Red Brick welding rods?

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I remember last year of school I used a type of welding rod I believe it was 6011. My instructor told us that it was the oldest style of welding rod used and they haven't changed their process. So essentially I was using a rod from the 1800's I found fascinating. It welded like crap but for some reason I couldn't get enough of it. Well I had forgot the name of it and was wondering if anyone could tell me the name? It came in a red flux coating that's all I can remember.
Reply:6010 is used as the root pass for boiler piping and pipelines still. You're right though it can burn through some nasty stuff. If you learn to do it right you can make a pretty downhand root weld. Still can't get the covers so prefer 7018. Have fun with it.
Reply:When I was in welding scholl, in the late '70's and through 1980, all we were allowed to use on steel was 6010.Richard TerryMarine engineer.............  C'mon retirement!
Reply:Hello Certainunknown, not to highly dispute what your instructor told you, but actually the first arc welding rods were simply a bare wire. Needless to say some of those first welds were truly horrendous. From that point on there were many different types of "coatings" applied to the bare wire to produce different effects and results. On one of my other computers I have some examples of some very early rods that I will try to find and post on here. They do appear to have used ASBESTOS in an abundance in the earlier days of electrode manufacture. I also believe that earlier versions of E6010(5P) rods may have utilized this particular additive to some degree. Somewhere in the late 70's early 80's the 5P that was being provided all of the sudden became a lot less user friendly and didn't perform and run nearly as well, at least in my own personal experiences. Best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:pop quiz! why did ppl start experimenting with coatings to the bare electrode? what made them start trying different substances to stabalize the arc and protect the weld? I went to a seminar a couple of weeks ago and the fella who conducted the lab stuff was Jim Greer from chicago who was a former AWS president like in 05. he made us weld with bare rod then he made us wrap it in wet paper towel and weld with it. i will post a couple pics the weld pic is with a bare rod wrapped in wet paper towel. doesnt look too bad. Attached Imagesonly thing worse than an ugly woman is an ugly weld
Reply:its a son of a gun to get it started. im starting my guys in a couple weeks welding that way. learned a lot from that guy. great guy to learn from. for a guy whos 58 years old he can weld very very well. he knows where the best cigars in miami are too. any cigar serious cigar smokers pm me i have the hook up! Attached Images
Reply:Hello El_Loydeo, pretty slick stuff, I bet that was an interesting presentation. I would like to hear of more of it's content if you have the time. Best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:hey allan it was an eye opening experience. it was more of a presentation that said there is more than one way to skin a cat. many things ppl already knew but some really cool stuff went on down there. welding razor blades and pop cans. which i have done already but never as well as he taught me to! the funny thing about that weld i posted that was made with the bare rod and the towel wrapped around it was there was no slag at all on it. i figured there would have been some sort of slag. he weldered a vertical fillet with bare rod and nothing wrapping it. im telling ya the man is good. i hear once u get so old ur eyes arent much use for welding. he said he has students who say hey i can weld better than you and he says well i can teach better than you! haha
Reply:Originally Posted by El_Lloydeopop quiz! why did ppl start experimenting with coatings to the bare electrode? what made them start trying different substances to stabalize the arc and protect the weld?
Reply:Hello again El_Lloydeo, I am envious of your meeting and speaking with this gentleman, really sounds like it was an informative and mesmerizing experience. Don't often fall onto an opportunity such as that. Have enjoyed your sharing it here as well. Thanks and regards, Allanaevald
Reply:I know of a few "older" guys that have told me about the bare rod also.Would it be reasonable , to assume as the wet paper towel burns off, it creates Carbon Dioxide, which shields the weld???
Reply:i guess back when the bare rod was used some dude went to do some welding and found that his bare electrodes were covered in rust. he tried one anyway and it performed better than the shiny new ones. so then experimenting with different coatings was what they did. i have that too about lime. i think they used to or maybe still do use lime in lots of stainless smaw electrodes. pretty neat stuff.