I am sure all the pipe line welders would have a good belly laugh that SMAW is obsolete.

Doubtful if it ever goes away

 

this is a thread about learning how to do home welding, not pipe welding

several years ago i worked at a nuclear power plant, and it was a stick welding environment... every stick was numbered, and they were all locked up inside a restricted area, that only certain people could access.

that doesn't make it better for home use.

 

I guess it depends on your definition of the average home owner !!

Around here 10 acres is considered small .

All my neighbors have at least a torch and a buzz box might not have been used in years .

I could see your point if you live in one of those Condom Houses

 

guilty as charged, i'm about a mile inland from the beach, in so cal... lot sizes get measured and sold by inches around here, not acres

we don't get much rust, the last time i used a torch was for brazing, which actually worked pretty well.

if i need heat, i'll use propane, or if that isn't hot enough, map gas is cheaper than a torch.

 

Did you let it soak in penetrating oil? It really helps if you have the time. I broke off a spiral extractor in the first stuck bolt I tried to remove, it totally sucked. Couldn't get a tap wrench on the extractor due to location and used an open wrench. Part of the problem too was it was so close to the wall of the machine I couldn't drill it perfectly straight because drill was too wide to stay center it was so close to wall. Saw it rotate a little bit and gave it more leverage, snap goes the extractor and it was deep! It ended up being the last bolt I got out because of it. Tried drilling around the edge to loosen it up, which failed kept eating small drill bits. Tried welding a nut to it, which failed twice. Ended up getting a tungsten carbide bit for Dremel and reaming out the extractor metal until it finally broke free with a whack from a cold chisel. Drilled out the whole bolt until just thin edge of threads left, picked those out then chased the hole with a tap. Good to go after lots of frustration. Good luck with yours!

 

I actually didn't use any pb blaster. I should try that, although I always wonder how pb blaster makes its way around a horizontal bolt, if it really does. Luckily, both ends of the bolt are exposed, so even though the extractor's lodged in, I can work on the other end of it. There's really only like 1/8" left of bolt to drill through too. Now that I have some nice new, sharp cobalt left handed bits, hopefully I'll actually get through that last 1/8". On a brighter note, I got the damn license plate light bolts out, no help from the extractor I used.

 

IIRC pb blaster and other penetrating oils tend to be thinner than stuff like WD40. for horizontal bolts, the oil seeps/wicks/capillary actions its way through there. helps if you do repeat applications too.