SMAW rod companies

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So I learned SMAW with Radnor rods and had a hell of a time learning.  Always thought it was just me and my "learning curve", but had ALOT of sticking and couldnt strke an arc smoothly .  Fresh box, old, straight from Radnor...no difference.My buddy's a union pipefitter and used some of my 7018.  5 rods later he's ****ed at the crappiness.  Walks to his house and comes back with some 3 year old 7018 that ran like butta...this was SMAW heaven.Funny thing is that I would've never learned what I was missing out on if it had'nt been for this little project!So, Who makes the best rod?ThermalArc 185MillerMatic 180 w/ AutosetVictor Cutskill Oxy/AcetyleneThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 38and spite!
Reply:There are many to choose from, and they might work differently for different people and their specific machines.  Try every brand you can find.Some like Lincoln's Excalibur brand of 7018, others hate it, but love the Hobart Brothers 418 brand of 7018.  And Hobart Brothers is a different company from Hobart Welding machines today, which has a Weld-It brand line of consumables.
Reply:Originally Posted by MAC702 And Hobart Brothers is a different company from Hobart Welding machines today, which has a Weld-It brand line of consumables.
Reply:Yes, sorry, didn't mean to mislead.  The Hobart Brothers and Weld-It lines of consumables are different breeds, though; like the basic Lincoln electrodes that even Home Depot sells, v. their Excalibur line, et. al.
Reply:I've had rod (electrode) than run crappy. Just for sport, before throwing it out , I rebaked it . Guess what ? it ran beautifully !and, much of the time it was even pin holing , but perfect after the rebake . (low hydrogen)or even 70-14 or 70-24 . it doesn't take too much baking, maybe 300 degrees for an hour or so, i know that isn't near whats recommended , but for me it worked .[SIZE="5"Yardbird"
Reply:Originally Posted by MAC702Yes, sorry, didn't mean to mislead.  The Hobart Brothers and Weld-It lines of consumables are different breeds, though; like the basic Lincoln electrodes that even Home Depot sells, v. their Excalibur line, et. al.