ER70S6 vs RG45

[Aaron Novak]

Many years ago I worked for a company that designed air & hydraulic lifts, tilt tables, etc. for automotive assembly lines. They made me the structural / welding engineer & I had to do that on occasion. I had an old copy of the Lincoln Electric Weld Engineering manual that made things a bit easier, and some dirty rat stole it from me when I was at a later job.



Cool

Ive got a couple versions of the lincoln book, and like any engineering book written by a company that makes products related to the subject, is biased. The information is good, but heavily leaning towards electric welding ( for obvious reasons ). The Linde books leaned towards OA welding, again for obvious reasons. Somewhere in between lies a happy truth. The AWS I have found to be biased as well many times, as the people sitting on the councils are usually equipment industry people. The ASM seems to be the best independent source. The further you dig into this subject, the more confusing things seem, until you hit the point where you start questioning the motives of textbook writers, then it all becomes pretty simple.

[Max Torque]

Aaron, I totally agree!
Tom

[Bugs66]

Go with RG45. Been there done that. When you run out of electric rod, now you have to order more from Tinman vs RG45 found everywhere locally. The RG just welds a lot better for O/A. Like others said, the ER splatters a lot and not as forgiving.

[Mike Switzer]

When you run out of electric rod, now you have to order more from Tinman vs RG45 found everywhere locally.

Around here finding anything but arc welding rod (even at the welding shops) is a challenge. One of the farm stores carries RG45 but the smallest they have is 3/32" & they are always out of stock. If I want to use RG60 I will have to order it anyway, either online or from my local welding shop.

[Sam Buchanan]

Go with RG45. Been there done that. When you run out of electric rod, now you have to order more from Tinman vs RG45 found everywhere locally. The RG just welds a lot better for O/A. Like others said, the ER splatters a lot and not as forgiving.

Maybe my situation is different than most. ER is more readily available locally in small diameters than RG, matter of fact RG is sorta scarce. And in the course of welding my Legal Eagle fuse I didn't have any issues with ER70S6 spattering (1/16" diameter, Meco Midget torch). I found it easy for this low-time oxy-gas welder to use. I'm not trying to sway anyone's choice, just stating my experience.

By the way, my Eagle XL is featured in the January 2013 issue of KitPlanes magazine in case someone wishes to see the finished plane.

[Aaron Novak]

Sam,
Have you used any of the RG's as well to any extent, or is your experience strictly with ER fillers?

[Sam Buchanan]

Sam,
Have you used any of the RG's as well to any extent, or is your experience strictly with ER fillers?

My intention was to use RG45 per the recommendation in the Tinman videos. But the only RG45 I could find locally was 1/8" diameter...I tried it and wasn't happy with it while welding 0.035" tubing. So I ordered some 1/16" ER70S6 (later found it locally as well), was pleased with how it welded, and finished the project with it.

The Eagle was my first welded steel aircraft project, previous planes have been wood or aluminum.

[Aaron Novak]

Sam,
I think if you put some hours in with other fillers, you will find that some are a little nicer to use. In reguards to the size of the 1/8 filler with your .035 tubing, believe it or not that was standard practice in the 1940's in a production shop. Big tip, big filler, and clusters that get welded up in seconds.

[Mike Switzer]

In reguards to the size of the 1/8 filler with your .035 tubing, believe it or not that was standard practice in the 1940's in a production shop. Big tip, big filler, and clusters that get welded up in seconds.

I would think they would have had problems burning holes thru the tube.

[Sam Buchanan]

Sam,
I think if you put some hours in with other fillers, you will find that some are a little nicer to use. In reguards to the size of the 1/8 filler with your .035 tubing, believe it or not that was standard practice in the 1940's in a production shop. Big tip, big filler, and clusters that get welded up in seconds.

Moot point now, my plane is built and I enjoyed the welding process. If I weld another one, I see no reason to make any changes.

Don't really care what they did in the 1940's on production lines...........

Hey....I'm not trying to convince anyone to weld a particular way, just answered the original poster's questions for feedback. If someone wants to use a different method than what I used......go for it.