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I have not posted in a while so thought I would share this. I broke down and bought some welding rods a few days ago. Been using some garage sale finds of unknown brand for the past several years for my non-critical backyard hack repair jobs. Fresh new rods sure make a difference over some of the junk that I have been burning lately. Here is a brief summary of each. a) US Forge 1/8" diameter 6013. First time I had used any 1/8" diameter 6013 from US Forge (Messer) although I have used some of there other products like 80T AC and their 5/64" 6013 Quick Strike line for 115 volt arc welders. Anyway these things burned excellent on both DC electrode negative as well as on AC. I did not try any on DC electrode positive. I will definitely be buying more of these when I use them up. Price was $11.97 at Menards for 5 lbs. Menard's also stocks 5/32" but not 3/32" in the 5lb size which is kinda weird. I think I will try some of the US Forge/Messer 6011 when my trusty supply of Hobart 335A 6011 runs low as I have yet to try any of those in 1/8". b) Have NOT bought any 7018 in years as it has always been so tempermental to run plus the storage issues of it. Anyway I bought some Hobart 7018AC at Rural King for $13.99 for 5lb. (I splurged for an O-ring sealable rod guard to put them in too). Wow - these things burned excellent on my Miller thunderbolt on both DC electrode positive as well as AC. Slag was pretty easy to get off too and no problems with restrikes either. I will definitely buy more of these when needed. c) Also bought some 1/8" Hobart 7014 for $12.99 for 5 lbs at Rural King. 7014 has always been my go to rod, but not sure what brand I have been previously running. These things seemed to burn better on DC electrode positive than they did on AC. The other unknown brand of 7014 that I had been previously using actually seemed to burn better on AC than DC. Maybe I will like them better with time - will have to wait and see. Anyway the Hobart 7014 rods were okay and I would buy them again if I need some but they were not the home run that the Hobart 7018AC or the US Forge 6013 were for use on a generation one top crank Miller thunderbolt transformer.
Reply:I need to spend more time experimenting like you. The only welding i do these days is building or fixing things. Im satisfied with my skills, but its hard to improve without just burning some rod.Farmer2
Reply:Oh experimenting can be half the fun for a backyard hack like me. Some brands and rods actually burn better on some machines than others - whether it be a $5000 expensive welder or a cheaper $300 machine. A little experimenting is most helpful for the guys with tapped machines IMOP. Once you find a rod that burns well on your machine on a setting you actually have on the welder then it is a keeper. I used to have a Lincoln AC225 which was AC only and tapped setting and a little experimenting was key to my success in using it successfully. I am likely in the minority but I do not mind welding on AC at all as long as we are not talking really low amp settings. Really low amp setting then I much prefer DC.I have always been picky on what I actually buy, but I ended up with a bunch of old and I mean do mean old rods for nearly free. Some of those oldies were dated 1968 and older. Has taken me years to consume em. Many did not burn all that well at all, but I hated to waste em so I used em for parts build up and non-critical even by my standards welds. In some ways glad those old things are gone....these new rods were a breath of fresh air and I liked the prices paid too.Last edited by rankrank1; 12-28-2013 at 12:30 PM. |
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发表于 2021-8-31 22:37:53