Where do you keep your partially used rods?

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I'm finding myself accumulating more and more partially used rods, mainly 6011, with some 7014 and 7018AC (which works fine in non-code welding), and different diameters of the same. These are rods where I just welded a small amount, or finished the last couple of inches of a weld with a new rod, and had a good, perfectly usable 60%-70% of a rod left.  I was just wondering what kind of clever ideas some of you guys have come up with for keeping your partially used rods like this. Mayonnaise jars?-RuarkLincoln 3200HDHobart Stickmate LX235TWECO Fabricator 211i
Reply:If they're left over at the end of the day they go in the trash. Rods (most) are cheap enough not to risk problems from using contaminated or incorrect partials for a paying job. However, I've been known to save a few if that evening's home project could use them.CharleyMiller MM252Miller Bobcat 225NTMiller DialArc HF / DIY Cooler2 Victor O/A TorchsetsMilwaukee 8" Metal SawMilwaukee Dry Cut "Chop" Saw 5 Ton Wallace Gantry Various Grinders, Benders, etc.
Reply:I have a little metal box that I drop the useful lengths in.I made the box for practice / play, then found a use for it. lolEverything goes in the same tray, but 90% I'm playing with 2.6mm rods so its fairly similarI'd post a photo, but I don't have any on me
Reply:The title cracked me up then saw Stiffman talking about showing pictures of what he does with his partially used rod ??  Too PhunnyTiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:You could use clear plastic mailing tubes with caps.  Gotta buy 50 of 'em at this place, but you could always split the order with a buddy or two:http://www.iconplastics.com/product/...s-1001200.htmlThere's probably other places that sell them in smaller quantities too...
Reply:i throw them in the trash,  not worth messing with.XMT 350 MPa, w/D52-DTA 185 TSWHarris of
Reply:What i do is sometimes throw them a way. Or save the odd lengths for a welding project for my self . And sometimes ill make a big old pile and use them to tack things up . Then every once ill have to teach a friend so ill burn them up.Millermatic 211 with mvp plugs miller titanium series welding helmetstihl chain saws 8 ft welding table
Reply:Recycle bin.
Reply:Similar to others, I save them in a metal container for tacking on small projects.  If the stubs are less than about 4" or so, I trash them.  If you can find several containers, mark them with the rod type so you don't end up mixing them.
Reply:Originally Posted by walkerRecycle bin.
Reply:I guess you could get some pencil casings, probably plastic or tin made, mark each case with the nos. of the rods you usually use, there you can save the remaining rods if you've spent about half or two thirds length, the remaining rods you saved can still be used for tacking or maybe for practice welding, whatever !
Reply:At the end of the job/day, the go in the scrap barrel.  I carry a paint can for stubs so they don't end up in tires.  All used rods and stubs go in the can.  If I need to finish off a weld or do tacking, I grab a long enough rod out of the can.Todays can. Attached ImagesLast edited by Boostinjdm; 08-14-2012 at 01:34 AM.My name's not Jim....
Reply:Under 3" I would scrap bin em, but if they still have life in them, I would put them back with the rest (in one of those plastic rod storage containers with the screw on cap), but it would depend on the code you're working under.  For instance, I worked in one shop where any LH rod left out for 4 hours or more had to be scrapped.It didn't matter in the mills about 95% of the time (unless you were doing piping).I held onto short rods mainly for tacking.
Reply:There is a whole $hit pile of them at the bottom of my field bucket that gets dumped regularly.Disclaimer; "I am just an a$$hole welder, don't take it personally ."
Reply:They all go in the scrap steel bin and are eventually sold for scrap.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:And then there's those little pieces of Inconel TIG filler that you just can't part with (if your a hobbyist)."USMCPOP" First-born son: KIA  Iraq 1/26/05Syncrowave 250 w/ Coolmate 3Dialarc 250, Idealarc 250SP-175 +Firepower TIG 160S (gave the TA 161 STL to the son)Lincwelder AC180C (1952)Victor & Smith O/A torchesMiller spot welder
Reply:If it has struck an arc and I have changed locations on a job, or the job is done for the day, yes, they go in the scrap bin. If there is not enough rod left for the weld I want to make, scrap bin. If the flux is chipped off of one side of the rod, scrap bin. If for any reason if will not strike and function perfectly for the next weld, scrap bin. I looked, and I do have 2 partial rods in the shop, both are nickle 55/99 rods. It is just so expensive I have a hard time parting with it. I likely have 400 pounds of rod in the shop at the moment. what isn't in the rod box is in sealed 50# cans. I used to think I had a lifetime supply, but then this year I have gone through about 100# so far.
Reply:How can one have "several" partially used rods?  If you have even ONE partial, why would you use a BRAND NEW rod, prior to that partial to begin with?????  WTF??? Anyway, partials I just throw in the trash.  I can afford to get rid of it and start the next weld for "next time" with a brand new rod.Lincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:I'm just a hobby welder, and sometimes I do some welding jobs on the side for friends and friends of friends.My partially used stick electrodes, if they're long enough, get used for tacking stuff together on stick jobs. The unusable stubs, the really short ones, get thrown in a coffee can to be scrapped.My aluminum TIG rod stubs go in a plastic bucket to be recycled, the long ones are used for short beads or tacking. Same goes with all my other types of TIG filler. I just keep my aluminum and steel filler in separate buckets.Brad GeorgeCurrent Equipment:AIRCO Heliwelder IV 300Amp Model - Total Awesomeness!Old 120v Hobart Handler MIGVarious grinders, cutting tools, hammers, clamps, ect..."I'm an amateur welder with lots left to learn..."
Reply:I keep anything over about 5 inches long. I've found 1 pint wide mouth mason jars perfect for this.-RuarkLincoln 3200HDHobart Stickmate LX235TWECO Fabricator 211i
Reply:The 6011 & 6013 shorties go back in my plastic watertight rod container. The stubs go into the scrap bin.  I have been known to lay a stub into a poor fitting joint as additional filler.I offer three choices: Good, Fast, & Cheap. You may pick two.Hobart AC/DC StikMate LXHarbor Freight AD HoodHarbor Freight Industrial Chop SawDeVilbis 20 Gallon, 5 HP Compressor
Reply:Set 'em aside for tacking things up.  After that, the scrap bin.You didn't build that.'85 Miller AEAD-200LE
Reply:7018....rubbish bin as I clean up shop at night, 6010 next time the trash can goes out, if it doesn't get used in a day or so its garbage.This thread had me thinking of my grandfather, went out and walked every day, picked up nails, screws, and junk hardware and brouught it home and stuck it in glass jelly jars. I was about 14-15 and I refoofed his patio attched to his house. When it cm time to nail shingles he pulled out his jars of bent, mismatched, rusty nails. Fortunately I bitched to my Dad and we took his jars of nails and threw them away, and bought a new nails.Saving old bits and pieces of rod is the same economy, and the same waste of time, and space. I couldn't concieve starting a a welding project with an old bucket full of mismatched half used pieces of rod.