Tool Reviews

A stick welder is one of the best machines for field repairs because it tolerates long leads, dirty steel, wind, and rough power better than most wire-feed welders. It is…

Light surface rust is not an automatic reason to stop a stick-welding job. A stick welder can produce a sound weld through a thin, tightly bonded layer of rust, but…

Why Opened Electrodes Need Protection Stick welding electrodes absorb moisture from the air after the package is opened. The risk depends on the coating type. Moisture is mostly a nuisance…

Choosing DCEN or DCEP for stick welding is not a matter of picking the “stronger” setting. The correct polarity depends mainly on the electrode coating, the base metal, the joint…

Undercut is a groove melted into the base metal alongside the weld bead and left unfilled. On structural steel, it reduces the effective cross-section of the joint and creates a…

Slag is the glassy, brittle coating left by a stick weld’s flux. It protects the molten weld pool from air, but it must be removed before the next pass. Welding…

A horizontal fillet weld joins the edge of one plate to the face of another while the joint sits at roughly 90 degrees. On thick plate, the main challenge is…

Stick welding amperage is not a single setting for each rod. The useful range depends on electrode type, diameter, joint fit-up, welding position, arc length, and whether the machine is…

Low-hydrogen electrodes such as E7018 absorb moisture from the air. That moisture can contribute to hydrogen cracking, porosity, worm tracking, and unstable arc performance—especially when welding thick, restrained, or high-strength…

Stick welding leaves a hard layer of slag over the finished bead. A good chipping hammer breaks that coating without forcing you to gouge the weld, damage the base metal,…