Welders

[LLAngus]

Found a good used stick welder for $100. 10# of rod and equipment. I'm going to well my old one. This will supplement my wire feed. What number of welding rod and size should I stock up on?
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[kennypinkerton]

I have a 220V Lincoln Arc stick welder. But the sticks that came with it will blow holes in sheetmetal. I was told which ones I needed for that, but now I can't remember. Anyone?

I'm gonna get a wire/gas (MIG?) welder soon though. Ya, know... Just in case I need one!

 

[Bugeye58]

Bruce, it depends on what you are going to be welding, but 6013, 7013, and 7018 are all good general purpose rods. Diameter to be determined by the thickness of material, of course.
Jeff

 

[LLAngus]

Do all those codes use AC only or id there an DC rod in there? I know about the size of the rod the thinner the metal the smaller the rod.

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[kennypinkerton]

I figures all stick welders are DC at the welding end... Really just a big step up transformer.

 

[TRMark]

This link will get you some basic information: https://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/weldrod.html

It is also a fun site to explore. The low hydrogen rods tend to absorb moisture, I used to stick them in a small counter top electric oven for awhile to make sure they were dry.

 

[LLAngus]

Thanks--my father in law had a cabinet that he put a 25 watt bulb in it to keep the moisture out.
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[kennypinkerton]

My grandad kept his in an old broken upright freezer with a couple of bulbs in it too. I think his were alot higher wattage though. Row after row of the metal boxes inside that freezer - must've been 50 or more of them, almost all of them different types of sticks too.

 

[LLAngus]

Got the welder today and sold my old one for the same price. The guy gave me his helment and 10# of rod.
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[LLAngus]

Happy, happy. The welder is great. So sweet to strike an arc and not have the settings change. Lincoln can never inprove on this design. Kenny, I lowered the settings and went to 1/8" rod and welded pretty thin metal. I also tried out the technique of putting a piece of brass behind the metal and welded up a good looking seam that was flat on the other side.

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[kennypinkerton]

Cool... I've experimented withmine very little, but I have been told before what rods and settings to use for thin sheetmetal, just couldn't remember. Back then, I was waiting for payday to come so I could get some and weld new floor panels in the jeep I was working on... My dad felt it necessary to go ahead and do it himself with what we had while I was at work. Holes everywhere, and he welded a piece I was meaning to cut off - right over the Willys script panel on the passenger floor riser - /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif