What is Stick Welding?-weliding rod e7018

What is Stick Welding?

Stick welding is technically defined as “Shielded Metal Arc Welding”. The term “stick welding” is a common slang term that the welding industry has adopted becuse the electrode that welds the metal comes in the form of a “Stick”.

The simplest explanation of how stick welding works. Stick welding is a form of welding that uses electricity to melt a metal filler rod/electrode/stick (electrode is the proper term) that melts both the metal joint and electrode all at once to fuse two pieces of metal together and fill the joint with filler metal at the same time.

Stick Welding Equipment

Stick welding equipment is the simplest of all the electrical arc welding processes. A Stick Welder has four parts:

1. A constant voltage (CV) power supply/Stick Welder.
2. Electrode holder/rod holder.
3. Ground clamp.
4. Stick welding electrodes/rods to weld with.

Is Stick Welding AC or DC?

Stick welders can be both AC and DC power depending on the electrode type used. For most heavy industrial jobs or hobbyists a DC power supply can do just about anything. It’s very rare to use AC. Stick welding power supplies are constant voltage or CV and that means the voltage stays the same while welding and the amperage fluctuates depending on your arc length when welding.

How Much Power or Amperage Do I Need in a Stick Welder?

A 140 amp Stick welder is more than enough power to weld just about anything! Many people get caught up in the manufacturer’s “maximum metal thickness” propaganda and end up buying a large welder. It’s just a sales tactics! I have worked in shipyards, power plants and heavy fabrication shops and it is rare to need more than 130 amps. At 130 amps you can weld unlimited thickness metals. You just not going to weld a 1 inch plate in a single weld! We weld 1 inch thick ship hulls with just a 120 amps.

What is the Difference Between Stick, MIG and TIG Welding?

Stick and TIG welding use the same Constant Voltage power supply and a Stick welder can be adapted to TIG Weld just by adding a torch set-up.

MIG welding uses a “Constant Current” or “CC”power supply and does not work well for Stick and TIG welding. Plus MIG and Stick need a bottle of shielding gas to weld and MIG welders need a wire feed system instead of a single electrode to feed the weld joint.

How Much Does Stick Welding Equipment Cost?

It all depends on what brand you choose, what you need it for and what you are willing to spend!

A good entry level/professional stick welder like the Longevity StickWeld 140 in the picture below will run under $300 USD or about $25 a month financed, it’s very portable and weighs only 13 lbs, works off 110 or 220 volts and can do whatever you need. That same setup can also be converted to a TIG welder that can weld steel and stainless steel just by adding a TIG torch and bottle of shielding gas.

Higher end stick welders can run over $10,000.00 USD but those are used for heavy industrial manufacturing and most people and businesses don’t need half the bells and whistles or that type of power. Below is a list of quality welding equipment manufactures. On a side not never buy Harbor Freight welders or any cheap brands! No matter how good of a welder you are it’s going to be hard to make a good weld!

• Longevity Welder – Excellent entry level equipment that also crosses into professional grade.
• Everlast Welders – Another excellent entry level welding equipment manufacture that crosses into professional grade.
• ESAB – One of the best industrial quality welding equipment manufactures that is as high end as it gets but its not cheap.

• WELDING RODS ELECTRODES AWS E6011 ELETRODO

• 
• Miller – Another excellent industrial quality
  brand and their equipment can do just about anything but the price tag is also high.
• Lincoln Electric – They have been around a long time and they make good industrial grade welding machines well know for pipeline welding.

How Long Does it Take to Learn to Stick Weld?

It all depends on what you want to do? If you are just looking to do general repairs and to get started I would say 5 hours of practice would get you to the point of fixing a broken tractor fender or welding a shelving system. Your weld won’t look good and they probable be really rough but it should hold.

If you want to work as a entry level welder at least 500 hours of training. Intermediate level welding takes around 900 hours of practice. If you are going for a career and want to make decent money welding pipe expect 1,200 hours plus learning curve or 18 months to two years of training.

What Can I Weld with a Stick Welder?

Stick welders work best on thicker metals and are not a good choice for thin sheet metals. They are excellent for fabrication of structural steel, fixing farm equipment, tractor repairs, ship building, power plant construction, welding pipe and any metal 1/16 or thicker. If you are dealing with sheet metal get a TIG or MIG machine! You can stick weld:

• Steel
• Stainless steel
• Nickel based alloys
• Chrome
• Stainless steel to regular steel
• Aluminum (not the best choice but it does the job)

How Does Stick Welding Work?

Welding works like this. First you need to hook up your welding rod holder and ground clamp to the welding power supply. Then hook up the ground clamp from the welder to the metal. Finally you put a welding rod into the electrode holder and strike the area like a match where you want to start to weld. The rod or electrode start burning and depositing metal into the joint and you have a weld.

What happens here is the electricity from the welder passes through the rod and arcs at the point of contact creating a temperature of up to 7,000° F. Now the rod begins to melt and the coating around the rod creates a shield from any oxygen that will contaminate the weld. This is why stick welding is technically called SMAW/shielded metal arc welding. It's a shield around the metal electrode that is arcing. As you move the rod over the joint it keeps melting (more like a spray of metal transferring to the joint) by creating a crater and filling the joint.