Stick Electrodes

[axehind]

I just ordered a new Hobart Stickmate AC/DC machine. Now I have to get some Stick Electrodes. What type should I purchase? I'll be welding on mostly clean steel over 1/8 inch thick.

On another note. With mig welders they have a max recommended thicknesses like with my HH175 it is 1/4 inch steel. What would the max be for this machine?

axehind

[BillC]

For rods I like 1/8" 6010 and 3/32" 7018. Both will require a lot of practice.

As far as thickness your only practical limit is how many passes you want to run. I think it takes me 8-10 passes to fill a groove on 3/8 plate

Have Fun!

[axehind]

Thanks!
I'm not worried about all the practice it will take :-)

axehind

[axehind]

This chart I found says 7018 is for "Welding of high sulfur and high carbon steels". Is that hardened steel? Where would I use this electrode instead of the 6010?

[BillC]

High carbon steels are hardenable, but not necessarily hardened... 7018 is commonly used on low carbon steels like A36. 6010 is good for filling gaps due to the fast-freeze property, and is commonly used as the root pass for pipe welds due to this characteristic. 7018 is stronger than 6010, but not as forgiving of poor fitup. 7018 has a heavy slag that is easy to include in your weld (a bad thing).

[mozark6]

axe thats cool hope you enjoy the stickmate,have a thunderbolt at work and there good lil machines. send us some pics

[Sberry]

I agree with Bill. With that machine you can get by on 2 rods in 2 sizes. 1/8 6010, 3/32 7018 and 1/8 7018. It also allows you to run specialty alloy rods like nickel and stainless with minmal setup. Run nickel on AC. Thats the only time you need to switch that thing from DC+ I do use some 6010 for poor fitup or when I want agressive penetration. Most of the time I use lo hi (7018) Dont have inclusion probs,,, hahahahaha Just teasing Bill. Axe, you can use both electrodes on common steel but lo hi will also work on med carbon where 10 would tend to crack. Also I just like the nice apperance of lo hi, probably the main reason I use it more. Leaves less splatter too.

[bigolguy]

Max Thickness and Rod Selection

You can weld 1/2 inch when beveled correctly,I have and it works out great,I would keep a regular stock of rods handy in 3/32,1/8,& 5/32 diameters.1/8 that is for over 3/16 but I would prefer a 3/32 rod for 1/8 and below on clean material.I would keep a wide variety of pipe welding rods and lo-hi rods,and general purpose rods such as 6013,and deep penetrating pipe rods such as 6010 & 6011,and 6012 for metal that's not totally fit to precision.

I recommend the metal is clean when welding with lo-hi.

I like using 6010 and 6011 for pipe work and storage tanks for diesel.7018 is great too for pipe.Any of these rods I mentioned can do great work when they are used properly.Example:

Hold a longer arc when using 6010,6011 and Preheat(longer arc) the material with 6013 and keep a close arc almost to where you are digging basically.Always remember when welding flat keep at a 45 degree angle.Most people use the scratch method where you strike the arc like a match.If a regular helmet is too difficult for you try out a auto-darkening hood with 10-11 shade features!....

Let's see some pictures of your welds and future projects.Good Luck

Lincoln Rods are the best for your buck!

By the way I forgot to say nice welder selection.I just bought me an idealarc stick machine yesterday on sale at the supply shop.I got it for duty cycle reasons and it seems like it gots a great tig setup as well and it has a great place to sit at in the shop right by the other miller machines.Now I got two tig welders and three stick welders but this one is probaly the greatest but I gotta finish up repairing my old old lincoln engine drive.

I gotta keep the lincoln and millers from fighting.

[hobbyweldor230]

stick electrodes

You can use any and any aws classification of rod with that welder and it will work great if you use them properly but I'm pretty sure you can't or wouldn't want to go above 5/32.

[mozark6]

have you guys ever herd 6011 referred to as mud rod?

[bigolguy]

nope,but i heard of it as a "deep-penetrating rod"

[Sberry]

6011 has the same operating characteristics as 6010 and is widely used where the welding power supply is AC. It will run well on DC also but if you have DC there is no reason for it as 10 is a DC rod.

[BillC]

Originally posted by mozark6
have you guys ever herd 6011 referred to as mud rod?

This place sells something it calls Mud Rod...

http://www.farmerschoice.com/electrodes.html

From the description it sounds like an XX10 or XX11 rod.

[Snidley]

6011 referred to as mud rod?

Have also been refered to as a Farmer's rod. Because of their forceful arc (deep penetrating) it has the ability to do a good job welding on areas that are not well cleaned. It will burn through grease, paint, and yes, slightly dirty areas. When it's harvest or seed time, it's important to get the job done. That's why some prep work would be rushed or skipped, do a fix and get going. During the winter things would get a better repair.

It's a rod that welds well, good penetration, easy to store, just not as pretty a weld as some.

[mozark6]

I knew i had herd that term used by my dad before. thats what i thought 6011 was. thanks