newbie stick questions

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well, my buddy called last night and asked if i wanted to buy an old stick welder. Come to find out it is a small 220 linde box with 3-4 containers of rod,helmet,hammer & ext cord for 100 bucks, I tried welding with it and figured out that I suck at stick welding (stick kept sticking to the metal) Anyway here is my questions..does the clamp lead plug into the "work" plug on the welder or the high or low range plug? Same question for the rod holder lead - which does it plug into?again i know next to nothing about stick welding (last time i did any was in high school (20 years ago)I can mig weld pretty good ( have a mm251.. love it) but picked this up thinking it was a decent deal? and i could learn to stick weld with it.can someone tell me the proper way to hook this up and/or refer me to any info on stick welding.ThanksBob
Reply:i took a course but they didnt showed us that, but ive seen some...and i think that work is the clamp which goes to the metal, and the high or low is for the rod holder, anyway i would recommend a 2nd opinion
Reply:Howdy Bob...welcome to the wonderfull world of stick welding!! To answer yer question ...the ground clamp goes on the work piece (what yer welding on) to provide a method to "ground" the workpiece fer the return current that travels from the rod to ground. The electrode holder (also know as a stinger,,,the piece that actually holds the welding rod) plugs into the low or high plug depending on what amperage setting (heat) yer using. You use a higher amperage setting with larger rods and also depends upon the thickness of the metal being welded. Dont get discouraged because ya stuck a few rods...i happens to us all...especially when yer newto it and learning. Just dont give up...you didnt say if this was an AC or AC/DC machine so I would suggest ya go buy some 3/32 6013 rod and lay a few beads. The 6013 rod is the easiest to use because you can basically drag the rod and do a decent weld. Just get ya some scrap of varying thickness and have at it...the only way yer gonna nail this is to practice, practice., practice...but whatever ya do...DON'T GIVE UP!!! Learning stick will help you become more proficient with the other welding processes. I hope ya this helps....let us know how it turns out.Take it easy,Rod"Failure is not an option"
Reply:Thanks Rod,yep it is an ac machine, i got a bunch of different rod with it dont know if it is any good (how do you tell?) is there anything special i need to do with welding rod regarding to storage etc? do people dry rods in ovens or had i just heard that somewhere? Also what should one pay for the rods , how is it bought, cheaper online ?? etc..Thanks for the reply, I spent yesterday cleaning the machine up, my neighbor is an old school street rod builder who only welds chassis stuff with stick & does other stuff with mig - he is very good at stick, so i will be buggin him as soon as he gets back from vacation. I am so glad to have found this site .. what a treasure full of information!! I am glad you guys are willing to share your experience, I will listen closely to the wisdom round here..Thanks Again
Reply:The "work" lead is clamped to the thing you are trying to weld or the "work piece".  The rod holder/stinger goes into the other thingie or thingies (depending on whether you have one or many of them)  Some older welders (and some new ones, for that matter) use a multiple connectors rather than a switch for ranges.  I think this is what you are talking about....Buy rods locally.  Shipping will eat you up.  I have found that even wal-mart carries general purpose rods that would work for this machine.  The price of a 5 pound box off rods is somewhere between 6 and 12 bucks, depends on the rod type, size and the store's markup.  Shipping 5 pounds will cost about 6 to 12 bucks.  There should be numbers on the rods.  Below is a site that explains the characteristics of the rod by number.  Just the basics, mind you.  If the rods dont look crappy, you know, chips, bunches of rust, or decaying coating, they should be ok. You can at least use them for practice.  60XX rods tend to last a pretty long time, even if stored improperly.  70XX are more sensitive.  You can use your home oven to dry rods, but I wouldnt bother if you are just playing around right now.  Sounds like you got a pretty nice deal.  Probably every pro weldor on this site has a similar welder somewhere in their shop, just in case.  Post a picture of it.  If yer lucky, someone here has one similar and can help you find a manual.Assuming the machine is not at fault, the sticking problem you are having may be because of the condition of the rod or amperage setting or current skill or a combination of problems.  Eliminate one problem at a time until you get it going.  If you saw it weld well, you can eventually make it weld well also.http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldit/filler/stick.htmlLast edited by smithboy; 08-07-2005 at 02:33 PM.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Here is a short video of some stick welding being done with E6010. This may give you a little idea on what to look for .http://www.weldinginspectionsvcs.com/SMAWVideo.htmHope this helpsGeraldHave a nice dayhttp://www.weldingdata.com/