not getting good penetration at 120 amps, heat it up with a torch then weld
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