Difference between revisions of "Welding Rod"

Latest revision as of 16:26, 29 August 2010

Making your own rods (concrete steel & calcium carbide)

We take 3/16 concrete steel covered with waste calcium carbide from acetylene generator using vinyl glue as binding agent.
It smells like burned plastics but we weld patrol blades (SAE 1070) very good.
Potassium silicate is good glue for basic flux. Is necessary to use DC welder.

Any binding agent is good also wheat flour.
Question is calcium carbonate gives CO2 in electric arc to maintain plasma and calcium with ferrum makes slag to protect chilling avoiding hydrogen fragility from air moisture.
Silica is for better slag and cleaning agent.
In your blue glasses you can look arc and slag process.

Making you own rods (mild steel & wax)

My first welding instructor told me that the original arc welding rods in the San Francisco shipyards were made on site from mild steel round stock wrapped in cotton and dipped in wax.
He said you got a rod alot like 6013/6011 and that he had seen old timers make and use such a rod.

Enlarging rods

You can mix calcium carbonate with any binding agent.
Then "painting rods" you cover it.
Potassium silicate is very good glue also sodium silicate used for cardboard.

Misc

Most people will not have access to the residue from an acetylene generator but agricultural lime should be the same chemical.

Potassium silicate is used in horticulture to adjust ph so it should be available in some form that MIGHT work in making welding rods.

You mix calcium carbonate with any binding agent. Then "painting rods" you cover it. Of course; 3/16 is most common diameter for concrete steel SAE 1035. But if possible to use less diameter. Potassium silicate is very good glue also sodium silicate used for cardboard.

Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found as rock in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, and eggshells. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime, and is usually the principal cause of hard water.
It is commonly used medicinally as a calcium supplement or as an antacid, but high consumption can be hazardous.

Potassium silicate is a water-soluble silicate salt that is commonly used as an adhesive in welding rods.
In horticulture, potassium silicate is used as a soluble source of potassium and silicon. It also makes the growing medium more alkaline.
Some cleaning formulations use potassium silicate, which also serves as a corrosion inhibitor in cosmetics.
Formula is K2SiO3.

Sodium silicate is the common name for a compound sodium metasilicate, Na2SiO3, also known as water glass or liquid glass. It is available in aqueous solution and in solid form and is used in cements, passive fire protection, refractories, textile and lumber processing, and art.
Sodium carbonate and silicon dioxide react when molten to form sodium silicate and carbon dioxide: Na2CO3 + SiO2 & Na2SiO3 + CO2
Anhydrous sodium silicate contains a chain polymeric anion composed of corner shared {SiO4} tetrahedra, and not a discrete SiO32 ion.
In addition to the anhydrous form there are a number of hydrates with the formulae Na2SiO3.nH2O (where n= 5, 6, 8, 9) which contain the discrete approximately tetrahedral anion SiO2(OH)22 with water of hydration e.g. the commercially available sodium silicate pentahydrate, Na2SiO3.5H2O is formulated Na2SiO2(OH)2.4H2O and the nonahydrate, Na2SiO3.9H2O is formulated Na2SiO2(OH)2.8H2O . Sodium silicate has been widely used as a general purpose cement, but especially for applications involving cementing objects exposed to heat or fire. For example, sodium silicate has been provided in home first-aid kits and used in medical practice as a glue for holding human skin together at surface cuts. It has also been used as a general purpose paper cement.
One common example of its use as a paper cement was for producing paper cartridges for black powder revolvers produced by Colt's Manufacturing Company during the period from 1851 until 1873, especially during the American Civil War. Sodium silicate was used to seal combustible nitrated paper together to form a conical paper cartridge to hold the black powder, as well as to cement the lead ball or conical bullet into the open end of the paper cartridge. Such sodium silicate cemented paper cartridges were inserted into the cylinders of revolvers, thereby speeding the reloading of cap and ball black powder revolvers. This use largely ended with the introduction of Colt revolvers employing brass-cased cartridges starting in 1873.
When used as a paper cement, the tendency is for the sodium silicate joint eventually to crack within a few years, at which point it no longer holds the paper surfaces cemented together.

Potassium Silicate vs. Sodium Silicate
Potassium Silicate is specifically recommended as a binder for consumable electrodes (stick rods) which are used with alternating current welding machines. Along with good binding properties, Potassium Silicate serves as a fluxing component and produces a steady hot arc, with lower arc voltage than Sodium Silicate, which tends to sputter or extinguish.

Potassium Silicate (K2SiO3) glass is a colorless super-cooled melt of Potassium Carbonate and pure Silica Sand. It is slightly hygroscopic, but remains free flowing if stored in original unopened drum.
Potassium Silicate (K2SiO3) solutions are prepared by dissolving Potassium Silicate (K2SiO3) glass in hot water. By varying the silica to Potassium Oxide (K2O) ratio, products of definite but widely different properties are produced.

Although Potassium Silicate has properties and uses similar to Sodium Silicate, but certain differences offer advantages in many uses, forming a basis for selecting Potassium Silicate in place of Sodium Silicate.

Solubility: Potassium Silicate is more soluble than Sodium Silicate of equal levels of alkalinity, making blends with Potassium Silicate more life-cycle stable, more rinsable, and offers the potential for higher concentration formulations.

Potassium Silicate glass dissolves more rapidly than Sodium Silicate glass of equal molar silica-to alkali ratio. Potassium Silicate glass can be dissolved in atmospheric dissolver, whereas pressure dissolver are generally used for Sodium Silicate glass.

Temperature Resistance:

Potassium Silicates offer higher temperature resistance for insulation applications, up to 100oF or 50oC higher than sodium silicates. This also applies to inorganic coating temperature stability as well, such as inorganic zinc coatings.

Low Efflorescence

Sodium Silicates tend to react with atmospheric Carbon Dioxide to form carbonates and become progressively less water-soluble. Potassium Silicate films are less likely than Sodium Silicate to develop a carbonate bloom or white efflorescent coat of alkali carbonate.

Lower Tack

Potassium Silicate solutions are not as sticky or tacky as Sodium Silicate solutions and are therefore easier to handle and use.