Why there is no love for stick welders?

My birds have flown the nest and while I worry about what will happen to my lifes collection of stuff I know that I may as well enjoy every moment I have secure in the knowledge that if I lose cognisance of reality or finally drop dead tomorrow I have gotten a few of the toys I wanted and had a play with them.
 
I learned on oxy-acet and still actually enjoy doing some gas pipe welding. Mostly, I use a MIG for smaller stuff but have a Lincoln 225 ac welder for the thicker stuff. I enjoy using the the old tombstone as it was my dads and it welds like butter when you hit the spot. Mostly 6013 but have some 7018 but honestly, the 6013 works for most of the garbage I end up welding. Mike.
 
It depends on the situation and the job to be done, most industrial fabrication using cleanish prepped steel under a roof would be done with MIG due to its speed thereby saving on labour costs, if on dirtier steel and outdoors or windy conditions then MMA would be the way to go. Generally I think that you need more amps with MIG than you do with stick to achieve the same penetration, as well as the right gas for the thickness of the metal.

I think most hobby welders choose an under powered machine which doesn't do a good job, a 140A MIG welder will not give you as good a penetration as a 140A stick welder. It's like anything you have to match the job, with MIG, the right size and type of wire, the right gas and a good beefy machine. With MMA you need the right type of electrode and coating but you loose significant speed in welding but you gain on not having to worry about cleaning the metal as much compared to MIG or worry about windy conditions.

Just my 2 cents worth.
 
Stick is the workhorse of welders. I think it should be everyone's first welder. You can't stick weld without having a basic knowledge of what welding is all about. Master a stick welder in all positions and you can move to any machine. I have all 3 systems and the stick is still my go-to machine for serious structure welding, fabricating and field repairs. Use 6010 on DC or 6011 on AC and the strong flux on these rods will cut thru grease, paint, rust and dead chipmunks. 7014 and 7018 are a little prettier, have a little less splatter, and the slag chips off much easier than 6011/6010 but they won't tolerate crud as well.
 
epanzella said:
Stick is the workhorse of welders. I think it should be everyone's first welder. You can't stick weld without having a basic knowledge of what welding is all about. Master a stick welder in all positions and you can move to any machine. I have all 3 systems and the stick is still my go-to machine for serious structure welding, fabricating and field repairs. Use 6010 on DC or 6011 on AC and the strong flux on these rods will cut thru grease, paint, rust and dead chipmunks. 7014 and 7018 are a little prettier, have a little less splatter, and the slag chips off much easier than 6011/6010 but they won't tolerate crud as well.
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I specifically bought a box of 6011 so I would be prepared to weld through dead chipmunks if the need arises. :)
 
Aaron_W said:
I specifically bought a box of 6011 so I would be prepared to weld through dead chipmunks if the need arises.
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Indeed. When the chipmunks get dried out, striking the arc gets tough. 6011 A/C can get thru the "insulation", but 7018 will test my patience.:cautious:
 
I was doing a night job once using cellulose rods..,and everyone in the plant nextdoor was watching.......one woman said "It looked like you were sitting in the middle of a giant firework"...pity there wernt no utube then...........cellulose rods are great,but the spatter is something else.....all my arms and bald head got burn scars allover from the spatter of high amp cellulose......but you can thru penetrate 1/2" plate with no prep at all ,just a bit of a gap.....cellulose always restrike hot or cold.so you can do all the fancy pipe welds with them.
 
Our city just erected a new water tower, when the tank was joined together the inside welds were MIG welded, this was the root pass, and when the outside was welded they used stick. Any Ideas why?
 
eugene13 said:
Our city just erected a new water tower, when the tank was joined together the inside welds were MIG welded, this was the root pass, and when the outside was welded they used stick. Any Ideas why?
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Just a guess, but i would say stick wwas used on the outer surface welds due to wind.
Harder to shield mig without external hard wind shield/curtains.
 
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