Welding Rod

The miller wire feed welder.

use mig at home and stick at work i use 6011 can weld any direction but does not chip well

for ductal Iron 6011 0r 6013. If the area is clean 7018

I usually use 6013, the kids use 6011 and complain that I don't have a wire welder like they learned on in school. I just tell them my Lincoln buzz box is what I learned on in school and one of them can buy a new welder. LOL

Dave in il wrote: I usually use 6013, the kids use 6011 and complain that I don't have a wire welder like they learned on in school. I just tell them my Lincoln buzz box is what I learned on in school and one of them can buy a new welder. LOL

I only buy 7018 stick at my factory. I do keep a few sticks nickle rod on the welder.  I have an assortment tool steel rod for TIG welding. Mostly tig with mild steel rod though. Mostly wire feed at home which is mild steel. For any particular welds at home I load it up and take it to the factory

The short answer:

Yes.  Have an assortment of 60xx and 70xx rods, and KEEP THE BOX LABELS INTACT.  They tell you what they're intended for:

The first two numbers of rod type (60xx, 70xx) identify the tensile strength of the rod material... so 60xx is softer than 70xx.  The second from right identifes position and the last identifies polarity:

Position:
1: all position
2: Flat and Horizontal
3: Flat ONLY
4: Vertical DOWN ONLY

Trying to use a 6023 rod going in a vertical direction, or horizontally along a seam, yields sl*g and snot.  Using a 6043 rod on flat, results in a weld that looks like boogers.  Using a 6011 isn't half bad on all of 'em.  A 7013 works well too... they're both all-position rods.  If you're trying to weld something that simply cannot be placed in a flat position, then pick a specialty rod with a more appropriate number in the 2nd-from-left digit, and you'll find it welds much nicer.  It is for this reason, that the most commonly used welding rods are 6011, 6013, 6014, 7013, 7014, and 7018... they all have 1's for 'all position' use... general purpose.

Polarity:  Far right digit:

Rod types ending in 0 and 5, are DC Electrode Positive ONLY.
Types ending in 1,2,3,4,6 and 7 can be used on AC.
Types 1,5,6, and 8 can be used in DC Electrode Positive
Types 2 and 7 can be used in DC Electrode Negative.

The physical difference in using DC Electrode Positive, vs. Electrode Negative:

Electrode Positive tends to direct arc heat into the WORKPIECE.  Heats workpiece faster, slows erosion of the electrode, and less metal deposition.
Electrode Negative tends to direct arc heat into the ELECTRODE. Heats rod faster, results in lower penetration, and faster metal deposition.

When using an AC welder, arc heat will be essentially equal in both directions.

There are times when you'll need the properties of one rod over another- part of welding is looking at what you've got, and selecting the appropriate tool for the job, so I recommend having an AC/DC welder and a variety of rods on-hand.  I also recommend that when doing 'practice' welding, use the worst combination of factors... wet rods, high tensile strength, wrong position, and improper welder settings.  If you can strike, hold, and control the rod under the worst factors, you'll be very good at controlling it under the best.

Next:  MIG welders...  they're extremely handy, I have many.  They're very nice, extremely handy, and do a fine job.  They don't, however, afford the immediate flexibility of an AC-DC stick welder and an old fridge full of every type of rod known-to-exist... with the AC/DC stick, you can go from welding rusty crud, to fresh metal, to hardfacing in just one knob and rod selection.  With a MIG, you need to change spools, sometimes liners... tips, or guns.  This is why I have several MIGs.   Furthermore, if you've learned on a STICK welder, you can do some pretty incredible things... like... welding the inside of a tube or fixture that's a foot down inside the tube where your HANDS can't even go... or zap together a busted JEEP frame with a pair of car batteries, some Vise-Grips, and a coathanger...

Of course, once you've learned to stick, learning to MIG takes very little transition time... just a little different in setting things up, and learning to use your ear to get the feedrate, voltage, and gas flow rates adjusted right for the given conditions.

And then, you'd hafta learn to TIG, because... there's things you can TIG, that you can't MIG or STICK... it's like gas-torch welding, but without the flame...

Did I mention that I have lots of welders?

No, I don't have an overflowing pocketbook... most of my welders are old 3-phase industrial machines that I've converted to single-phase.  My favorites, are the Miller CP200 and CP300 MIG machines, and the Miller SRH-333 DC Stick/TIG supply... they were dirt-cheap, and it took me some time to figure out how to make them play ball at full output, but the learning-curve has been beaten, and well worth it... but I still have the old AC Lincoln 225 that my grandfather gave me... and a couple of portable DC and AC/DC stick welders (engine driven).

If anyone would like to see how I did the 3-phase to single-phase conversion, I've posted it on other forums, and even made a step-by-step conversion doc for the CP-200 MIG on my buddy's FTP server at :

http://pounceatron.dreamhosters.com/docs/misc/CP-200_Single-Phase_Step-By-Step.pdf

WELD ON!

A lot of good info there, Dave, thanks, I needed that ! Printed and saved file. I got a cheap wire feed, no gas, welder a couple years ago. It's done very good to learn on, now does good fast !

yes Dave cover a huge amount of ground.

 Well here I thought Ted J just was asking about basic welding rod.

There are countless rods. Some that are common have been listed. the 6010, 6011, 6013 should weld most steel and through some dirt and rust.

Now there are Nickel mix and stainless rods for weld cast.

Like was stated 7018 and even 8018, 10018  but for these they must be dry to work well plus clean steel.

Then look at hardening rods for working hardness, like plows and backhoe buckets.

 Ted J good welding can be hard for some most don't care to learn to do it right.  Maybe it is a art. Any way with a good Oxygen /  Acetylene there is not too much you can't weld if you have the right rod.  I would start slow and see how good you are, if things work out and you like what you see, then go into it more.  Like MIG and TIG.

MIG you have different cover Gases you can use and things on some jobs need to be very clean. Me and my older Lincoln SP150 for what I'm welding is all I need.  I have welded tin cans just to do it,  Up to tractor hitches etc. Can and have welded rusty steel. No braze or brass, copper MIGS hate them, so do most welders. Cover gas is 75 % CO2, and 25 % argon. Most use CO2 for steel.

Now stainless MIG welding is a different game, holds heat where it is, runny funny stuff. Take A Good MIG to run Stainless Wire, we got by with 75/25 but we where going to try a 65% co2, 25% argon and I think 10% helium, but never had to weld it again, boy let just say once was enough, just rough and sputter and spit every where. Look okay for the radiator test tank , but after some 20' of welding seams and up and down it was enough.  Stainless stick is not so bad, and would say it is easy. But this was about 20' and was a 16 ga. metal just too thin for the rod a a good friend had just bought a 50 pound roll of MIG wire.

Aluminum here is a heat sucker, MUST BE CLEAN and TIG is the way to go. MIG is good for most but my machine is too small at 150Amps would have to get a different wire feed and change out the rolls. For  Me I would just Ox/act weld for what I would have to do. 

Copper is the hard one takes a good welder and allot of time to learn. I have never try this, only know a few that do it.

Different things are better to weld with different types of welding types ( Gas,MIG,TIG), then get into Amps , polarity, then cover gas.  It gets very very mixed up, all it what you can or like to do.  A Huge amount to learn a some you only use it once in a life time, unless your in a weld shop or big mill.

Have Fun !!  Teddy

7018 is what i prefer to use because if you know how to use it it will hold on any thing this last year the king pin on our traveler broke and i used 7018 on it and it hasnt shown any weekness. but what really matters is what you are used to welding with getting the metal prepared correctly and setting the welding right

La Grange rod. 25 years ago there was a blue colored welding rod called La Grange. It was far and away better then anything else. As you were running a bead, the sl*g would lift and curl up behind your rod. You would brush your glover over the weld and all of the sl*g would fall off. AC200Puller said it best. A Millermatic 250X lives in our shop. It made a welder out of me. I love my Miller Blue, but I always miss the blue La Grange rod.

Not to step on any toes, but the sl*g will curl up behind the weld with 7018 too if the welders set right. I can weld all day vertical and never use a chipping hammer.

One thing that EVERYONE that's had success in LEARNING welding technique will agree:

Preparation is everything.

And the other thing:  Preparation.

Did I mention cleaning the metal good, fitting it up tight, having a proper chamfer, and then selecting the right rod, getting the right heat range and polarity, and then tacking it, correcting alignment for shrink, then tacking it... then cleaning up the tacked surface again (sl*g and spatter), then doing the finish weld, maintaining a proper stick angle (lead), arc gap, and progression speed?

And then there's preparation...

The stick welder is one of the most difficult concepts for the learning welder to overcome... but once that initial learning-curve has been overcome, basic technique and basic knowledge, coupled with just a little practice, and perhaps some sage eyes looking through a second shield, will turn the grasshopper into a weld-warrior.

Cool thing about stick welding, is that once you've learned the basic technique, it can be used to do such a wide variety of things... different materials, positions, and situations- it's basically only  limited by your imaginantion.

My recommendation for anyone who's planning on doing welding on their own stuff, is to  go with a good used industrial welding machine, and save all the other cash for getting good protective equipment (shield, gloves, apron), good accessories (electrode holders, ground clamps, stout welding cables), a refrigerator-full of various rod sizes and types, and also cutting and grinding tools (a 4" grinder with cutting wheels, grinding wheels, wire brushes, and flapper-wheels, and a 6 or 8" grinder for working heavy stuff fast... and a good basic oxy-acetylene cutting setup.

I have friends that have spent $2500 on a new welder... while my investment was under $400 for a superior machine... and that left me with $1000 for related supplies, and another $1100 for tractor parts...

I used to have to weld practice V plates in welding school with 6010 5p+ root and 7018 on out. I was always taught to make 6010 look like a row of dimes laid over. I dont see how 6010 would be practical for farm use though.

Yeah.  Last time I had to do it, I shorted the coathanger enough to red-hot it, then dragged it through the sand under a buddy's boot... did a pretty good job of cleaning it off.  We sacrificed a piece of tubing from his hydraulic jack handle to slip inside a ripped-apart tie-rod, and then ratchet-strapped the wheels together to suck it in close enough to zap back together on the trail.  It wasn't pretty, but it got him patched up just well enough to creep back to camp.